Sports fans love an underdog story, but nothing beats watching a team or athlete claw back from what looks like certain defeat.
A true comeback game rewires the record books, breaks curses, and gives broadcasters a highlight reel that gets replayed for decades. It’s the reason “greatest comebacks in sports history” is one of the most searched debates in sports media, and honestly, it’s a debate with no single right answer.
This list pulls together the biggest comebacks in sports across baseball, football, basketball, soccer, hockey, boxing, cricket, golf, tennis, and motorsport.
Some are single-game miracles decided in the final seconds. Others played out over an entire series or even a full season. All of them earned their place in the conversation about the greatest comeback of all time.
TL;DR: The greatest comebacks in sports history span every major sport and era, but they all share the same ingredients: a massive deficit, a refusal to fold, and a finish that changed how the game is remembered.
What Actually Makes a Sports Comeback “Great”?
Not every come-from-behind win deserves legendary status. A team down two points with five minutes left is playing normal basketball, not authoring history. The comebacks that earn a permanent place in highlight reels usually involve a deficit that statistically should have ended the contest.
Stakes matter too. A regular-season rally is nice, but a comeback in a championship game, a series elimination point, or an Olympic final hits differently. The best sports comebacks also tend to have a singular moment, a walk-off, a stoppage-time goal, a block, a putt, that crystallizes the whole story into one frame.
Finally, longevity matters. The craziest comebacks in sports history keep getting cited decades later because they changed outcomes that mattered: broken droughts, dynasties, and legacies. With that framework in mind, here are the comebacks that keep coming up whenever fans argue about the greatest comebacks of all time.
Baseball’s Most Dramatic Turnarounds
1. The 2004 Red Sox: The Only 0-3 Comeback in MLB History
The Boston Red Sox trailed the New York Yankees three games to none in the 2004 American League Championship Series, a deficit no team in the 100-plus year history of best-of-seven MLB postseason series had ever overcome. Boston won Game 4 in extra innings on a David Ortiz home run, then won Game 5 in extra innings again, then rode Curt Schilling’s bloody sock to a Game 6 win before finishing the job with a Game 7 blowout.
The Red Sox went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, ending an 86-year championship drought fans had nicknamed the Curse of the Bambino. It remains the single most cited answer whenever people ask what is the greatest comeback in sports.
2. The 1929 Philadelphia Athletics: A Roaring Twenties Miracle
Sports in the Roaring Twenties produced plenty of larger-than-life moments, and the Philadelphia Athletics delivered one of the era’s best. Trailing the Chicago Cubs 8-0 in Game 4 of the 1929 World Series, Philadelphia scored ten runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and held on to win 10-8.
That seventh-inning rally remains the largest comeback in World Series game history nearly a century later. It’s a reminder that great sporting comebacks aren’t a modern invention, they’ve been part of baseball since before television existed.
3. The 2016 Chicago Cubs: Breaking a 108-Year Curse
Down three games to one against the Cleveland Indians in the 2016 World Series, the Cubs won three straight, including a Game 7 that went to extra innings after a rain delay. Chicago won 8-7, ending the longest championship drought in North American professional sports.
The image of Cubs fans, some of whom had waited their entire lives, sobbing with joy made this one of the most emotionally resonant comebacks in modern sports history. It also cemented the 3-1 comeback as one of baseball’s rarest and most celebrated feats.
4. The 1951 New York Giants: The Shot Heard Round the World
In August 1951, the Brooklyn Dodgers led the New York Giants by 13.5 games in the National League standings. The Giants won 37 of their final 44 games to force a three-game playoff, which they won on Bobby Thomson’s walk-off home run.
This is a season-long comeback rather than a single game, but it’s frequently cited among the greatest comebacks in baseball history because of the scale of the deficit and the storybook ending. Thomson’s homer is still one of the most replayed moments in American sports history.
5. The 1978 Red Sox-Yankees Pennant Race
Boston held a 14-game lead over the Yankees in the American League East in mid-July of 1978. New York clawed all the way back to force a one-game playoff, which the Yankees won on a home run by light-hitting infielder Bucky Dent.
It’s a painful footnote in Red Sox history but a genuinely massive comeback by any measure. The rivalry it deepened between the two franchises is still one of the craziest sports rivalries of all time and still shapes baseball’s biggest regular-season storylines.
Football’s Biggest Fourth-Quarter Miracles
6. Super Bowl LI: Patriots Erase a 25-Point Deficit
The New England Patriots trailed the Atlanta Falcons 28-3 in the third quarter of Super Bowl LI in February 2017. New England scored 25 unanswered points to force the first overtime in Super Bowl history and won 34-28.
It remains the largest comeback in Super Bowl history and one of the most frequently cited answers to “what is the greatest comeback in football history.” The scale of the deficit against elite opposition, on the sport’s biggest stage, is why it still tops most greatest comeback in football history rankings.
