ESPYS 2026 Winners: See the Complete List

Jalen Brunson, Lionel Messi & More Score ESPYS 2026 Nominations

The biggest night in sports has finally kicked off.

Athletes from across college and professional leagues traded in their uniforms and equipment for high heels and bowties as they arrived at the 2026 ESPY Awards July 15 in New York City.

Indeed, the annual ceremony—hosted by Saturday Night Live star Marcello Hernández at Lincoln Center—shines a light on the best and brightest in sports.

Take, for instance, the Best Athlete in Men's Sports nominees: soccer legend Lionel Messi, NBA Championship-winning New York Knicks captain Jalen Brunson, Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani and Los Angeles Rams' Matthew Stafford.

And the women's category is just as stacked, with PWHL Detroit's Hilary Knight, Las Vegas Aces' A'ja Wilson, skier Mikaela Shiffrin and golfer Nelly Korda competing for the award.

It's sure to be a game-winning event since matches from the 2026 Winter Olympic Games are eligible, which means the Team USA men's and women's hockey teams are up for Best Play or Best Team for their respective gold-medal performances.

As athletes cross their fingers to win big, Hernandez will have a team of ESPY award winners presenting categories, including Simone Biles—who took home Best Athlete at last year's event—as well as 2025's Best Breakthrough Athlete winner Ilona Maher and 2022 winner of Best Female Action Sport Athlete Eileen Gu.

While sports stars wait to see who wins big, one of the most noticeable absences is Messi. Although he's nominated for Best Athlete and Best Soccer Player, Argentina faced off with England at the World Cup in Atlanta at the same time.

So, it's no surprise that the two-time MVP winner has been focused on keeping his head in the game, despite the evening's honors.

Mike Coppola/Getty Images

"I've always been competitive," he shared in a December interview with ESPN Argentina's SportsCenter in Spanish. "I like to win and I try to do it. Along the way I've had bad stretches or tough moments, but I always keep trying and I get back up, always looking for the best."

And Messi, 39, is always looking towards the future, adding, "What's coming becomes more important than what already happened and with time, you start valuing things much more."

Now, huddle up and keep reading to see all the athletes who won big at the 2026 ESPY Awards.

BEST ATHLETE, MEN'S SPORTS

Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks

Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF

Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers

Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

BEST ATHLETE, WOMEN'S SPORTS

Hilary Knight, Hockey

Nelly Korda, Golf

Mikaela Shiffrin, Ski

A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces

BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE

Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks

WINNER: Alysa Liu, Figure Skating

Drake Maye, New England Patriots

Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Football

BEST RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE

Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns – broke the NFL single-season sack record

Megan Grant, UCLA Softball – broke the NCAA single-season softball home run record

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Cross-Country Skier – first athlete to win six golds at Winter Games

Sabastian Sawe, Long-Distance Runner – first to finish a marathon in under two hours

ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE

WINNER: Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks

Aerin Frankel, USA Women’s Hockey

Connor Hellebuyck, USA Men’s Hockey

Teagan Kavan, Texas Longhorns Softball

BEST COMEBACK ATHLETE

Anthony Kim, Golf

Savy King, Angel City FC

Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers

Kyndal Stowers, Texas A&M Volleyball

BEST PLAY

Golden Goal for Gold! – Olympic Women’s Hockey

Golden Goal for Gold! – Olympic Men’s Hockey

UConn stuns Duke with Braylon Mullins’ buzzer-beating 3 – NCAA Men’s March Madness

OG Anunoby’s Tip-In – NBA Finals

Caleb Williams Game Tying TD vs. Rams – NFL

BEST TEAM

Las Vegas Aces, WNBA

Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB

Indiana Hoosiers, NCAA Football

Carolina Hurricanes, NHL

New York Knicks, NBA

Texas Longhorns, NCAA Softball

Seattle Seahawks, NFL

Team USA Men's Hockey

Team USA Women’s Hockey

Maja Hitij - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

BEST SINGLE-GAME PERFORMANCE

Tyce Armstrong, Baylor Baseball – hit three grand slams in a single game, tying a record set 50 years ago

Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat – scored 83 points for the Miami Heat in a 150–129 win against the Washington Wizards, recording the second-highest single-game total in NBA history

Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame Basketball – broke the NCAA record for most steals (16) in a game

Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers – pitched six scoreless innings, struck out 10 batters and hit three home runs

BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS

Cameron Boozer, Duke Basketball

WINNER: Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Football

Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State Wrestling

Donavan Phillip, NC State Soccer

BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS

Olivia Babcock, Pittsburgh Volleyball

Lauren Betts, UCLA Basketball

Madison Taylor, Northwestern Lacrosse

Faith Torrez, Oklahoma Gymnastics

BEST ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY

Jake Adicoff, Para Nordic-Skiing

Declan Farmer, Para Hockey

Oksana Masters, Para Cross-Country Skiing

Susannah Scaroni, Wheelchair Racing

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

BEST NFL PLAYER

Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns

Drake Maye, New England Patriots

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks

Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

BEST MLB PLAYER

Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers

Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners

Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates

BEST NHL PLAYER

Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks

Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning

Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche

Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

BEST NBA PLAYER

Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

BEST WNBA PLAYER

Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx

Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream

Alyssa Thomas, Phoenix Mercury

A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

BEST DRIVER

Kimi Antonelli, F1

Lando Norris, F1

Alex Palou, IndyCar

Tyler Reddick, NASCAR

BEST FIGHTER

Terence Crawford, Boxing

Gabriela Fundora, Boxing

Justin Gaethje, MMA

Claressa Shields, Boxing

BEST SOCCER PLAYER

Temwa Chawinga, KC Current

Ousmane Dembélé, PSG/France

Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF

Alexia Putellas, Spain/Barcelona

BEST GOLFER

Nelly Korda

Rory McIlroy

Scottie Scheffler

Jeeno Thitikul

BEST TENNIS PLAYER

Carlos Alcaraz

Elena Rybakina

Aryna Sabalenka

Jannik Sinner

To see all the stars at the ESPYS 2026, read on...

For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App