Lionesses and Leah Williamson among nominees for 2026 Laureus World Sports Awards as Ousmane Dembele, Aitana Bonmati and Desire Doue also shortlisted

Last year, the Sportsman of the Year, won by Sweden's record-breaking pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis, did not include a football nominee, with tennis star Carlos Alcaraz, swimmer Leon Marchand, cyclist Tadej Pogacar and Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen beaten to the prize.

This year, though, footballers are in the mix for both the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards, with Aitana Bonmati aiming to win the latter accolade for the second time. The Barcelona and Spain midfielder, who has won the last three Ballons d'Or Feminin, was nominated in 2025 after winning in 2024, but lost out to American gymnast Simone Biles.

For the men's award, Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele is in the mix alongside Duplantis, Alcaraz, Pogacar, another tennis star in Jannik Sinner and motorcyclist Marc Marquez. Bonmati, meanwhile, will go up against the American athletics pair of Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Kenyan runner Faith Kipyegon, tennis star Aryna Sabalenka and American swimmer Katie Ledecky.

Football has had a lot of success in the Laureus World Team of the Year award and the chances of that happening again are high as two football teams are nominated in 2026. All of the last five editions of this prize, and six of the last seven, have gone to football teams, including the men's national teams of France, Italy and Argentina, Bonmati's Spain side, plus Bayern Munich and, last year, Real Madrid.

This time around, both PSG, winners of last season's Champions League, and England's Lionesses, who defended their European title in Switzerland, are nominated, alongside the European Ryder Cup team, India's women's cricket team, the Oklahoma City Thunder and McLaren's Formula 1 team.

There's one more nomination for PSG, too, as Desire Doue is up for the World Breakthrough of the Year award, which Yamal won last year. Joining him on the shortlist are Brazilian tennis player Joao Fonseca, Candian basketball player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, darts star Luke Littler, Formula 1 champion Lando Norris and swimmer Yu Zidi.

Williamson's nomination comes in the World Comeback of the Year category, which features a plethora of inspiring tales. After tearing her ACL just three months before the 2023 Women's World Cup, forcing her to miss out on the honour of leading her nation out at the biggest tournament in the sport, Williamson bounced back from that heartbreak last year when she guided England to another Euros title.

Also nominated for this award are Amanda Anisimova, the American tennis player who reached the Wimbledon and US Open finals in 2025, two years after stepping away from the sport to prioritise her mental health; Egan Bernal, the Colombian cycling who won a first Grand Tour stage since his near-fatal crash in 2022; Yulimar Rojas, who bounced back from a two-year absence due to an achilles injury to win bronze at the World Athletics Championship; Rory McIlroy, the golfer who ended an 11-year wait for another major win by triumphing at the Masters to complete the career grand slam; and British cyclist Simon Yates, who won the 2025 Giro d’Italia, seven years after losing a 38-minute lead in 2018.

Rebeca Andrade, the Brazilian gymnast, won this award in 2025.

Winners of the 2026 Laureus World Sports Awards will be revealed on April 20, at the ceremony at Cibeles Palace in Madrid, Spain. Eight awards will be given out in total, with football having a chance to prevail in four, as opposed to the three chances it had in 2025.