As serial-winning manager, Jose Mourinho, once poetically put it – “finals are not to be played, they are to win”.
Whether it’s the EFL Cup or the World Cup final, no team or nation wishes to be on the losing side, with a showpiece outing providing the chance of earning immortality for the victors.
Witnessing two juggernauts going head to head to decide silverware is a real treat, but there’s perhaps nothing better than a David vs Goliath clash. An overwhelming favourite taking on a plucky underdog.
On most occasions, it is the superior outfit that takes the acclaim. But not always. Sometimes the football gods have something different in store for a final.
With that in mind, we’ve taken a look at some of football’s biggest showpiece shocks.
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ByStephan GeorgiouFeb 8, 2024 8 Denmark v Germany, 1992 European Championship final
Put simply, Denmark just should not have won this tournament. Having famously not qualified for Euro 1992 before taking their place following Yugoslavia’s disqualification, the Danes went on to do much more than make up the numbers.
The shock here is more about their route rather than the final itself, as the Scandinavian nation showed they were more than a match for plenty of European sides.
After seeing off the likes of England, France and the Netherlands, the unlikeliest of final dates came against Germany, where they defeated the world champions 2-0 thanks to goals from John Jensen and Kim Vilfort (plus a bit of good, old-fashioned timewasting).
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ByJack Salveson HolmesJun 14, 2024 7 Wimbledon v Liverpool, 1988 FA Cup final
“The Crazy Gang have beaten the Culture Club” was the immortal line that followed the final whistle at Wembley in 1988, but this was so much more than a clash of cultures.
Liverpool had not long confirmed their re-found status as champions of England, securing 90 points – 33 more than their cup final opponents.
The Reds had also gone on an incredible unbeaten run that term, losing just two games all year, ironically with a victory over Wimbledon sandwiched between them.
The Dons had never won a major trophy and the fixture was their first appearance in the final.
While overcoming their underdogs tag, they also survived a penalty scare as Dave Beasant saved from John Aldridge to keep Wimbledon in front, as Lawrie Sanchez’s goal proved enough to create history and one of the biggest shocks the competition had ever seen.
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1 ByRoss KilvingtonMay 12, 2025 6 Aston Villa v Bayern Munich, 1982 European Cup final
Having somewhat surprisingly won the league title the year before (their first for over 70 years), Aston Villa went one better by going all the way in the European Cup in 1982, beating one of the continent’s finest in the process.
Heading into the final in Rotterdam, it was Bayern Munich who had all the necessary experience to get the job done and secure a fourth European Cup.
However, the likes of Paul Breitner and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge were foiled by Villa – namely substitute goalkeeper Nigel Spink and match-winning goalscorer Peter Withe.
To this day, there has arguably not been a shock like it at that level of the European game.
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ByPatric RidgeMay 30, 2025 5 Birmingham v Arsenal, 2011 League Cup final
Birmingham City snatched an unlikely League Cup triumph at Wembley in February 2011, beating title challengers Arsenal in the final moments in dramatic circumstances.
Having taken a surprise lead through Nikola Zigic, Robin van Persie’s equaliser for the Gunners seemed to suggest normal service would be resumed as the favourites took control.
But a defensive mix-up between Laurent Koscielny and Wojciech Szczesny allowed Obafemi Martins to tap in the easiest of cup final winners, causing delirium in the blue half of Wembley.
It was a seismic shock given Birmingham – eventually relegated that season – had successfully seen off an Arsenal side going for the title and fresh from beating Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona a fortnight earlier.
It wasn’t the first time the Gunners had fluffed their lines in the competition, evoking memories of defeats to Luton Town in 1988 and Swindon Town in 1969.
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ByCharlie SmithDec 18, 2024 4 Sunderland v Leeds, 1973 FA Cup final
Only two lower-league sides have won the FA Cup since Sunderland did in 1973, but the Black Cats’ victory over Leeds is surely the most impressive of the lot.
By this point, Leeds were consistently finishing highly in the First Division, and 1972/73 marked a 10th successive top-four finish. They’d also won two European Fairs Cups in that span and were reigning FA Cup holders.
But Bob Stokoe’s Sunderland had other plans. Ian Porterfield’s first-half goal was the crucial moment of the final, with the underdogs surviving a Leeds onslaught before hanging on to secure one of the famous tournament’s greatest achievements.
3 Greece v Portugal, 2004 European Championship final
Greece entered the 2004 European Championship as tournament nobodies. They had only qualified for two international final tournaments (Euro 1980 and the 1994 World Cup), winning zero games and scoring zero goals.
So when they were drawn in Group A with hosts Portugal and Spain (who they had beaten in qualifying), even the most optimistic of optimists will have struggled to see a path through the quarter-finals, never mind the final.
But under the guidance of Otto Rehhagel, the Greeks formed a defensive solidity that was the bedrock to their success. They beat Portugal in the opening game and held Spain to a draw, squeezing through the group on goals scored.
They proceeded to dump out reigning European champions France and an impressive Czech Republic side to make the final – both shocks in their own rights.
They kept a third successive clean sheet in the final to defeat Portugal once again and record one of the greatest international shocks – in the men’s game, at least…
2 Japan v United States, 2011 Women's World Cup final
Japan’s victory over the United States in the women’s 2011 World Cup final has to be one of the most remarkable outcomes in international football history.
While the US were not at their scintillating best – they came second in their group and had not tasted World Cup glory since 1999 – it is the journey of their victorious opponents that makes this result magical.
In a similar vein to Greece’s men, Japan had never made it past a World Cup group stage, but two wins from two meant their defeat to England was academic, aside from costing them top spot in Group B.
Their campaign also came off the back of Japan’s devastating tsunami, with all the odds pointing towards yet another World Cup triumph for the US, but for multiple displays of courage and perseverance from the underdogs.
Alex Morgan looked to have netted the winner with her 69th-minute finish, only for Aya Miyama’s late equaliser to force extra-time.
United States then had one hand on the trophy again when Abby Wambach nodded home in the added period, though they were to be left disappointed once more.
Homare Sawa’s flick from a corner saw Japan secure an improbable draw – with penalties deciding the winner, where fate was on their side in a 3-1 shootout success, sealed by Saki Kumagai’s spot-kick.
1 Wigan Athletic v Manchester City, 2013 FA Cup final
The 2013 FA Cup final pitted financial heavyweights and outgoing English champions Manchester City against perennial relegation candidates Wigan Athletic.
The Latics were hanging on for their Premier League lives at the time, while Man City had recently relinquished their hold on the title to their local rivals with a whimper.
However, the Citizens were the overwhelming favourites in what was a modern-day David vs Goliath story, sealed by Wigan’s Ben Watson in the dying moments of normal time.
The midfielder headed home from Shaun Maloney’s corner to hand Wigan their first major trophy and the club’s finest moment.
Unfortunately for the victors, they could not continue their heroics in the league as they were relegated just days later, and haven’t been back in the top flight since.
But the memories will last forever, and we’re unsure how long before another final shock as brutal as this one comes along again.
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1 ByAlex CapleMay 25, 2024