The Ballon d’Or gala will land in London in two months, and for once the spotlight won’t rest solely on the players. The coaching award, increasingly a barometer of where power really lies in the game, has its 2026 shortlist. Ten names. Ten very different stories. One claim in common: “best coach in the world” for this year.
Men’s shortlist: a Spanish empire with one Belgian rebel
Here are the men’s nominees and their current teams:
- Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
- Luis de la Fuente (Spanish national team)
- Unai Emery (Aston Villa)
- Vincent Kompany (Bayern Munich)
- Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Four Spaniards and one Belgian. That is not a quirk of the voting system. It reflects where the tactical axis of the sport currently runs.
Spain sits at the cutting edge of modern football. On the pitch, in the dugout, in youth academies and national-team corridors, Spanish ideas are shaping how the game is played. This list underlines it in bold.
Arteta arrives with the type of résumé that used to be reserved for managerial heavyweights a decade into their careers. A Premier League title with Arsenal and a run to the Champions League final have turned the club’s long rebuild into a statement of intent. The project manager has become a trophy manager.
Luis Enrique’s case is more ruthless: repeat Champions League success with Paris Saint-Germain. For a club that has spent years chasing that particular ghost, back-to-back European crowns are a seismic achievement. The label of “serial winner” is no longer borrowed from his Barcelona days; he has stamped it in Paris.
Unai Emery, the master of knockout football, has written another chapter. A UEFA Europa League triumph with Aston Villa has elevated a club that once drifted in mid-table into a continental force again. His reputation as a cup specialist now spans leagues, languages, and eras.
Then there is Luis de la Fuente. The Spain coach brings the biggest prize of all to the table: a major international title. That alone shifts the conversation. National-team football still carries a different weight, and lifting the sport’s top honour on that stage makes him an obvious favourite.
The outlier is Vincent Kompany, and he stands out for all the right reasons. The only Belgian on the list, he has turned Bayern Munich into a steamroller again, sealing the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal with authority and style. His team has not just won; it has entertained, pressing with aggression and attacking with clarity.
Even here, the Spanish fingerprint appears. Kompany’s footballing education under Pep Guardiola is no secret, and his Bayern side carries those influences: positional play, brave build-up, relentless control. The nationality might be Belgian. The tactical language sounds distinctly Iberian.
So the question hangs over the rest of the world: how did Spain build this coaching dynasty? Federations everywhere will be studying the pathways, the methodology, the culture that keeps producing elite managers. For now, the evidence is on this shortlist.
Women’s shortlist: new names, familiar trophies
The women’s coaching award guarantees one thing already: a fresh winner. None of the nominees has previously taken home this Ballon d’Or honour, which means a new name will be etched into the trophy.
The nominees and their current roles:
- Jonatan Giráldez Costas (OL Lyonnes)
- Andrée Jeglertz (Manchester City)
- Nils Nielsen (Japanese national team)
- Pere Romeu (FC Barcelona)
- Elena Sadiku (BK Häcken)
If this comes down to trophies, the competition is ferocious.
Jonatan Giráldez Costas has overseen a clean sweep in France with OL Lyonnes: French Championship, French Cup, French League Cup. Dominance in one competition is hard; dominance across three is a stranglehold.
Andrée Jeglertz has imposed a similar grip in England. Manchester City’s WSL and FA Cup double has underlined the club’s rise as a domestic powerhouse. The margins at the top of the English game are thin; taking both major domestic titles is a sharp response to that pressure.
Nils Nielsen brings something different. No club badge right now, but a major international triumph on the CV: the Asian Cup with Japan. Tournament football demands clarity and conviction, and delivering a continental title in that environment always carries weight.
Elena Sadiku has put BK Häcken on the broader European map with a Europa Cup win. It is the sort of achievement that can reshape a club’s ambitions and reputation in a single season.
And then comes Pere Romeu, coaching a machine that rarely slows down. FC Barcelona’s women have again set a brutal standard: UEFA Women’s Champions League, Spanish Cup, La Liga, Spanish Super Cup. Four trophies, one relentless juggernaut. It is the kind of haul that usually tilts award voting on its own.
The names are set. The medals and cups have been counted. Now the voters must decide: do they reward the architects of dynasties, the conquerors of Europe, the masters of international tournaments—or the coaches who are quietly redefining what dominance looks like in the modern game?
