- We didn't use a formula, just a subjective ranking based the drama of the moment, what was at stake, and how vividly we can remember where we were watching when it happened.
- Check out the 50 most greatest sports moments of the decade below.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .
We ranked the greatest sports moments of the 2010s.
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The past 10 years have been a brilliant stretch for the sports world, with underdog champions, ever-lasting dynasties, and late drama in title games and title fights.
It'd be impossible to recap the entire decade in sports in one post, but we tried our best.
Below we've ranked the 50 greatest moments of the sports decade, from improbably comebacks to brilliant knockouts.
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We couldn't fit in everything (for those wondering, Bartolo Colon's home run and DeSean Jackson's walk-off punt return touchdown against the Giants were tied at 51st) but we did our best to make the list reflect what moments captured our attention and inspired us with awe.
Take a look back at the decade that was in sports.
50. Dwyane Wade hits LeBron James for the alley-oop of the decade
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AP Photo/Morry Gash
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Date : December 6, 2010
What made the moment : It might have just been a somewhat meaningless game in December 2010, but LeBron James and Dwyane Wade made it special, created one of the best sports photos of the decade. The image would come to be a defining one during James' stint with Miami.
49. Conor McGregor makes his boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather
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Christian Petersen/Getty
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Date : August 26, 2017
What made the moment : For better or for worse, Mayweather-McGregor was the biggest fight of the decade in terms of interest , pay-per-view buys, and purse. After a clown show of a build that included suits lined with curse words and accusations of illiteracy , Mayweather eventually won with a 10th-round TKO . With both fighters leaving with the biggest paychecks of their lives, a rematch will never be out of the question.
48. Tim Tebow throws miraculous overtime touchdown
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AP Photo/Jack Dempsey
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Date : January 8, 2012
What made the moment : Tim Tebow was a lightning rod during his short-lived tenure in the NFL, with experts doubting the Heisman-winning man of faith could cut it as a professional quarterback. Ultimately, those experts would be proved right, but not before Tebow accomplished what felt like an act of God on the football field.
With the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers tied after regulation in the wild card round, Tebow connected with Demaryius Thomas for an 80-yard touchdown to end the game on the first play of overtime.
47. Zions shoe explodes
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AP Photo/Gerry Broome
Date : February 20, 2019
What made the moment : Zion Williamson made countless astounding plays throughout his season at Duke, but the moment many will remember most was when his shoe exploded in the opening minutes of the team's game against rival UNC. Even President Barack Obama was intrigued !
46. USA curling takes gold at the Winter Olympics
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John Sibley/Reuters
Date : February 24, 2018
What made the moment : At his fourth Winter Olympics, U.S. skipper John Shuster finally found gold . The USA Curling team was up against the ropes after a tough start to the round-robin at the 2018 Winter Olympics. But rather than falter, the Team Shuster rose to the occasion, winning three consecutive must-win matches to reach the playoff, and then upsetting Sweden in the gold medal game to take the top prize for the first time.
45. Army defeats Navy for the first time in 15 years
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AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
Date : December 10, 2016
What made the moment : Entering 2016, Navy had beaten Army in 14 straight meetings of their rivalry. It was the longest winning streak in the history of a rivalry that has now spanned 130 years. After coming up just short the year before, Army finally bested the Midshipmen in 2016 and began a three-game winning streak of their own.
44. Stephen Curry hits a three from outer space to take down the Thunder
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Date : February 27, 2016
What made the moment : While it was just another primetime game rather than an NBA Finals, Steph Curry's buzzer-beater from outer space against the Oklahoma City Thunder is a sports moment burned into the memories of any fan lucky enough to have been watching ESPN that night. Curry hits from the logo to win the game, earning a beautifully celebratory "BANG! BANG!" from play-by-play man Mike Breen.
43. Ronda Rousey secures the armbar on Miesha Tate
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Date : March 3, 2012
What made the moment : Ronda Rousey's dominant run through the first half of the decade put women's mixed martial arts on the map. In March 2012, she defeated Miesha Tate with an armbar something that would become quite a trend throughout her run at the top to win her first title.
