Finding a way to win - Laureus World Team of the Year Nominees
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Our Nominees for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award forged their triumphs in the toughest of moments.
Every great team has to pass the test. For some of them, it’s one moment; for others, a series of challenges that make their eventual victory more meaningful. All our Nominees for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award found themselves at that point. All of them answered the bell. Only one will be rewarded with the Laureus in Madrid on April 20, with the world watching.
Which team will be selected by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the ultimate sporting jury of former champions as the winner? Perhaps it will come down to how they handled those moments that change everything. Sometimes, it’s about the superstars who step up. Sometimes it’s about the emergence of new heroes when the stakes are at their highest. Sometimes its about that magical collective power that binds sport’s greatest teams and elevates them above their rivals.
Which team will be selected by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the ultimate sporting jury of former champions as the winner? Perhaps it will come down to how they handled those moments that change everything. Sometimes, it’s about the superstars who step up. Sometimes it’s about the emergence of new heroes when the stakes are at their highest. Sometimes its about that magical collective power that binds sport’s greatest teams and elevates them above their rivals.
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Paris Saint-Germain won six titles in 2025 but to get the one they viewed as first among equals – the club’s first Champions League crown – they had to walk through fire: a penalty shootout against Liverpool and a late Aston Villa resurgence in the quarter-finals. Then, when their moment came, they produced a performance for the ages: a 5-0 thrashing of Inter Milan that saw their young stars Désiré Doué, Vitinha and Nuno Mendes shine. Next to these stars of tomorrow stood their captain, Marquinhos, in his 12th season with the club, finally in possession of club football’s most famous trophy. Will he now get his hands on the most coveted prize in sport – The Laureus?
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The European Ryder Cup Team had not won on American soil since a one-point win in Illinois in 2012. That narrative looked to be changing on day one, with Team Europe recording positive performances in all but two of their eight pairings and, by close of play on Saturday, Europe had a seven-point buffer, with Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award Nominee Rory McIlroy contributing to 3 ½ points from his four matches. Luke Donald’s team went into the final day with the highest recorded lead since 1979. In front of a hostile crowd, European nerve was tested as the USA rallied with one of the greatest team singles showings in Ryder Cup history. Shane Lowry came up with the big moment – an eight-foot birdie putt on the final green to earn the half-point that retained the trophy; Tyrrell Hatton kept his nerve in the cauldron to secure the draw that gave Europe the win.
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For the India Women’s Cricket Team, crisis came quickly in their home World Cup. The host nation were almost out before the knockout stage thanks to consecutive defeats by South Africa, Australia and England. After they rallied in their final group games, they faced Australia again in the semi-finals. Again, India were on the brink of elimination, before recording the highest successful chase in women’s One Day International history, scoring 339 runs. Jemimah Rodrigues chose the perfect stage on which to record her highest ever WODI score, her unbeaten 127 providing the anchor for a thrilling victory. Three days later, in a jubilant Mumbai, a narrow victory saw India enact their revenge on South Africa in the final, lifting the trophy for the first time and sparking nationwide celebrations in a landmark moment for women’s sport in the country.
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2025 also brought a first title for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who finished their season with 68 wins. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – nominated for the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award – added his name to basketball royalty, firing his side to a Finals Series against the Indiana Pacers that went to Game Seven. After a dominant season, the Thunder found themselves behind going into the third quarter, but three consecutive three pointers turned the momentum in their favour and their star man finished the Series as Finals MVP.
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For triumph in the face of adversity, see the England Women’s Football Team. They entered the 2025 Women’s Euros as the defending champions – but opened their account with a 2-1 defeat by France in Zurich. They recovered to navigate a path to the knockouts but, in the 25th minute of their quarter-final against Sweden, the Lionesses were two goals behind. Teenage substitute Michelle Agyemang latched on to a Beth Mead header to draw England level, setting up an eventual penalty shootout win to reach the semi-final. There, Italy seemed poised to knock them out before Agyemang’s last-minute equaliser, and an extra-time Chloe Kelly penalty guided the reigning champions to another final. In Basel, they were made to sweat, with Mariona Caldentey giving World Champions Spain a first-half lead. This time, Alessia Russo sparked the comeback, with an equaliser to drag the game to penalties. Young goalkeeper Hannah Hampton rose to the occasion, denying Caldentey and Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí to secure the win – and ensure that England made history as only the second team to successfully defend the Women’s Euros crown.
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For the McLaren Mastercard Formula One Team, the challenge was more like a marathon than a sprint. Their generation-long struggle to regain the Constructors’ Championship was won after a surge in the second half of the 2024 season, also earning them a first nomination for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award. This time around, the task was consolidation and their young drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri delivered in style. McLaren won 12 of the first 15 races, including the season opener in Australia, their home Grand Prix at Silverstone and the showpiece in Monaco. Norris – nominated for the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award – held off a surge from reigning champion Max Verstappen to win the Drivers’ Championship at the final race of the season but their second successive team title – and their 10th overall – was sealed with six races remaining.
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The world remembers the trophy lift. But the teams that stand on that podium all get there the hard way. All of them deserve their place on the shortlist for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award, where they face their toughest challenge yet: which one of them will receive the greatest prize in sport in Madrid on April 20?
