Luis Enrique, Guardiola and Sampaoli up for World Coach of the Year

Luis Enrique, Pep Guardiola and Jorge Sampaoli have been named as the final three nominees for the FIFA World Coach of the Year award.

Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique guided the club to a historic treble in his first season at the Camp Nou helm in 2014-15, while Guardiola delivered another Bundesliga title to Bayern Munich, who are unbeaten in the league this term.

Sampaoli made history at international level as he took Chile to the Copa America title on home soil with a penalty shoot-out win over Argentina in July.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho and Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri miss out despite guiding their respective clubs to league and cup doubles last season, while Laurent Blanc is also unfortunate not to make the final three off the back of Paris Saint-Germain’s first domestic treble.

Former Barcelona midfielder Edgar Davids has backed Luis Enrique to triumph at the Ballon d’Or Gala in January, telling FIFA.com: “As a young coach, doing this, it’s unbelievable. He had to learn the trade and he did it. At Barca it’s very difficult to accomplish that and I think he deserves to win it.”

Germany head coach Joachim Low won the 2014 prize after leading his country to World Cup glory in Brazil.

The final three spots for the World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football all went to the top three sides at the World Cup in Canada this year.

Jill Ellis, who led the United States to the title, is joined by beaten finalists Japan’s coach Norio Sasaki and Mark Sampson, who guided England to third spot with a play-off win over Germany.

The nominees are decided by a vote made by national team captains, coaches and selected journalists.