The year 2025 may have felt like a fever dream of high-octane drama to some, but to others it provided critical long-awaited breakthroughs. This article is a recap of some of the biggest moment in global sports over the last year. We’ve included our pick for best sportsman and our favorite story for 2025. It has been one heck of a year. Let's get to it.
First and foremost, love him or hate him, Rory McIlroy finally delivered on his promise. After eleven years of near-misses and the mounting weight of a career grand slam on his shoulders, McIlroy finally conquered his demons at Augusta National. Entering the final round of the Masters with a lead that felt both commanding and precarious, Rory weathered a surge from the field to finally put on his first Green Jacket. The victory made him just the sixth man in history to complete the career slam, finally silencing the critics who wondered if he would ever master the undulating greens of Georgia. This win for the Northern Irishman wasn't just about a trophy; it was about the relief of a man who had been the "nearly man" at Augusta for a decade. By joining the elite club of Sarazen, Hogan, Player, Nicklaus, and Woods, he cemented his legacy as the greatest golfer of his generation. Winning the Ryder Cup, if you can believe it, was just the cherry on top for McIlroy this year.
The 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black was a high-stakes showdown that combined record-breaking dominance with a nerve-shredding finale. Entering hostile territory in Farmingdale, New York, Team Europe pulled off a historic 15–13 victory, marking their first win on American soil since the "Miracle at Medinah" in 2012. The Europeans essentially won the Cup in the first two days, delivering a clinical performance to sweep the opening sessions and build a massive 11.5–4.5 lead—the largest in the event's modern history. However, Sunday Singles turned into a "War at the Shore" style battle as the U.S. launched a furious comeback, winning nearly every early match to bring the score to a knife-edge before Shane Lowry secured the crucial half-point to retain the Cup.
Rory McIlroy was the undisputed leader of the European effort, arriving in New York riding the momentum of his career-defining Masters win earlier in the year. His role was as much about leadership and mental fortitude as it was about scoring. On the course McIlroy played an exhausting schedule, competing in all four team sessions over Friday and Saturday. He contributed 3.5 points out of a possible five, forming a devastating partnership with Ludvig Åberg that demoralized the American pairings early on. As the primary target of the famously rowdy New York gallery, McIlroy had to show immense restraint. He famously had to back off putts due to heckling—including one viral moment where police had to intervene—but he responded by holing a crucial 18-footer on the 11th hole during Sunday’s singles to "stop the bleeding." By the time he faced Scottie Scheffler in a heavyweight Sunday singles match, McIlroy was visibly "running on fumes." Though he narrowly lost that match 1-up on the 18th, his work during the first two days had provided the massive cushion Europe needed to survive the American surge. For Rory, the victory at Bethpage Black cemented 2025 as his greatest ever season, proving he could not only win the Grand Slam for himself but lead his continent to a historic "Fairytale of New York." For these reasons, McIlory gets our pick for sportsman of the year in 2025.
The sport of Formula 1 also saw a seismic shift in 2025, as the era of Red Bull’s absolute dominance hit a papaya-colored wall. Lando Norris, driving with a clinical precision that belied his young age, piloted his McLaren to a historic World Drivers' Championship. The title race went down to a nail-biting finale in Abu Dhabi a few weeks ago, where Norris secured the podium finish he needed to edge out Max Verstappen by a mere two points. McLaren’s comprehensive Constructors’ victory was the story of the season, proving that with the right upgrades and a fearless driver pairing, the grid's hierarchy is never truly set in stone. Max Verstappen’s Red Bull was supposed to be invincible, but Norris and McLaren turned 2025 into a small revolution. McLaren’s Constructors victory represents a fundamental shift in the F1 power structure. And Lando isn't just a fast driver anymore; he's the man who broke one of the most dominant streaks in F1 racing history.
On the rugby pitch, the South Africa’s national rugby team, called the Springboks (‘Boks’ or ‘Bokke’), continued to redefine what it means to be a global powerhouse. Coming off their back-to-back World Cup titles, the Bokke spent 2025 dismantling opponents with a mix of tactical genius and raw physical dominance. Their season was highlighted by a record-breaking 43–10 hammering of the All Blacks in Wellington—the largest margin of victory ever recorded by the Boks on All Black soil. With the rise of young stars like Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu adding flair to their legendary "Bomb Squad" tactics with the forwards pack, the South Africans ended the year firmly entrenched as the world’s undisputed number one team.
