France Football has named the five men’s and five women’s coaches in the running for the 2026 Coach of the Year awards, the prize formally known as the Johan Cruyff Trophy.
The award, first handed out in 2024, honours the tacticians whose work delivered the strongest results across the previous season. won the inaugural men’s prize. Luis Enrique of Paris Saint-Germain collected it in 2025. Emma Hayes and then Sarina Wiegman took the women’s honour in those first two years. The 2026 winners will be revealed at the 70th ceremony in London on October 26.
Four of the five men’s nominees are Spanish, a snapshot of how far the country’s coaching school has travelled this year. Enrique is back after guiding PSG to a second Champions League title in a row, only the second club in the post-European Cup era to retain the trophy.
’s Mikel Arteta is on the list after ending the club’s 22-year wait for the Premier League. The only real blot on his campaign was the Champions League final defeat to Enrique’s , a result that still left the Gunners with a historic domestic title.
Spain boss Luis de la Fuente returns after finishing third in the 2024 vote. La Roja’s World Cup win this summer made his inclusion straightforward. Aston Villa’s Unai Emery completes the Spanish quartet after lifting the Europa League and steering Villa to fourth in the Premier League and a Champions League place. Bayern Munich’s Vincent Kompany is the only non-Spaniard, recognised for a commanding Bundesliga title.
Mikel Arteta – Arsenal
Luis de la Fuente – Spain national team
Unai Emery – Aston Villa
Vincent Kompany –
Luis Enrique – Paris Saint-Germain
The women’s Coach of the Year award will be given for a third time next month, and a new name is due on the trophy after Hayes and Wiegman. OL Lyonnes coach Jonatan Giraldez faces Manchester City’s Andree Jeglertz, former Japan manager Nils Nielsen (now unattached), ’s Pere Romeu and Elena Sadiku, who started the season at Celtic before taking BK Hacken to Europa Cup glory.
Jonatan Giraldez – OL Lyonnes
Andree Jeglertz –
Nils Nielsen – Japan national team
Pere Romeu – FC
Elena Sadiku – Celtic/BK Hacken
The coaches will wait until 26 October in London, where the ceremony is being staged for the first time to mark 70 years since Sir Stanley Matthews won the original Ballon d’Or. Until then, the shortlists already tell the story of the season: back-to-back European glory in Paris, a Premier League drought ended in north London, a World Cup in Spanish hands, and a Bundesliga title built on attacking football in Munich.
