Matildas striker Sam Kerr faces a three-way battle to be crowned Europe’s 2022/23 women’s footballer of the year.

Kerr, along with Spanish duo Aitana Bonmati and Olga Carmona, is in the running for the award presented by European soccer’s governing body UEFA.

The Australian forward scored 29 goals in all competitions last season as Chelsea won their fourth consecutive FA Women’s Super League title as well as the Women’s FA Cup.

She also reached the semi-finals of the World Cup with Australia, scoring one of the goals of the tournament as the Matildas went down 3-1 to England in the last four.

Stiff competition

Bonmati and Carmona were part of the Spain team which beat the English 1-0 to win the World Cup in Sydney on Sunday.

Bonmati had a stellar domestic campaign with Barcelona, helping the club seal a fourth consecutive Spanish League title as well as winning the Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup.

Carmona scored the winning goal in the World Cup final, but had little success with her club side Real Madrid, who finished second behind Barcelona in the league and runners-up in the Copa de la Reina.

UEFA also announced the candidates for women’s coach of the year, with Barcelona’s Jonatan Giraldez, Spain’s Jorge Vilda and England’s Sarina Wiegman the three final nominees.

The winners will be announced, along with the men’s player and coach of the year, at the 2023/24 Champions League group-stage draw in Monaco on August 31.

-AAP