Tennis entered a golden new age as the new rivalry between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz reached a boiling point. The duo became the first in the Open Era to face off in three consecutive Grand Slam finals in a single season, effectively turning every major into a two-man shootout. Alcaraz took a grueling, five-set thriller at Roland Garros, but Sinner exacted his revenge on the hallowed grass of Wimbledon. By the time they met again at the US Open, it was clear that the Big Three era had officially passed the torch to these two young titans, who combined to win nearly every significant trophy on the 2025 calendar. While Alcaraz won a historic, five-hour Roland Garros final, Jannik Sinner’s consistency was unbelievable. He even weathered a controversial and suspect doping cloud early in the year to win the Australian Open and Wimbledon, ending 2025 as the man to beat. If the "Big Three" era is dead, and we absolutely HAD TO make a choice, we would say Sinner is now the one holding the gavel.
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The Olympic sport of squash took a massive leap toward the mainstream this year, fueling excitement for its upcoming LA 2028 Summer Games debut. The Professional Squash Association (PSA World Tour) aggressively expanded its tour events, but the biggest win for fans happened off the court. Through a landmark deal, the SquashTV app was integrated directly into new Samsung Smart TV subscriptions, offering free live access to over 2,000 matches. This move should transform the sport from a niche sports broadcast category to the mainstream, allowing fans to easily watch some of the world’s most athletic sportsmen and sportswomen lunging across glass courts on their living room TV’s. And all at the click of a button on a remote control. No more hunting for squash videos on SquashTV or YouTube. PSA World Tour, great job and welcome to the show.
The men’s squash circuit was dominated by a two intense rivalries. Mostafa (the Raging Bull) Asal is the new King of the Squash World. If 2024 was about Mostafa Asal’s potential, 2025 was about his absolute takeover. The Egyptian sensation delivered the most dominant individual performance of the decade at the PSA World Championships in Chicago. Asal claimed his first-ever World Title by defeating the legendary Ali Farag in a straight-games final. Remarkably, Asal did not drop a single game throughout the entire tournament, a feat of surgical precision that confirmed his rise to World No. 1. He followed this by reclaiming the U.S. Open title in October, again without dropping a game, signaling a "changing of the guard" at the top of the rankings.
Perhaps the most emotional and hard-earned performance of the year came from Joel Makin. Known for his superhuman fitness and "never-say-die" attitude, Makin made history in June by becoming the first Welshman to win the PSA Squash Tour Finals in Toronto. After outlasting defending champion Diego Elías in a controversial semi-final, Makin stunned Mostafa Asal in the final. His ability to turn every match into a brutal physical battle earned him a career-high ranking of World No. 4. Anticipate many more Raging Bull versus Welsh Warrior battles to come.
Another battle on the squash court was between Superman and the Pharaoh. New Zealand’s Paul Coll proved he is still the most resilient player on tour with a masterful victory at the London Squash Classic. Playing at the iconic Alexandra Palace, Coll fended off a resurgent Joel Makin to retain his title. However, his "moment of the year" came at the Qatar Classic, where he broke an Egyptian stronghold to take the trophy in a high-intensity final against Asal. While he suffered the "upset of the century" losing to a teenage wildcard at the Egyptian Open, his ability to bounce back and win major Gold and Platinum titles kept him firmly in the World No. 2 spot.
The "Giant-Killer" that defeated Coll in Egypt was Adam Hawal and he delivered the single most shocking performance of 2025. Hawal entered the Egyptian Open as a 17-year-old wildcard ranked no. 252 in the world. Despite the long odds against him, Hawal stunned the squash community by defeating Paul Coll at that event. The match, played in the shadow of the Pyramids, saw the teenager out-maneuver the veteran 3–1, a performance that instantly made him the most talked-about prospect for the LA Olympics. Will the Pharaoh get his gold in 2028?
Soccer’s transition into its next great era was codified in 2025 through the relentless goals of Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland. While the 2026 World Cup loomed on the horizon, 2025 was the year their individual rivalry became the sport’s biggest pull. Mbappé flourished in his first full year at Real Madrid, while Haaland continued to treat the Premier League like a personal playground. Though they represent different archetypes—Mbappé the artist and Haaland the robot—their statistical race for the Ballon d'Or became a defining narrative for the sport. Our favorite moment came in November 2025, when Kylian Mbappé delivered one of the most explosive performances of his career, scoring a lightning-fast hat-trick in just under seven minutes during a Champions League clash against Olympiakos.
On the night of November 26, 2025, Real Madrid traveled to Greece under immense pressure, having gone three games without a win. After falling behind early, Mbappé took over the match in a historic first-half blitz: Then he found the net in the 22nd, 24th, and 29th minutes. His first was a trademark burst of speed through the defense, followed by a rare headed goal from an Arda Güler cross, and a clinical finish to beat the offside trap for the third. Clocked at exactly 6 minutes and 42 seconds, it was the second-fastest hat-trick in Champions League history, falling just 30 seconds short of Mohamed Salah’s 2022 record (6:12). Not content with just the treble, if you can believe it, Mbappé added a fourth goal in the 60th minute, securing a wild 4–3 victory for Los Blancos. This performance was a turning point for Mbappé’s first full season at Real Madrid. By the end of November, he had surged to the top of the Champions League scoring charts with nine goals in just five matches, eventually ending the calendar year with a staggering 59 goals across all competitions—matching the club's single-year record held by none other than Cristiano Ronaldo.
