Arsenal's Premier League title-winning season has earned recognition for both the club and Mikel Arteta ahead of the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony.
Arsenal and Mikel Arteta have both been nominated for honours at the 2026 Ballon d'Or awards after returning the Premier League trophy to North London.
The Gunners are on the five-club shortlist for Men's Club of the Year, while Arteta has also been nominated for the Men's Coach of the Year award.
It comes after Arsenal finally ended their 22-year wait for a league title, having finished second for three successive seasons before.
The Gunners won 26 league games on their way to finishing seven points clear at the top, with five successive victories getting them over the line at the end of the season. They also made their deepest Champions League run, reaching the final for the first time since 2006.
Arsenal face Bayern Munich, Bodø/Glimt, Flamengo and Paris Saint-Germain for the club prize. PSG, who beat the Gunners in the Champions League final, are looking to retain the award having won it last year.
Arteta's nomination runs alongside the Gunners’ title-winning season. Last season brought the first Premier League title of his managerial career, almost seven years after he left Manchester City's coaching staff to take charge at Arsenal.
Arteta opened his Arsenal career with a trophy, lifting the FA Cup at the end of the season he joined. But the league proved tougher. Finishing eight during his first two seasons, before a fifth-placed finish that led Arsenal to three successive seasons as runners-up.
After winning the Premier League, Europe came close to making the season even bigger.
Arsenal beat Bayern Munich and Inter Milan during the Champions League league phase before getting past Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting CP and Atletico Madrid on their way to the final in Budapest.
The Ballon d'Or coaching award is judged on more than trophies alone. The criteria also include the quality of a team's football, leadership, tactical work, how effectively a coach uses the players available to him and the development of young talent.
Arsenal’s season wasn’t without difficulties, with numerous injuries throughout. Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Bukayo Saka all missed football at different stages before returning to begin the new campaign together.
The squad has changed again since the title was won, but the nominations are based on the completed 2025/26 season rather than anything Arsenal have done since August.
That means their three wins from three at the beginning of the new Premier League campaign will have no bearing on either award.
The club and coach prizes are both decided by an international panel of specialist journalists. Each voter selects two candidates from the relevant five-name shortlist, with two points awarded to their first choice and one to their second.
Arsenal have already experienced success in the club category. Last year, the women's team were named Women's Club of the Year at the 2025 Ballon d'Or ceremony following their first Champions League win since 2007.
The 2026 winners will be announced on October 26, when the Ballon d'Or ceremony is held in London for the first time