Elena Sadiku has made history after being named one of five finalists for the 2026 Ballon d’Or Women’s Coach of the Year award.

The Swedish-Albanian coach of BK Häcken is the only woman among the five finalists, competing against Jonatan Giráldez of OL Lyonnes, Andrée Jeglertz of Manchester City, Nils Nielsen of Japan and Pere Romeu of Barcelona.

Sadiku, who was born in Germany to Kosovar Albanian parents and grew up in Sweden, earned the recognition following a remarkable period in her coaching career. She has previously said that she is Albanian and wants to make both Kosova and Albania proud.

Her breakthrough came at Celtic, where she took charge of the women’s team in January 2024. Under her leadership, Celtic won the club’s first Scottish Women’s Premier League title and reached the UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage for the first time.

Sadiku left Celtic at the end of 2025 to become head coach of BK Häcken in Sweden. She signed a three-year contract with the Swedish champions.

The move quickly paid off.

In May 2026, Häcken became the inaugural winners of the UEFA Women’s Europa Cup, defeating fellow Swedish side Hammarby 4–2 on aggregate in the final. Häcken won the first leg 1–0 before securing a 3–2 victory at home, with Felicia Schröder scoring a hat-trick in the second leg.

The European triumph marked Häcken’s first international trophy and made Sadiku one of the most prominent young coaches in European women’s football.

Now, she is among the five coaches competing for one of the biggest individual honors in the sport.

The winner of the Women’s Coach of the Year award will be announced at the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony in London on October 26.