Luis de la Fuente wins 2026 Ballon d'Or Best Men's Coach award

former Spain manager Luis de la Fuente won the 2026 Ballon d'Or Best Men's Coach award, ahead of PSG's Luis Enrique and Arsenal's Mikel Arteta.

Luis de la Fuente has been named the 2026 Ballon d'Or Best Men's Coach, winning the Johan Cruyff Trophy at the ceremony in London. The Spain manager beat PSG's Luis Enrique, Arsenal's Mikel Arteta, Aston Villa's Unai Emery and Bayern Munich's Vincent Kompany to the award.

De la Fuente led Spain to the World Cup final on 19 July in the United States, winning 1-0 against Argentina. Spain's campaign was outstanding, finishing unbeaten and conceding just one goal throughout the tournament. In his acceptance speech, de la Fuente said: "Receiving this award is a true honour for me. Being among the nominees was already an award for me. This is not an individual award, it is an award for the collective I manage. I have the best technical staff in the world."

The Rioja-born coach narrowly missed out on the 2024 award after winning Euro 2024 with Spain, finishing third behind Xabi Alonso and Carlo Ancelotti.