42. Liverpool pulls off miraculous comeback in Champions League semifinal
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Date : May 7, 2019
What made the moment : Liverpool didn't seem to have much of a chance heading into the second leg of the Champions League semifinal against Barcelona. After losing the first leg at Barca 3-0, the Reds needed a 4-0 victory to sneak into the final. Still, manager Jurgen Klopp instructed his players to play with everything they had, to "fail in the most beautiful way" even if winning felt out of grasp .
They would do better than that. Thanks to a pair of goals each from Georginio Wijnaldum and Divock Origi, Liverpool pulled off the stunning comeback and would go on to defeat Tottenham in the final to lift the Champions League trophy for the first time since 2005.
41. Jordan Spieth pulls off the shot of the decade at the British Open
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Hannah Mckay/Reuters
Date : July 23, 2017
What made the moment : No athletic achievement this decade may have been more impressive than Jordan Spieth's miracle at No. 13 of the 2017 British Open. After a poor drive left him with an unplayable lie, Spieth and his caddie took nearly 20 minutes to use their knowledge of the rulebook to plan out the perfect shot. Eventually, he found it, saving bogey there before storming through the final five holes to take the tournament .
40. Iceland shocks the world at Euro 2016
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Date : June 27, 2016
What made the moment : For one wild run in the summer of 2016, Iceland found themselves running with the best teams in European soccer. Playing in their first Euros tournament, the country of less than 350,000 scraped their way out of the group stage and, in a stunning turn, took down England 2-1 in the knockout round .
39. UMBC takes down Virginia to become the first 16-seed to advance in the mens NCAA Tournament
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Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Date : March 16, 2018
What made the moment : In March 2018, UMBC became the first No. 16 seed to upset a No. 1 seed in the men's NCAA tournament, taking down overall top seed UVA in the first round . The most shocking part of the upset was how plain it seemed UMBC didn't need trickery or a wild buzzer-beater to take down the Cavaliers, they simply outplayed them and wound up winning by 20 .
It wasn't all bad for UVA, though. After the embarrassing defeat, the team would regroup and go on to win the national championship just one year later .
38. "Minneapolis Miracle" sends VIkings to the NFC Championship
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Date : January 14, 2018
What made the moment : Facing the New Orleans Saints with a spot in the NFC Championship on the line, the Minnesota Vikings had their backs against the wall. The Vikings had already pulled off a two-minute drill, scoring a go-ahead field goal with 90 seconds left on the clock, but Drew Brees and the Saints responded immediately, scoring a field goal of their own to retake the lead with just 25 seconds remaining.
The Vikings needed a miracle, and they got one . On third down, Case Keenum connected with Stefan Diggs near the sideline, who spun out of what looked like a dead-to-rights tackle and quickly realized there was not one defender between him and the end zone . Diggs scored as time expired, threw off his helmet, and celebrated along with the Minneapolis faithful .
37. USWNT teams dominates Thailand 13-0
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Date : June 11, 2019
What made the moment : The scoreline that set off a thousand takes. In their opening match of the World Cup, the USWNT announced their arrival with an exclamation point, throttling Thailand in a 13-0 blowout . After the game, some argued that the Americans' relentless attack showed poor sportsmanship , while others said that it would have been more disrespectful to ease up on their opponents .
But regardless of the debate surrounding the score, the match served as the USWNT's opening battle cry , the first win on their undefeated march to lifting the World Cup.
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36. Loyola-Chicago makes a Cinderella run to the Final Four
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Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Date : March 2018
What made the moment : March Madness seems to produce a Cinderella team every year, but Loyola-Chicago's run to the Final Four was truly something special. The team seemed to feed off of drama, riding a series of buzzer-beaters and one-shot victories to the final weekend of the tournament, and making Sister Jean a legend in her own right along the way.
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35. John Isner and Nicholas Mahut push each other to the brink in the longest match in the history of tennis
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AP Photo/Hamish Blair
Date : June 22, 2010
What made the moment : The match that refused to end. Jonathan Isner and Nicholas Mahut went toe-to-toe for three days attempting to find a finish in their grueling fifth set at Wimbledon.