7. The 1993 Bills-Oilers Wild Card Game
The Buffalo Bills trailed the Houston Oilers 35-3 in the third quarter of a 1993 AFC Wild Card playoff game, a scoreline that looked like it belonged among the biggest blowouts in sports history before Buffalo’s rally began. Buffalo scored 35 unanswered points to force overtime and won 41-38, a comeback still known simply as “The Comeback.”
It remains the largest comeback in NFL postseason history, and it happened without Buffalo’s starting quarterback, who was injured earlier in the game. Backup Frank Reich engineered the rally, making it one of the greatest comebacks in football at any level.
Basketball’s Greatest Deficit-Defying Run
8. The 2016 NBA Finals: Cavaliers Down 3-1
The Golden State Warriors, fresh off a record 73-win regular season, took a 3-1 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals. Cleveland won the next three games, becoming the first team in NBA Finals history to overcome a 3-1 series deficit.
Game 7 ended with a chase-down block and a clutch three-pointer that are still replayed constantly. It delivered Cleveland’s first major professional sports championship in 52 years, making it one of the greatest comebacks in sports for an entire city, not just a team.
Soccer’s Legendary Comebacks
9. The 1999 Champions League Final: Manchester United’s Injury-Time Miracle
Manchester United trailed Bayern Munich 1-0 deep into the 1999 Champions League final and looked beaten. United scored twice in stoppage time, through Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, to win 2-1 and complete an unprecedented treble that season.
It’s regularly cited as the best comeback in soccer history because of how little time United had left when the rally began. The phrase “Fergie Time” entered football vocabulary partly because of this match.
10. The 2005 Champions League Final: The Miracle of Istanbul
Liverpool trailed AC Milan 3-0 at halftime in the 2005 Champions League final. Liverpool scored three goals in six second-half minutes to level the match, then won on penalties.
It’s widely considered the greatest comeback in Champions League history and one of the best comebacks in soccer history, period. The match is simply known as “Istanbul” among Liverpool supporters, no further explanation needed.
11. La Remontada: Barcelona’s 6-1 Comeback Over PSG
Paris Saint-Germain beat Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their 2017 Champions League round-of-16 tie, seemingly ending the contest before it began. Barcelona won the second leg 6-1, including a stoppage-time winner, to advance on aggregate.
It was the first time a team had overcome a four-goal first-leg deficit in Champions League history. Fans still call it simply “La Remontada,” Spanish for “the comeback.”
12. Anfield 2019: Liverpool’s Second Miracle
Liverpool lost the first leg of their 2019 Champions League semifinal 3-0 to Barcelona. In the return leg at Anfield, missing two key attackers through injury, Liverpool won 4-0 to advance on aggregate.
It echoed the club’s own 2005 miracle so closely that fans immediately dubbed it a sequel. Liverpool went on to win the tournament that season, making the comeback feel less like luck and more like destiny.
Hockey’s Rarest Series Comebacks
13. The 1980 Miracle on Ice
A team of American college players faced the heavily favored Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics semifinal at Lake Placid. Trailing 3-2 in the third period, the United States scored twice, including Mike Eruzione’s go-ahead goal, to win 4-3.
The US went on to win Olympic gold two days later. It’s still one of the most cited answers to “what is the best comeback” in any sport, largely because of the geopolitical weight the Cold War-era matchup carried.
14. The NHL’s Four 3-0 Series Comebacks
Coming back from a 3-0 series deficit in a best-of-seven is so rare that only four teams in NHL history have done it: the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs against Detroit in the Stanley Cup Final, the 1975 New York Islanders against Pittsburgh, the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers against Boston, and the 2014 Los Angeles Kings against San Jose.
The 1942 Maple Leafs’ rally is especially notable because it happened in the Final itself, decades before the 2004 Red Sox made 0-3 comebacks part of the wider sports conversation. Together, these four series are the gold standard whenever hockey fans debate the greatest comebacks in sports.
Boxing’s Career-Defining Comebacks
15. Muhammad Ali and the Rumble in the Jungle
Muhammad Ali entered his 1974 title fight against heavyweight champion George Foreman as a significant underdog, years after being stripped of his title for refusing military induction. Using his now-famous “rope-a-dope” strategy, Ali absorbed punishment before knocking Foreman out in the eighth round.
It wasn’t just a comeback within one fight, it was a comeback for Ali’s entire career and public standing. The Rumble in the Jungle is still one of the most studied bouts in boxing history.
16. George Foreman’s 1994 Title Reclamation
Twenty years after losing to Ali, a 45-year-old George Foreman knocked out Michael Moorer in 1994 to become the oldest heavyweight champion in history. Foreman had retired for a decade before returning to boxing in his late thirties.
His title win capped one of the longest and most improbable career comebacks in professional sports. It’s frequently mentioned alongside single-game comebacks even though it unfolded over two decades.
