Luis de la Fuente wins Men's Ballon d'Or Coach of the Year; Pere Romeu takes women's prize

Luis de la Fuente was named the 2026 Men's Ballon d'Or Coach of the Year at the Ballon d'Or ceremony held at the London Palladium Theatre in London on October 26, 2026, after leading Spain to World Cup victory. The award was presented during the ceremony in London.

Aged 65, de la Fuente is described as a technician who progressed through Spain's national coaching ranks after a solid playing career and an unremarkable spell in club management. He applied in 2013 for a youth coaching role advertised by the Spanish Football Federation, took charge of the Under-19s and, 13 years later, some players from that cohort were members of the squads he guided to Nations League, Euro 2024 and World Cup titles.

"Teamwork makes us invincible. This is a great honour," de la Fuente said after collecting the award at a ceremony in London. "The secret is to work with very generous players that put the team first. We've got such an amazing pool of talent, the best in the world, so as a coach I have such a great amount of talent to work with. So this is their success," he added.

De la Fuente insisted from the start in the United States this summer that he had the strongest squad, even when Spain began the World Cup with a goalless draw against debutants Cape Verde. The team gathered momentum through the knockout rounds and beat pre-tournament favourites France 2-0 in the semi-final. In the final in New Jersey against Lionel Messi's Argentina, Spain kept composure amid muscular tactics from the opposition and Ferran Torres scored the winning goal in a 1-0 victory.

The women's coaching award was awarded to Barcelona's Pere Romeu for masterminding a season in which they won the Spanish league, Spanish cup, Super Cup and Champions League.