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Ultimately, Isner would prevail 64, 36, 67 (79) , 76 (73) , 7068, but both men would go down in history for taking part in the longest match in tennis history. Since then, Wimbledon has changed its rules regarding fifth-set tiebreakers, meaning it's likely that their record will stand forever.
34. Odell Beckham Jr. makes the catch of the decade
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Date : November 23, 2014
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What made the moment : Odell Beckham Jr. was a star of the NFL as soon as he entered the league, but he became a legend when he made his three-fingered catch near the goal line during "Sunday Night Football" in November 2014. Football is so often a brutal sport, but Beckham's catch highlighted the grace that is necessary to play at the highest level.
33. Klay Thompsons 37-point quarter
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AP Photo/Ben Margot
Date : January 23, 2015
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What made the moment : The NBA has seen a slew of elite scorers emerge in recent years, with players attempting more threes than ever and the likes of James Harden pushing the limits of what is considered a travel.
But the greatest shooting performance of the decade is owned by Klay Thompson, who in 2015 scored 37 points in a single quarter. Thompson was a perfect 13-for-13 from the field, including 9-for-9 from beyond the arc in the third quarter against the Sacramento Kings. It's the closest a player has ever been to being video game level "on fire."
32. Mario Manningham kills the Patriots with another unbelievable catch
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Date : February 5, 2012
What made the moment : After David Tyree broke the Patriots in a Super Bowl the decade previous, New England might have felt confident heading into Super Bowl XLVI. "There's no way it could happen again," they might think.
Mario Manningham would be their doom, making a brilliant 38-yard catch during the Giants final drive to set up the game-winning score.
31. Dame calls game
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AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer
Date : April 23, 2019
What made the moment : Damian Lillard has ice in his veins. In the 2019 playoffs, he hit one of the most dramatic shots of the decade, knocking down a 37-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to knock the Oklahoma City Thunder out of the postseason. As he's done so many times in the past, Dame called game.
30. Carli Lloyd nets the fastest hat trick in World Cup history
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Date : July 5, 2015
What made the moment : In the 2015 Women's World Cup final, Carli Lloyd netted the fastest hat trick in World Cup history, scoring three goals in the first 16 minutes of play to jump the Americans out to a huge lead. With her first goal coming just two minutes after the opening whistle, it was clear the rout was on.
29. Andy Ruiz Jr. upsets Anthony Joshua to shake up the heavyweight division
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Date : June 1, 2019
What made the moment : The biggest upset in heavyweight boxing in a generation, Andy Ruiz Jr. shocked the world when he bested Anthony Joshua in June 2019 . While Ruiz Jr. would fall in the rematch a few months later, it can't take away from his monumental victory.
28. Jalen Hurts comes back to win the SEC championship
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Date : December 1, 2018
What made the moment : Nearly a year after being benched in favor of freshman Tua Tagovailoa in the national championship against Georgia, Jalen Hurts would get one more shining moment at Alabama .
Hurts had ceded the starting job for the season, but in the SEC title game, Tagovailoa went down with an ankle injury and Alabama trailing the Georgia Bulldogs 28-21. Hurts rose to the occasion, completing seven of his nine passes for 82 yards and a touchdown and finding the end zone once more with his feet to lift the Tide to a 35-28 victory and secure an undefeated season.
27. Serena Willians and Naomi Osaka meet in the U.S. Open final
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Date : September 18, 2018
What made the moment : Watching Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka go head-to-head at the U.S. Open Final in 2018 felt like a true changing of the guard moment for the sport. That said, the match will be remembered more for its aftermath the crowd booing umpire Carlos Ramos, Osaka in tears, and Williams embracing the young champion .
26. Deshaun Watson and Clemson take down Alabama in a national championship shootout
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Date : January 9, 2017
What made the moment : Alabama and Clemson faced off four times in the college football playoff throughout the decade, but no game was more thrilling than their bout for the national championship in 2017.
Despite a perfect season from the Crimson Tide, Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson led the Tigers to victory, throwing for 420 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning score to Hunter Renfrow with just one second remaining on the clock.
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25. Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz go for five brutal rounds
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Steve Marcus/Getty Images
Date : August 20, 2016
What made the moment : Possibly the greatest fight of the decade was the rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz. Diaz had been the first man in UFC to beat McGregor just months before, forcing the Irishman to tap out to a rear-naked choke.