Cricket, Golf, Tennis, and Racing: Comebacks Beyond the Big Four
17. The 2001 Kolkata Test: Cricket’s Rarest Comeback
India trailed Australia by 274 runs and were forced to follow on during the 2001 Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, against an Australian side on a 16-match winning streak. A record-setting partnership between VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid turned the match, and India won by 171 runs.
It was only the third time in more than a century of Test cricket, played in a sport that ranks among the oldest sports in the world, that a team had won after being forced to follow on. It remains the benchmark for cricket’s greatest comebacks.
18. The 1999 Ryder Cup: Miracle at Brookline
The United States trailed Europe 10-6 heading into the final day of singles matches at the 1999 Ryder Cup. The US team won the day decisively to take the overall match 14.5-13.5, the largest final-day comeback in Ryder Cup history.
The celebration that followed, before Justin Leonard’s clinching putt had even been confirmed, became controversial for its timing on the green. Even so, the rally itself remains one of golf’s greatest comebacks.
19. Arnold Palmer’s 1960 US Open Charge
Arnold Palmer began the final round of the 1960 US Open seven strokes behind the leader. He shot a 65, driving the first green on his way to a front-nine 30, and won the tournament outright.
It’s regarded as one of the greatest single-round comebacks in major championship golf history. Palmer’s aggressive, go-for-broke style that day helped define his entire legacy.
20. Rafael Nadal’s 2022 Australian Open Final
Rafael Nadal fell two sets behind Daniil Medvedev in the 2022 Australian Open final and looked physically spent. Nadal rallied to win in five sets, claiming a record 21st Grand Slam singles title at the time.
It stands as one of the greatest comeback performances in a Grand Slam final in the modern era. The match lasted more than five hours and is still referenced whenever fans discuss tennis’s best comebacks.
21. Niki Lauda’s Return After a Near-Fatal Crash
Formula 1 driver Niki Lauda suffered severe burns in a fiery crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix and was given last rites by a priest. Lauda returned to racing just six weeks later, finishing fourth in that season’s driver standings despite missing two races.
It’s less a single-race comeback and more a comeback from the edge of death itself. Lauda’s story remains one of motorsport’s most remarkable examples of resilience.
The Common Thread Behind Every Legendary Comeback
Looking across baseball, football, soccer, hockey, boxing, cricket, golf, tennis, and racing, the same pattern shows up again and again. Someone or some team was supposed to lose, often by a wide margin, and simply refused to accept the outcome everyone else had already written down.
None of these moments happened because an opponent collapsed for no reason. They happened because of a specific save, a specific swing, a specific partnership, or a specific decision to keep fighting when the math said it was pointless. That’s really what separates the greatest comebacks in sports history from ordinary close games.
It’s also worth staying skeptical of comeback claims that circulate without solid sourcing. Sports history is full of exaggerated deficits and misremembered scorelines, not unlike the Mandela Effect examples where entire fanbases swear they remember details that never actually happened, so the moments that hold up under scrutiny, like the ones above, tend to be the ones worth remembering. The next great comeback is presumably still out there, waiting for a team or athlete willing to ignore a scoreboard.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has any team ever come back from a 4-0 deficit in a best-of-9 series?
No documented case exists of a team overcoming a 4-0 deficit in a best-of-9 series to win. The best-of-9 format was used briefly in early World Series (1903, 1919-1921), but no such comeback occurred in that era. The closest verified equivalent is the 2004 Red Sox overcoming a 0-3 deficit in a best-of-seven ALCS, still the only time that's happened in MLB postseason history.
What is the biggest comeback in sports history?
There's no single agreed-upon answer, since comebacks are measured differently across sports. Commonly cited contenders include the 2004 Red Sox overcoming an 0-3 deficit, the Patriots' 25-point rally in Super Bowl LI, and Liverpool's 3-0 halftime comeback in the 2005 Champions League final.
What is considered the greatest comeback of all time?
The 2004 Boston Red Sox are frequently named the greatest comeback of all time because they're the only MLB team ever to erase a 3-0 series deficit, and they did it against their fiercest rival before winning the World Series. Other sports have their own strong candidates, so the honor really depends on which sport you're asking about.
What is the greatest comeback in football history?
In the NFL, Super Bowl LI is usually cited as the greatest comeback, with the New England Patriots erasing a 28-3 deficit against the Atlanta Falcons in 2017. In gridiron's postseason more broadly, the Buffalo Bills' 32-point comeback against the Houston Oilers in 1993 is also frequently mentioned.
What is the best comeback in soccer history?
Liverpool's 2005 Champions League final comeback against AC Milan, known as the Miracle of Istanbul, is the answer most fans give, since Liverpool erased a 3-0 halftime deficit. Barcelona's 2017 comeback against PSG, overturning a 4-0 first-leg loss, is another top contender.
What counts as a come-from-behind win?
A come-from-behind win is any game or match where a team or athlete trails significantly, often by a margin that would normally decide the outcome, and still wins. The term applies across sports, from a baseball team trailing by multiple runs late in a game to a tennis player facing match point.
Alex Warren
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