The Best FIFA awards took place this week, with a number of footballing stars recognised for their efforts and achievements in 2025. As with the Ballon d'Or, Ousmane Dembele was named as the best men's player, while Aitana Bonmati scooped the women's prize.
Dembele enjoyed an incredible season with Paris Saint-Germain and has his manager to thank for a lot of his success. After all, Luis Enrique got the very best out of the Frenchman as PSG went on to win a European treble consting of the Champions League, Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France.
With that in mind, no one was surpise to learn that the Spaniard was consequently named as the Best FIFA Men's Coach.
Luis Enrique Named Best FIFA Men's Coach
luis enrique psg champions league
In a statement naming the PSG manager as the best coach of 2025, FIFA outlined his achievements across the season. It read: "Luis Enrique has been voted The Best FIFA Men’s Coach 2025 after masterminding a history-making campaign for Paris Saint-Germain.
"The Spanish tactician led the French giants to their maiden UEFA Champions League title, which they clinched in unforgettable style with a 5-0 final win over Inter Milan. PSG were dominant on the domestic scene, winning Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and the Trophee des Champions.
"Luis Enrique’s team also dazzled on the global stage. While they were beaten in the final of the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup, PSG delivered a series of sparkling performances on the way to the showpiece match, with their run including outstanding wins over Bayern Munich and Real Madrid."
In terms of the voting process, a shortlist was chosen by a panel of experts based on coaches' achievements between 11 August 2024 to 2 August 2025. From that shortlist, votes were then cast by men’s national team coaches, men’s national team captains, football journalists, and fans who voted on FIFA’s official website. Voters made their first, second and third choices for the winner.
This meant that Lionel Messi, captain of Argentina, was able to cast a vote. What's more, FIFA have shared the official voting breakdown of every player who voted, which means we can see who he picked as he three best coaches in 2025.
Messi Names Premier League Manager Among Best FIFA Men's Coaches
Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates against Venezuela.
World Cup - CONMEBOL Qualifiers - Argentina v Venezuela - Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina - September 4, 2025 Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring their third goal REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian
It's no surpise that PSG's Luis Enrique was his number one pick. As outlined above, the Spaniard had a fantastic year, and also enjoyed success with Messi at Barcelona in the past. His next shout isn't too eye-catching either, with the Argentine showing loyalty to his former club by voting for Hansi Flick, who led Barca to glory in La Liga.
For his final vote, however, Messi may have surprised a few. He picked a Premier League boss, but not former Barca coach Pep Guardiola (who had an admittedly poor season at Manchester City.) Nor did he hand out his vote to league-winning Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.
Instead, Messi named his thrid-best manager of 2025 as Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard did not deliver any silverware with Arsenal, but impressed as the Gunners came second in the league and made the Champions League semi-final. Perhaps Messi enjoyed when the Catalan coach – who came through La Masia – oversaw Arsenal's 5-1 spanking of Real Madrid across two legs in the Champions League quarter-final.
Messi also had a vote in picking the best men's player, handing out Dembele the most points, while placing Kylian Mbappe second and then choosing Lamine Yamal after that. Finally, he had his say in the best goalkeeper prize too: picking Gianluigi Donnarumma first, Argentina teammate Emiliano Martínez next, and then placing Thibaut Courtois third on his list.