Conte and Maresca up for Coach of the Year prize at 2025 Ballon d’Or

Originally posted on Football Italia | By Peter Young | Last updated Aug 7, 2025 7:59 AM ET

Napoli head coach Antonio Conte is among the nominees for this year’s Cruyff Trophy, otherwise known as the Coach of the Year award as part of the 2025 Ballon d’Or awards.

France Football, who organise the Ballon d’Or awards, are announcing the nominees across all men’s and women’s categories on Thursday ahead of the ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on September 22.

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Conte and Marseca nominated for 2025 Coach of the Year

Conte is nominated for the award after guiding Napoli to the Scudetto in 2024-25, an achievement for which he is also expected to claim the Serie A coach of the year award.

Napoli were locked into a battle with Inter right until the last league match of the 2024-25 season, but eventually got the job done with a 2-0 win over Cagliari on the final day, thanks to goals from MVP Scott McTominay and leading goalscorer Romelu Lukaku.

Conte is one of two Italian tacticians nominated for the 2025 Cruyff Trophy, alongside Chelsea head coach and recent Club World Cup champion Enzo Maresca.

They are joined on the list of nominees by PSG’s Champions League winner Luis Enrique, Barcelona boss Hansi Flick and Liverpool’s Premier League winner Arne Slot.