Football Ground Map
Football Ground Map
In general, odds are fairly predictable. Enthusiasts can usually anticipate the type of odds bookmakers will assign to the favorites in any given match. It's rare for those numbers to be completely upended by a team or player's performance.
But rare doesn't mean impossible. A few matches have defied the match betting odds so dramatically that they've become legendary - permanently changing how bettors talk about unpredictable outcomes and long shots.
Here are five unforgettable examples.
At the start of the 2015/2016 Premier League season, Leicester City were widely expected to be relegated. Their odds of winning the league were a staggering 5000 to 1. No one expected them to even finish in the top half, let alone lift the trophy.
And yet, against all logic, they did exactly that. Bookmakers were forced to pay out millions to lucky bettors who had taken a chance on the impossible. This event triggered a reevaluation across the entire betting industry. Many now refer to it as one of the greatest shocks in sports history.
Greece entered the UEFA Euro 2004 tournament as clear outsiders with odds of 150 to 1. Portugal, the host nation, were heavily favored to win — and yet it was Greece who made it all the way to the final and stunned the world by beating Portugal 1-0.
One bettor reportedly turned a modest wager into €50,000, proving just how disruptive one match can be. This victory brought new focus to the concept of long-shot underdogs and led bookmakers to rethink how they assess teams with little prior track record.
The 2005 UEFA Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Milan is etched in history. At halftime, Milan led 3-0. Bookmakers would have already been counting their wins.
But Liverpool came back to level the score 3-3 and went on to win in a dramatic penalty shootout. This comeback wasn't just a miracle on the field - it caused serious financial losses for bookmakers offering live, in-game bets. The match is an example of how live betting provides more opportunities - sometimes coming at a heavy cost for operators.
Liverpool winger Luis Garcia, a cult figure among fans for his role in the final, said that his team were the "underdogs". Garcia had scored important goals for Liverpool in previous rounds, including a famous "ghost goal" against Chelsea in the semi-finals.
In the 1999 Champions League final, Bayern Munich held a 1-0 lead going into injury time. Victory seemed inevitable, until Manchester United stunned the world with two late goals to snatch the trophy.
This match not only exposed the volatility of second-half betting; it also highlighted possibilities for various in-play bets. Nowadays, betting on certain substitutes to score is just one of countless markets. Quite how many people could have predicted both Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scoring after coming off the bench is another matter.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson credited his team's "perseverance" to overcome the 1-0 deficit. He said that perseverance was a common quality across his great teams, from the 1994/95 side, which was "basically an English team", to the 2008 team with Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, and Carlos Tevez.
Denmark weren't even supposed to play in the 1992 European Championship. They were invited only after Yugoslavia were disqualified due to the outbreak of war. Coming in with odds of 80 to 1, they were considered a placeholder, not a contender.
Yet Denmark went on to win the tournament, defeating reigning champions the Netherlands and then Germany in the final. The upset reminded everyone that even a team with no momentum, and barely any preparation, can seize the moment and shock the world.
These five events didn't just break the odds; they flipped the script for bookmakers and encouraged bettors to back the unexpected. Each one serves as a reminder of what makes football so exciting.
Tony Incenzo has been to over 2,000 football grounds - is he the world's barmiest football fan? Read about his love for Non-League football and groundhopping obsession, including watching a match in prison!
The 91 biggest football stadiums in Europe. From Manchester to Munich, Villa Park to Valencia - each one with a capacity over 40,000
An in-depth look at the biggest football attendances ever recorded, from the 1950 World Cup to pre-season friendlies in the States and the Scottish ground with dozens of 100,000+ attendances
My daughter's first ever football match - Orlando City v Atlanta United, August 2019. Written for Izzy to read when she gets old enough. Vamos Orlando
