Dembélé shortlisted for Laureus Sportsman of the Year, Désiré Doué among Breakthrough nominees | OneFootball

Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué have been nominated for the 2026 Laureus World Sports Awards, in Sportsman of the Year and Breakthrough of the Year respectively. Paris Saint-Germain are also up for Team of the Year.

According to L'Équipe, the 27th edition will take place on Monday 20 April in Madrid, with the shortlists unveiled on Tuesday. The PSG pair are nominated in separate categories.

Ballon d'Or 2025 winner Dembélé, 28, is in contention for Sportsman of the Year, a prize no French athlete has won since its creation in 2000. His rivals include tennis stars Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, Sweden's world pole vault record-holder Armand Duplantis, the 2025 winner, Spain's MotoGP rider Marc Marquez, and Slovenia's Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar.

Doué, 20, is among six nominees for Breakthrough of the Year, alongside Brazilian tennis player Joao Fonseca, Canada's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, MVP of the last NBA season, Britons Lando Norris in Formula 1 and Luke Littler in darts, and China's Yu Zidi, aged 13.

Beyond the individual nods, PSG feature in the Team of the Year category after being European champions and Club World Cup finalists in 2025. No French club has won this award, which has gone twice to France's national football team, in 2001 and 2019.

Source: L'Équipe