London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 07, 2026

Messi & Argentina World Cup team win Laureus awards

Messi & Argentina World Cup team win Laureus awards

Lionel Messi and his World Cup-winning Argentina scored a double by being named Sportsman and Team of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards.

Argentina won the 2022 World Cup by beating France on penalties in the final following a thrilling 3-3 draw

Messi captained Argentina, scored seven times and won the Golden Ball as his country won the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in December.

He is the first athlete to win the team and individual awards in the same year.

Sportswoman of the year went to Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

She won the women's 100m world title at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon in July, becoming the first person to win five golds in an individual track event at the championships.

"This is a special honour," said Paris St-Germain forward Messi, 35. "Particularly as the Laureus World Sports Awards are in Paris this year, the city that has welcomed my family since we came here in 2021.

"I want to thank all my team-mates, not only from the national team but also at PSG - I have achieved none of this alone and I am grateful to be able to share everything with them."

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has won 10 outdoor world sprint titles, including relays


Fraser-Pryce's 100m gold came 13 years after her first and the 36-year-old has more world sprint titles than any other athlete.

She ran a sub-10.7-seconds 100m seven times in 2022, three more than the previous best for a female sprinter in a calendar year.

"I was thrilled to be nominated alongside such inspiring women athletes, and to win this award, voted for by some of the greatest sportsmen and women of all time, is just amazing," she said.

"This is the sixth time I've been nominated in this category, so to finally hold the Laureus statuette in my hands is one of the greatest honours of my career."

Argentina lifted the World Cup for the third time, beating France in a penalty shootout in Doha after possibly the greatest final of all time, which ended in a 3-3 draw.

They beat England's Euro 2022-winning Lionesses, men's Champions League winners Real Madrid and France's men's Six Nations champions to win the award.

Manchester United and Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen won Comeback of the Year following his return to football after collapsing on the pitch because of cardiac arrest during Euro 2020, while men's tennis world number two Carlos Alcaraz was awarded World Breakthrough of the Year after a 2022 in which the then 19-year-old won the US Open and became tennis' youngest men's number one.

The award winners were voted for by a selection of sporting greats who make up the members of the Laureus Academy.


Full awards list


* Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award: Lionel Messi

* Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce

* Laureus World Team of the Year award: Argentina men's football team

* Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year award: Carlos Alcaraz

* Laureus World Comeback of the Year award: Christian Eriksen

* Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability award: Catherine Debrunner

* Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year award: Eileen Gu

* Laureus Sport for Good award: TeamUp (A programme for children displaced by war by Barcelona and Poland striker Robert Lewandowski)

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
University of Bristol Opens £500 Million Innovation Campus
Families Give Evidence to Independent Review of Sussex Maternity Failures
Sweden Confirms Deportation of 458 British Citizens Over Post-Brexit Residency Rules
UK Launches £3 Million Challenge for Long-Duration Energy Storage
Reform UK Proposes £100 Billion in Spending Cuts and Brownfield Deregulation
Andy Burnham Warns Macron That EU Procurement Rules Could Hurt British Steel
Andy Burnham Faces Major Decision on Future North Sea Oil and Gas Drilling
SEND Support in England Projected to Reach One in 10 Pupils
England’s Housing Courts Struggle With Surge in No-Fault Eviction Cases
Violent Clashes Erupt in Portsmouth During Protest Against Asylum Processing
Three-Quarters of NHS Emergency Staff Report Regular Violence or Aggression
UK Considers Converting Female Prison Space for Male Inmates as Overcrowding Worsens
UK House Prices Record First Annual Decline in Nearly Three Years
UK Government Reassesses Policy Toward Israel Amid Calls for Diplomatic Shift
Reform UK Faces Police Scrutiny Over Alleged Foreign Donations Scheme
University of Bristol Opens £500 Million Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus
Online Bookmakers Accused of Privacy Breaches Through Cookie Consent Practices
Health Campaigners Urge UK Government to Abandon U.S. Pharmaceutical Agreement
Three-Quarters of UK A&E Staff Report Regular Violence or Aggression
Far-Right Demonstrations Target Portsmouth as Small-Boat Crossings Fuel Tensions
UK Records Hottest Summer on Record After Severe Heatwaves
UK Travellers Face Renewed EU Border Delays as Temporary Flexibility Ends
UK Rejects Calls to Pause AI Data Centre Expansion Despite Energy Concerns
UK Defence Figures Push for 3% Spending Target Amid Falklands Concerns
England Faces Rising Financial Pressure as Special Educational Needs Plans Surge
Metropolitan Police Consider Reform UK Probe Over Overseas Donations
Keir Starmer to Leave Parliament, Triggering By-Election
UK Treasury Weighs Windfall Taxes on Banks and Oil Companies Amid Bond Market Turmoil
Jaguar Land Rover to Cut Thousands of Jobs as UK Government Rules Out Bailout
OpenAI Unveils GPT-6 and Says: "We May Already Have Reached AGI"
Congressman Accused Andrew of Sex Crimes in the United States
Donald Trump: "I'm Glad Harry and Meghan Left the United States"
Spicy Food Is Linked to Lower Death Risk — but It Is Not a Miracle Cure
AfD Enters Saxony-Anhalt Election at 41% in Historic Test for German Politics
Gen Z Turns to Investing as America's First-Home Dream Moves Further Out of Reach
Thousands Join London March Calling for Tighter Abortion Restrictions
Institute of Directors Says Tax and Regulatory Uncertainty Still Weighs on UK Investment
Bank of England Faces Rate Dilemma as Weak Growth and Persistent Inflation Raise Stagflation Risks
Masked Anti-Immigration Protesters Block Roads to Port of Dover
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Sets Out Devolution and Re-Industrialisation Agenda
British Chambers of Commerce Forecasts UK Growth of Just 1% Through 2027
UK Government Advances Bill to Tighten Rules on Overseas Political Donations
Nigel Farage Faces Scrutiny Over Alleged Reform UK Donation-Law Evasion
Thousands Join Anti-Abortion March Through Central London
UK Beekeepers Call for Nationwide Tracking as Asian Hornet Sightings Increase
England Sees Sharp Rise in Property Subsidence Claims After Record Summer Heat
House of Lords Advances Financial Services Reform Bill
House of Lords Begins Detailed Scrutiny of Railways Bill and Great British Railways Plan
UK Treasury Cuts Green Book Discount Rate to Support More Regional Infrastructure Projects
Reform UK Suspends Two Senior Aides After Undercover Report on Foreign Donation Rules
×