10 of the most famous football moments
We will never forget these moments
Football can be a funny old game so to celebrate this summer’s European Championships we have taken a look at the most famous moments in the beautiful game.
England’s World Cup win – 1966 It’s a rare sight but back in 1966 Geoff Hurst and co won the World Cup on home soil after beating West Germany 4-2 in a nail biting final.
Zidane headbutt – 2006 The sporting world watched on in shock in the 2006 World Cup final when France’s captain, Zinedine Zidane, lost his cool and headbutted Italy’s Marco Materazzi in his final game for this country.
Down to 10 men, France went on to lose the final 5-3 following the famous incident.
Diego Maradona’s Hand of God – 1986 It’s one of the most famous goals in football history for all the wrong reasons. In the 1986 World Cup quarter final between England and Argentina, Maradona scored the only goal of the game to dump England out of the competition.
After a sliced clearance from England defender Steve Hodge, Maradona leaped to meet the ball ahead of goalkeeper Peter Shilton with his left hand, yes his hand.
The goal stood and has since been known as ‘The Hand of God’.
Leicester City win the Premier League – 2016 It’s a moment that will go down in football history for years and years. Leicester City did the unthinkable and won the Premier League.
Beating off the league's big spenders like City, Arsenal, United and Chelsea, the underdogs just kept on winning and finished top of the table by an astonishing 10 points!
To make the story even more surprising, the same team narrowly escaped relegation the season before proving anything can happen in football.
Kieran Dier and Lee Bowyer fight - 2005 Fans of Newcastle United witnessed history during a Premier League game back in 2005 for all the wrong reasons. In a bizarre incident Newcastle players Kieran Dyer and Lee Bowyer were both sent off for fighting with each other.
Robert Pires and Thierry Henry penalty fail – 2005 Arsenal legends Robert Pires and Thierry Henry tried to re-create Johan Cruyff’s famous 1982 penalty but things didn’t quite go to plan.
In a Premier League game against Manchester City, the pair clearly weren’t on the same wave length, leaving both extremely red faced!
Eric Cantona’s kung fu kick – 1995 One of the most outrageous moments even to occur at a football game happened back in 1995. Manchester United’s famous hard man, Eric Cantona, received a red card against Crystal Palace but what happened next shocked the world.
Seeing red, Cantona attacked Palace fan, Matthew Simmons, by drop kicking him as he watched from the front row of the crowd.
Liverpool’s ‘Miracle of Istanbul’ – 2005 The 2005 Champions League Final saw one of the best comebacks of all time by Merseyside club Liverpool. The Red’s found themselves 3-0 down and completely outclassed by Italian giant’s AC Milan in the first half.
In an extraordinary second half display, goals from Xavi Alonso, Vladmir Smicer and skipper Steven Gerrard got Liverpool back level. The game went to extra time and penalties with Liverpool’s keeper becoming the hero, helping them lift the trophy.
The match which was one of the greatest comebacks in football has been dubbed as ‘The Miracle of Istanbul’.
The beach ball goal – 2009 Possibly the most bizarre goal in football history occurred during Sunderland’s victory over Liverpool at the Stadium Of Light back in 2009.
After an inflatable beach ball a young Liverpool fan had brought into the stadium landed on the pitch, the rest is history and one Liverpool fans will want to forget.
Sunderland’s Darren Bent striked the ball before it bounced off the beach ball and passed Liverpool’s goalkeeper into the net!