The 40 Greatest Matches Ever: Classic Football and Cricket Highlights
Some matches never get old. These are the 40 greatest matches in football and cricket history, 20 from each sport. Every match has its own page with the official highlights, the match facts, the full story of the game and the key moments to watch for.
We picked them for drama, for the quality of the play and for what they meant at the time: comebacks from impossible positions, finals settled in the last seconds, and performances people still talk about decades later. The order is not a ranking. Tell us in the comments what we missed.
The 20 greatest football matches
1. Argentina 3-3 France (4-2 pens)
FIFA World Cup final · 18 December 2022
The 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France is the game many fans now call the greatest final ever played. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
2. Liverpool 3-3 AC Milan
UEFA Champions League final · 25 May 2005
The 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul is the greatest comeback in the history of European finals. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
3. Man City 3-2 QPR
Premier League, final day · 13 May 2012
No Premier League season has ended like 2011-12. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
4. Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona
UEFA Champions League semi-final, second leg · 7 May 2019
Liverpool lost the first leg 3-0 at Camp Nou, with Lionel Messi scoring twice. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
5. Barcelona 6-1 PSG
UEFA Champions League round of 16, second leg · 8 March 2017
No team had ever overturned a four-goal first-leg defeat in the Champions League. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
6. Brazil 1-7 Germany
FIFA World Cup semi-final · 8 July 2014
Brazil hosted the 2014 World Cup expecting to win it. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
7. Italy 4-3 West Germany
FIFA World Cup semi-final · 17 June 1970
A plaque outside the Azteca still calls this the Partido del Siglo, the Game of the Century. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
8. Argentina 2-1 England
FIFA World Cup quarter-final · 22 June 1986
In the space of four minutes, Diego Maradona scored the most controversial goal and the greatest goal in World Cup history, in the same match, against England. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
9. Germany 1-0 Argentina
FIFA World Cup final · 13 July 2014
The 2014 final was tense rather than open, but it was decided by one of the best finishes ever seen in a World Cup final. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
10. France 4-3 Argentina
FIFA World Cup round of 16 · 30 June 2018
This was the day the world learned how good Kylian Mbappé was. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
11. Roma 3-0 Barcelona
UEFA Champions League quarter-final, second leg · 10 April 2018
Barcelona won the first leg 4-1, helped by two Roma own goals, and arrived in Rome with Lionel Messi and a squad that had not lost all season. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
12. Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle
Premier League · 3 April 1996
Often voted the best match of the Premier League era, this was the night Kevin Keegan’s entertaining Newcastle side lost a title race in the most dramatic way possible. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
13. Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona
La Liga · 2 May 2009
Real Madrid had won 17 of their previous 18 league games and could still catch Barcelona. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
14. Real Madrid 3-1 Man City
UEFA Champions League semi-final, second leg · 4 May 2022
Manchester City won the first leg 4-3 and went ahead in Madrid with 17 minutes left. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
15. Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
UEFA Champions League semi-final, second leg · 8 May 2019
One night after Liverpool’s comeback against Barcelona, Tottenham produced one of their own. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
16. England 4-2 West Germany
FIFA World Cup final · 30 July 1966
England’s only World Cup win came on home soil, and the final included the most argued-about goal in football history. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
17. Man City 1-0 Inter
UEFA Champions League final · 10 June 2023
Manchester City had spent years and enormous sums chasing the Champions League. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
18. Portugal 3-3 Spain
FIFA World Cup group stage · 15 June 2018
Spain had sacked their coach Julen Lopetegui two days before the tournament began. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
19. Netherlands 0-1 Spain
FIFA World Cup final · 11 July 2010
Spain’s golden generation had already won Euro 2008. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
20. Argentina 1-2 Saudi Arabia
FIFA World Cup group stage · 22 November 2022
Argentina arrived in Qatar unbeaten in 36 matches and among the favourites to win the World Cup. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
The 20 greatest cricket matches
1. England vs New Zealand
ICC Cricket World Cup final · 14 July 2019
The 2019 World Cup final could not be separated after 100 overs, or after a super over. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
2. India vs Sri Lanka
ICC Cricket World Cup final · 2 April 2011
India had not won the World Cup since 1983. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
3. England vs Australia
The Ashes, second Test · 4 to 7 August 2005
England went into the second Test 1-0 down and had not won the Ashes since 1986-87. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
4. South Africa vs Australia
One-day international, fifth match of the series · 12 March 2006
The series was level at 2-2. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
5. Australia vs South Africa
ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final · 17 June 1999
This is the match that gave South Africa a reputation for heartbreak at World Cups. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
6. Ben Stokes 135*
The Ashes, third Test · 22 to 25 August 2019
England were bowled out for 67 in their first innings and needed 359 to win. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
7. Australia vs India
Border-Gavaskar Trophy, fourth Test · 15 to 19 January 2021
A month earlier India had been bowled out for 36 in Adelaide. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
8. Glenn Maxwell 201*
ICC Cricket World Cup · 7 November 2023
Australia were 91 for 7 chasing 292 against Afghanistan. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
9. India vs South Africa
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final · 29 June 2024
India had not won an ICC trophy since 2013. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
10. Pakistan vs England
Benson and Hedges World Cup final · 25 March 1992
Pakistan nearly went out in the group stage. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
11. India vs Australia
ICC Cricket World Cup final · 19 November 2023
India had won all ten of their matches at the 2023 World Cup and played the final at home in front of a huge crowd in Ahmedabad. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
12. West Indies vs England
ICC World Twenty20 final · 3 April 2016
West Indies needed 19 runs from the final over of the 2016 World T20 final. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
13. India vs Australia
Border-Gavaskar Trophy, second Test · 11 to 15 March 2001
Steve Waugh’s Australians had won 16 Tests in a row. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
14. Sri Lanka vs Australia
Wills World Cup final · 17 March 1996
Sri Lanka changed one-day cricket at the 1996 World Cup with aggressive batting at the top of the order. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
15. Pakistan vs India
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup · 24 October 2021
Pakistan had never beaten India at a World Cup, in 50 overs or 20. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
16. New Zealand vs South Africa
ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final · 24 March 2015
Neither New Zealand nor South Africa had ever reached a World Cup final. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
17. England vs India
Second Test, India tour of England · 12 to 16 August 2021
On the final morning at Lord’s, England were favourites to win or at least draw. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
18. Ireland vs England
ICC Cricket World Cup · 2 March 2011
England made 327 and had Ireland at 111 for 5. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
19. Kusal Perera 153*
First Test, Sri Lanka tour of South Africa · 13 to 16 February 2019
Sri Lanka needed 304 to win against a South African attack that included Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
20. India vs West Indies
ICC World Twenty20 semi-final · 31 March 2016
India were the hosts and made 192 for 2, with Virat Kohli in superb form. Watch the highlights and read the full story →
Watch the latest highlights
New highlights from this season’s big games land on our highlights page within hours of the final whistle, with a match report and fan ratings. For more history, see every World Cup winner, every Champions League winner and every Cricket World Cup winner.
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