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In the rematch, McGregor and Diaz traded blows for five brutal, bloody rounds. McGregor took the fight by majority decision, but Diaz will be remembered for his impressive showing. Will we get a trilogy fight in the coming decade?
24. Kobe goes for 60 points in his final game
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AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
Date : April 13, 2016
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What made the moment : The end of an era. When Kobe Bryant took the court for the last time, everyone at the Staples Center knew they were in for a special night. Kobe went off for 60 points thanks to the encouragement of the home crowd and his teammates, taking 50 shots on the night. Hilariously, his last recorded statistic was an assist, passing the ball up to Jordan Clarkson for the game-sealing layup with just four seconds left.
23. Derek Jeter hits a walk-off single in his final at-bat at Yankee Stadium
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Date : September 25, 2014
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What made the moment : Sometimes reality is better than fiction, and Derek Jeter hitting a walk-off single up the gap for last hit at Yankee Stadium was something that couldn't be scripted.
22. Linsanity
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AP Photo/Seth Wenig
Date : February, 2012
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What made the moment : For a few weeks in February 2012, Jeremy Lin was the best basketball player on the planet. With the Knicks looking for a spark in the midst of a disappointing start to the season, Lin took over Mike D'Antoni's offense and made it his own.
In New York, his star shined fast, but it shined bright, and though Lin would never again reach the highs of that brief stretch with the Knicks, he was still beloved by fans across the league, as was evident when he finally won a championship ring with the Raptors in 2019.
21. Alex Ovechkin finally lifts the Stanley Cup
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Date : June 7, 2018
What made the moment : Alex Ovechkin defined a decade of hockey in the United States, leading the NHL in goals six times over the past 10 years. But despite his dominance, he had always fallen short of lifting the Stanley Cup, until a magical run through the postseason finally brought a title to D.C.
20. Kawhi Leonard hits the rim four times to beat the Sixers in Game 7
Date : May 12, 2019
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What made the moment : Kawhi Leonard, a one-year rental made by a Toronto Raptors team ready to go all-in for a shot at a championship, was brilliant throughout his 2019 playoff run. But no moment captured his majesty more than his game-winning buzzer-beater in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, banging four times of the rim before finally falling to the delight of the home crowd.
19. Leicester City wins the Premier League
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Date : January 16, 2016
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What made the moment : Leicester City's Premier League title was the most unlikely championship win of the decade. Entering the season as 5000/1 long shots to lift the trophy, Leicester simply refused to lose, finishing their campaign with a record of 23-12-3.
It's tough to pick out one particular moment from their run the Foxes were close to the top of the table the whole year but the team's draw against Aston Villa on match day 22 pushed them into first place for the final time. No team would catch them after that.
18. Conor McGregor sleeps Jose Aldo in 14 seconds
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Date : December 12, 2015
What made the moment : Conor McGregor was already known as a magician heading into his title fight with Jose Aldo, but his 14-second knockout turned him into a superstar.
17. Patriots erase 28-3 lead to win Super Bowl LI
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Date : February 5, 2017
What made the moment : After an utterly stale start to Super Bowl LI, Bill Belichick's team looked utterly lost, trailing the Falcons 28-3 halfway through the third quarter. But as they always do, the Patriots found a way, scoring 25 unanswered points through the final minutes of regulation and then winning the game in overtime before Atlanta even got to touch the ball.
For a few hours, it felt like the Patriots dynasty might finally be over. Instead, the team only added to its legend.
16. Landon Donovan saves the United States with stoppage-time game-winner
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Date : June 23, 2010
What made the moment : In the 2010 World Cup, the United States was in need of a spark. After drawing their first two games of the group stage, the Americans needed a win over Algeria in order to move on to the knockout round. Algeria seemed stubborn to afford the Americans to advance, packing their defense and holding to a 0-0 scoreline into the final seconds of the match.
But as the game ticked into stoppage time, Landon Donovan found a break, streaking down the field with hopes of finding the go-ahead goal. After passing the ball off, a good attempt from Clint Dempsey was denied, but the ball was free, and a still-streaking Donovan connected to send USA forward.
