Ballon d'Or: Burna Boy responds after being shouted out by Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman during acceptance speech

England women’s head coach Sarina Wiegman won the Johan Cruyff Trophy for the best women’s coach of the year, at the Ballon d’Or ceremony held in Paris on Monday, Sept 22.

The award reflects her triumph leading the Lionesses to back-to-back European Championship wins, most recently in Switzerland. 

However, the 55-year-old Dutch coach went viral on social media following her acceptance speech.

It was a memorable moment in a night full of celebration for women’s football.

Wiegman said as quoted by BBC Sport: “What an honour to get this award after an insane summer. … The women’s game has grown so far, we have broken records. … This is not just a personal honour. I see it as a recognition of the women’s game and of our journey because we have come so far.” 

During her acceptance speech, the England women’s coach looked across the room and expressed her desire to celebrate her award with none other than Nigerian music superstar Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, popularly known as Burna Boy.

Adding a lighter touch she said: “If Burna Boy is around maybe we could do a little bit of dancing too!” 

The remark drew smiles and applause from attendees at the 2,500-capacity Théâtre du Châtelet.

The Grammy winner congratulated Sarina Wiegman after she won the best women's coach in the world. 

Taking to his official page on the X platform, Burna quoted a tweet of her quote with: “haha, I’m up for it Sarina! A huge congrats to you and the team.”

This is not the first time Wiegman and Burna Boy shared a public moment.

During the England Lionesses’ Euro 2025 victory parade in London, Burna Boy surprised Wiegman on stage. 

The Lionesses coach, normally composed, was visibly emotional, embraced the singer, and danced to his hit “For My Hand”. 

She had earlier admitted that “For My Hand” was her most-listened-to song in 2023. 

 The 2025 Ballon d’Or marks the first time an England national team coach has won the Women’s Team Coach of the Year / Johan Cruyff Trophy.

Wiegman has won a plethora of coaching awards in her career, including The Best FIFA Women’s Coach (in 2022 and 2023), UEFA Women’s Coach of the Year (2021-22 and 2022-23) and IFFHS World’s Best Woman National Coach (2020, 2022, 2023).