Johan Cruyff Trophy 2026: De la Fuente, Best Coach

On Monday 26 October 2026, at the London Palladium, Luis de la Fuente collected the award for best men's coach of the 2025-26 season. The five nominees also included Mikel Arteta, Unai Emery, Vincent Kompany and Luis Enrique.

That season Spain won the 2026 World Cup, beating Argentina 1-0 in the final.

According to reports from the gala, in his speech the Spain manager dedicated the award to a collective: "It is an award to a collective, to a great team, to players it is an honour to coach." He also spoke of "a coaching staff that is the best in the world".

France Football created the Johan Cruyff Trophy in 2024 to reward the best coach of the year, with a men's and a women's category. The official Ballon d'Or website lists it as "Coach of the Year in the men's category".

It is handed out at the same ceremony as the Ballon d'Or, but it is a different award: the Ballon d'Or is an individual prize for players and the trophy recognises whoever leads the team. It should not be mixed up either with the golden ball given to the best player of a specific competition, such as those FIFA hands out at its tournaments.

The ceremony has been co-organised by France Football and UEFA since 2024. Groupe Amaury, which owns France Football, retains the brand and oversees the independent voting process; UEFA organises the gala and markets its global commercial rights.

Johan Cruyff coached Ajax and FC Barcelona after his playing career. His Barcelona Dream Team won four consecutive league titles from 1991 to 1994 and the club’s first European Cup in 1992.

His coaching legacy includes attacking football built on possession and trust in young players. The award bears his name in tribute to a figure whose influence also extends to how coaches teach and understand the game.

These are the men’s and women’s winners since 2024. For 2026, we have not been able to verify the points or the finalists’ ranking; the tables show the winner and the other nominees.

In 2024, De la Fuente finished third with 63 points, behind Ancelotti and Xabi Alonso. Two years later he reached the top step.

In the women's category, the first name on the list is Emma Hayes and the latest is Pere Romeu, who won in 2026 with FC Barcelona Femení after the Champions League, the Liga F, the Copa de la Reina and the Supercopa of the 2025-26 season.

The three men's winners lead different kinds of teams. Ancelotti and Luis Enrique won with club sides, Real Madrid and PSG, and De la Fuente with a national team. The women's category shows something similar: Wiegman won with England and Romeu with a club.

The comparison between the last two winners is developed in De la Fuente and Luis Enrique.

The press calls both "best coach in the world", but they are different awards with different organisers. FIFA runs The Best, and its latest winner is Luis Enrique, at the ceremony on 16 December 2025 in Doha.

The Best has four voting groups, each accounting for 25% of the total: fans, national team captains, national team coaches and journalists. Captains and coaches count separately, regardless of how many people vote in each group.

De la Fuente dedicated the award to the group and the work of his coaching staff. For a youth team, that idea can become a simple practice: agree on each person’s responsibilities and how observations will be shared.

For example, in a team with a head coach and an assistant: the head coach runs the activity and decides when to intervene; the assistant watches an agreed objective, such as support for the player on the ball, and notes two or three situations. Both work towards the same goal without giving instructions at the same time.

Afterwards, they can spend five minutes comparing observations and choosing one adjustment for the next session. Write down the roles and review them as the group’s needs change. This is a suggested application for youth football, not a description of the national team’s method.

For more on his work developing players, read De la Fuente: from the Under-21s to the senior team.