As commentator Ian Darke said on the call, "You could not write a script like this."
15. Simone Biles dominates the 2016 Olympics
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Dmitri Lovetsky/AP
Date : August 11, 2016
What made the moment : Simone Biles was the most dominant athlete of the 2010s, essentially winning gold medals at will at every world championship and Olympics in which she competed. Her star-making moment came as leader of the Americans at Rio 2016, with the United States winning gold in the team event and Biles winning individual gold in vault, floor exercise, and all-around.
14. Tua Tagovailoa takes over to lead a national championship comeback
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Date : January 8, 2018
What made the moment : Halfway through the 2018 national championship game, Alabama head coach Nick Saban had a problem. Through two quarters, his offense had looked dismal, with the Georgia defense snuffing out the Crimson Tide rushing attack and forcing punts on four of their five possessions.
Saban decided to take drastic action, benching starting quarterback Jalen Hurts in favor of freshman Tua Tagovailoa . After going three-and-out on his first drive, Tua kickstarted the Alabama offense, getting their first points on the board and eventually forcing overtime. The Crimson Tide defense held Georgia to a field goal on the opening possession, leaving Tagovailoa to drop a perfect pass to DeVonta Smith to take the title.
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13. Usain Bolt proves hes still the fastest man alive
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Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
Date : August 14, 2016
What made the moment : The title of "Fastest Man Alive" is one of the most sought-after in all of sport, elevating its holder to something closer to a superhero than merely an athlete. For three straight Summer Olympics, Usain Bolt proved to the world that no one could move through space faster, taking home golds in the 100 meters, 200, and 4x100 in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
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While he was always fast, the image of him smiling as he left his opponents in the dust during the 2016 Summer Games struck a particular chord with fans watching at home, grinning with the knowledge that no matter how his fellow sprinters tried, they stood no chance of catching him.
12. American Pharoah wins the Triple Crown
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Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Date : June 6, 2015
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What made the moment : The horse racing world had gone more than 30 years without a Triple Crown champion. In the early 2000s, we'd seen a few horses come close, with War Emblem, Smarty Jones and Big Brown all winning both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, only to falter in the final race.
That all changed with American Pharoah.
Bob Baffert's horse tore his way through all three races and into the history books, sealing the Triple Crown with a wire-to-wire win at the Belmont Stakes.
11. Alex Honnold free solos El Capitan
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AP Photo/Ben Margot
Date : June 3, 2017
What made the moment : Quite possibly the greatest athletic achievement of the decade, Alex Honnold made history with his free solo climb of El Capitan in 2017. One year later, the documentary "Free Solo" would bring viewers inside the ascent. There is no athlete on earth like him.
10. Abby Wambach scores miraculous last-gasp header from Megan Rapinoe cross
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Date : July 10, 2011
What made the moment : While the USWNT's 2019 title is surely fresher in your minds, the most mind-boggling play the American women made this decade came in the form of a stoppage-time stunner in the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal against Brazil.
With just seconds to go before the referee ended the match with three whistles, Megan Rapinoe struck a brilliant ball from midfield that perfectly found the forehead of Abby Wambach, saving the United States hopes of a championship in dramatic fashion.
9. Villanova wins the national championship at the buzzer
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Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
Date : April 4, 2016
What made the moment : The 2016 NCAA men's basketball championship was one of the best games in recent memory. After trailing by 10 with just under five minutes remaining, UNC tied Villanova at 74-74 with just five seconds left. But rather than settling for overtime, Villanova junior Kris Jenkins hit a three as the buzzer sounded to bring the Wildcats their first title since 1985.
8. Eagles complete "Philly Special" to help win Super Bowl LII
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Jeff Roberson/AP
Date : February 4, 2018
What made the moment : With a backup quarterback facing down the greatest dynasty in NFL history, the Philadelphia Eagles needed to use every part of the playbook to take down the Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
Facing fourth-and-goal from the two-yard line, with just seconds remaining in the first half, the Eagles could have kicked a field goal to take an 18-12 lead into halftime. But knowing they'd need every point they could get to beat New England, head coach Doug Pederson elected to keep the offense on the field, dialing up a trick play that would go down in Super Bowl history .
