Iceland surprised soccer fans by advancing to the quarter-finals on Monday at the Euro 2016 by beating England, known as the “home” of football.
In light of that major upset, we present 10 more shocking sports victories. This isn’t a comprehensive list and is in no particular order.
Miracle on Ice
The U.S. hockey team beat the much-favoured U.S.S.R. team 4-3 at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y. The Soviet team was made up of legendary players, while the U.S. squad featured amateur and collegiate athletes. The Americans weren’t expected to fare well, let alone take the gold medal.
(Associated Press)
Michael Chang wins 1989 French Open
The 17-year-old Chang beat Ivan Lendl in the fourth round and won the title in five sets over Stefan Edberg. He is still the youngest man to win a Grand Slam tennis title.
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Greece wins Euro 2004
Greece seemed to come out of nowhere to make it to the final rounds and beat Portugal, the host team, 1-0, shocking soccer fans worldwide.
(Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)
Soderling tops Nadal
Rafael Nadal earned the nickname “King of Clay” after winning the French Open title each year from 2005 to 2008, but was upset by the 23rd seeded Robin Soderling, who was relatively unknown, in four sets in the fourth round of the 2009 tournament.
(Lionel Cironneau/Associated Press)
Red Sox break curse
The Boston Red Sox hadn’t won the World Series since 1918, which some blamed on the Curse of the Bambino, which was finally broken in 2004. First the team came back from a three-game deficit to beat the New York Yankees to win the ALCS, then they swept the St. Louis Cardinals to win the World Series.
(Mike Blake/Reuters)
U.S. wins 1950 World Cup
England was expected to dominate its competition during its first World Cup appearance. But the “Kings of Football” were shocked by the American team, which was made up of a group of part-time players. The U.S. won the first-round match 1-0.
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Kings finally win
The Los Angeles Kings had to wait 44 seasons to finally hoist the cup. The team squeaked into the 2012 NHL playoffs as the eighth seed. The team’s cup run included a first-round win over the Vancouver Canucks, who had won the Presidents’ Trophy, awarded to the club finishing the regular season with the best overall record.
(Dave Sandford/Associated Press)
Serena loses 2015 U.S. Open
Serena Williams had won the three previous Grand Slam tennis tournaments in 2015 and was expected to match Steffi Graf’s 22 titles at the 2015 U.S. Open. Instead, she lost to 43rd ranked Roberta Vinci in a three-set semifinal match.
(Seth Wenig/Associated Press)
Douglas topples Tyson
Boxer Buster Douglas only had 42-1 odds to beat Mike Tyson in January 1980, but the bookies didn’t know Tyson wasn’t really prepared for the bout. Tyson’s usually powerful punches weren’t enough and he lost in seven rounds.
(Reuters/Kyodo)
Jets win Super Bowl III
Quarterback Joe Namath had promised his New York Jets would win the Super Bowl in 1969 and he delivered, leading his team to victory over the Baltimore Colts, a team which had only lost once during the regular season.
(Associated Press)