Ballon d'Or 2025: Deschamps excluded from nominations, four Spaniards in the race

Didier Deschamps will not be a candidate for the Johan Cruyff Award for best coach at the upcoming Ballon d’Or ceremony. After France’s elimination from the World Cup semi-finals by Spain, followed by defeat in the third-place playoff against England, the French manager did not accumulate sufficient merit for a nomination.

Spanish coaching figures dominate the five-nominee shortlist. Luis de la Fuente, who led Spain to World Cup glory, positions himself as the leading contender. His compatriot Luis Enrique, who won the UEFA Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain, emerges as his main rival. Mikel Arteta, Premier League champion with Arsenal and runner-up in the UEFA Champions League, and Unai Emery, winner of the UEFA Europa League at the helm of Aston Villa, complete this Iberian quartet. Vincent Kompany, honoured for his achievements with Bayern Munich, is the sole non-Spaniard on the list.

For Deschamps, the absence is not surprising but closes another chapter. In fourteen years leading the French national team, he has won just one individual award of this kind: The Best FIFA Coach in 2018, following World Cup victory in Russia, ahead of Zinedine Zidane. His other appearances on the shortlist yielded less glorious results — eighth place in 2016 after losing the Euro final, and last among the five nominees in 2022 following the World Cup final in Qatar against Argentina.

This exclusion reflects the mixed outcome of the recent World Cup for France, despite reaching the semi-finals. The winner of the Johan Cruyff Award will be announced during the upcoming Ballon d’Or ceremony.