The Eagles would go on to win 41-33, bringing Philadelphia its Lombardi trophy , while the Philly Special would spread throughout the football world .
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7. Tiger Woods wins the Masters
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Associated Press
Date : April 14, 2019
What made the moment : Once the most dominant athlete on the planet, Tiger Woods had numerous starts and stops throughout the decade. Between ongoing back issues and his 2017 arrest, it was unclear if Woods would ever be able to compete with the best in the world again.
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But Woods closed the 2018 season strong and back at Augusta National, cemented his legend once more with a brilliant performance over four days in April.
6. Sergio Aguero saves the title for Manchester City with stoppage-time stunner
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Date : May 13, 2012
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What made the moment : On the final match day of the Premier League season in 2012, Manchester City needed only to defeat a lowly QPR side to win the league. But in the 66th minute, disaster struck, with QPR scoring to take a 2-1 lead and send panic into the hearts of City supporters. At the start of stoppage time, City was given a lifeline thanks to a goal from Edin Dzeko, but still needed one more score to win the league.
That's when Sergio Aguero worked his magic, scoring a dazzling goal in the desperate final seconds to win the title. It's as dramatic an ending as you can find in sport.
5. Ray Allen hits desperate three to keep the Heat alive against the Spurs
Date : June 18, 2013
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What made the moment : Ray Allen hit more than 3,000 three-pointers in his historic career, but none were more consequential than his buzzer-beating trey in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals. Allen's shot saved the Heat from elimination to forced overtime, which the Heat would go on to win. In Game 7, Miami would seal their second straight NBA championship, a title that would never have existed without Allen's monumental shot.
4. Malcolm Butler steals Super Bowl XLIX for the Patriots with crucial interception
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AP Photo/Kathy Willens
Date : February 1, 2015
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What made the moment : Trailing 28-24 with just two minutes remaining in Super Bowl XLIX, the Seattle Seahawks needed to drive the field for a touchdown to secure their second straight title. After a brilliant connection between Russell Wilson and Jermaine Kearse gave the Seahawks first-and-goal, the touchdown felt inevitable.
But rather than let Marshawn Lynch bulldoze his way into the end zone, the Seahawks threw on second-and-goal from the one-yard line, Malcolm Butler jumped the route, stealing victory from the jaws of defeat and adding another title to the Patriots dynasty.
There's a strong argument that Malcolm Butler's interception at the end of Super Bowl XLIX was the greatest play in NFL history has any player ever so surely swung a championship.
3. Chicago Cubs break the curse
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Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Date : November 2, 2016
What made the moment : After more than 100 years of waiting and too many supposed curses to track, the Chicago Cubs exorcised their demons in 2016 and won the World Series. It took seven dramatic games, including an extra-inning win in the decisive Game 7 , but when it was all said and done, the Cubs were finally champions .
2. LeBron James seals the 3-1 comeback with a chase-down block in Game 7 of the NBA Finals
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Thearon W. Henderson/Getty
Date : June 19, 2016
What made the moment : If you made a highlight reel of LeBron's best plays of the decade, it would stretch for hours if not days on end. But his best play of the decade also was likely his most consequential. With just two minutes left in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, James chased down what looked like an easy bucket for the Warriors and slammed a block into the backboard . It was a play that had to be seen to be believed.
Facing a Warriors team that had gone 73-9 through the regular season, had the first unanimously MVP, and once held a 3-1 lead in the Finals, James won the third title of his career and finally brought a championship home to Cleveland.
1. Auburn wins the Iron Bowl with the "Kick Six"
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Date : November 30, 2013
What made the moment : The greatest rivalry in college football is also responsible for the greatest sports moment of the decade. After a thrilling back and forth game, Alabama and Auburn were tied 28-28 with just seconds remaining. With the ball just past midfield, Alabama head coach Nick Saban decided to try for a long field goal to potentially win the game.
The kick was short, and fielded by Auburn's Chris Davis, who had been standing at the ready just beneath the crossbar. Davis broke free and sent the crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium into hysterics with a 109-yard return touchdown to win the game and hand Alabama their first loss of the year.
Now check out our picks for the most dominant athletes of the decade...
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The most dominant athletes of the decade
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