Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg still won’t play for Norway national team

PARIS — Sixty-two years after Stanley Matthews won the first Ballon d’Or, the women’s game received its inaugural winner: trailblazing Norwegian forward Ada Hegerberg.

But despite being recognized as the best female soccer player in the world, the outspoken 23-year-old said she won’t play for Norway at the Women’s World Cup in France in June.

Taking a stand against what she describes as a lack of respect for female players in Norway, Hegerberg hasn’t played for the national team since it crashed out of the group stage of the Women’s European Championship in 2017 without scoring a goal.