On the high-seas there was sports drama too. The Ocean Race was another highlight of 2025. This year the race was a grueling 4,500-nautical-mile marathon that saw the French-flagged Biotherm, led by skipper Paul Meilhat, deliver one of the best performances in offshore racing history. Spanning from August to September, the fleet raced from Kiel, Germany, through the Atlantic and Mediterranean, before finishing in the stunning Boka Bay, Montenegro. Biotherm secured the title by winning four out of the five legs, as well as the final Coastal Race, showcasing a rare combination of mechanical reliability and tactical brilliance. The race was defined by extreme contrasts—from "parking" in the unpredictable light winds of the Gulf of Genoa to surviving 38-knot squalls and torrential thunderstorms off the coast of Sardinia.
In juxtaposition with traditional, long-distance offshore sailing that focuses on endurance, SailGP offers a high-speed, intense, in-shore race series focusing on extreme speed, the maximum use of technology, and massive spectator appeal. SailGP provided some of the year's most heart-stopping—and heart-breaking—moments of all global sports competition during 2025. The British team, led by a clinical Giles Scott, snatched a thrilling overall season victory, but the campaign was marred by technical chaos. A series of dramatic wing collapses across the fleet during high-speed maneuvers forced a sudden safety stand-down. This led to the shock cancellation of the highly anticipated Rio de Janeiro event, as engineers raced to repair structural defects in the F50 catamarans. While the cancellation was a blow to Brazilian fans, it underscored the "Formula 1 of sailing" reputation for pushing technology to its absolute, and sometimes dangerous, breaking point.
OUR FAVORITE 2025 MOMENT
Our favorite story line came in the sport of F1 racing - Nico Hülkenberg’s Silverstone Fairytale. After 15 years and a record 239 starts without a podium, Hülkenberg finally broke the curse. Starting P19 at the British Grand Prix, he navigated a wet-to-dry thriller to finish 3rd, leading to an emotional scene in the paddock where almost every other driver stopped their own celebrations to congratulate the German veteran. Nico (“Hulk”) Hülkenberg’s Formula 1 career is one of the most unique "long-game" stories in the history of the sport. Known for a decade as the most talented driver to never stand on the podium, he finally "broke the curse" in 2025, transforming his legacy from a statistical anomaly into a celebrated veteran hero.
The "Hulk" arrived in F1 in 2010 with one of the most decorated junior resumes in history, having won the GP2 (now F2) title in his debut season. His debut was with the Williams team. in 2010, where he stunned the paddock by taking a brilliant pole position in Brazil on a drying track, out-qualifying Sebastian Vettel by over a second. After losing his Williams seat due to sponsorship issues, he moved to Force India, where he established himself as a "midfield king," consistently dragging cars into positions they didn't belong. His mid-career could be characterized as the "Le Mans" Diversion (2013–2019). This era was defined by Hülkenberg’s reputation as a reliable, lightning-fast "safe pair of hands" for factory teams like Sauber and Renault. He was still a full-time F1 driver, but competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche and won on his first attempt. This highlighted a massive irony: he was a world-class champion in endurance racing but couldn't catch a break in F1.
And the F1 drought continued. Despite finishing 7th in the World Championship in 2018, the podium remained elusive. He suffered heartbreaking near-misses, most notably at the 2019 German GP. Hulk then became the F1 "Super-Sub" from 2020 to 2022. After being dropped by Renault, Hülkenberg became F1's "Emergency Driver." He famously stepped in for COVID-stricken drivers (Perez, Stroll, and Vettel) at a moment's notice, often qualifying in the top 10 with zero practice. These "pinch-hit" performances earned him a full-time return with Haas in 2023.
Finally his breakthrough came in 2025. Nico rejoined Sauber for the 2025 season - ahead of their transition to Audi in 2026. With the Sauber team Hülkenberg finally ended the longest wait in F1 history. Starting from 19th on the grid in a chaotic, rain-affected British Grand Prix, Nico drove a flawless tactical race to finish 3rd and thereby broke his podium "duck" at his 239th start, sparking scenes of jubilation in the paddock. There were even images of him celebrating on the podium with a LEGO trophy, and one (below) of him taking a victory lap on a full size F1 car made entirely from LEGOs. Next year he races with Audi and he will be fighting hard for more podium finishes. Even one podium for a new F1 team would be a significant achievement, but the floodgates may just have opened for Hulk. Audi must be overjoyed at the prospect. LEGO must be thrilled too.
