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These are the plays that made jaws drop and left the world speechless. Join us as we count down the most legendary single moments in sports history, featuring iconic plays from football, basketball, soccer, and golf that transcended their respective games and became part of sporting folklore forever!
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00:00It went dark and it went silent, and then it was just chaos.
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 most legendary single plays in the
00:09history of sports.
00:10Holy jumping, you've got to be kidding me. His tongue's hanging like Michael Jordan.
00:17Number 10, Bale's flying bicycle kick.
00:20First one was calamitous goal, that was absolute quality.
00:25Gareth Bale had barely made his way off the substitutes bench for this Champions League final clash with Liverpool when
00:30the unthinkable happened.
00:31After finding space in the box with a Marcello cross inbound, Bale flung himself upwards, pulling off the perfect bicycle
00:37kick to send the stadium into rapturous applause.
00:40Three in the box waiting for the cross, and it was Bale!
00:44Not only was this a pivotal goal in a match of huge consequence, it also stands as one of the
00:48single most impressive athletic feats in a high-profile football game.
00:52An easy pick for one of the finest Champions League final goals of all time.
00:55I still remember it now, and I know everyone says stuff goes in slow motion, but it genuinely was going
01:00in slow motion when I was watching it go in.
01:03Number 9, LeBron James' block.
01:04Iguodala to Cody, back to Iguodala!
01:07Up to the left! Oh, blocked by James!
01:09LeBron James with the rejection!
01:11There aren't many moments in the long and successful career of LeBron James that sum up his physical athletic dominance
01:16quite like this.
01:17With Andre Iguodala seemingly inches away from sinking a crucial fourth-quarter shot in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA
01:23Finals, James pulled off the ultimate defensive moment.
01:25He didn't just block Iguodala, he stopped him in his tracks, killing the ball's momentum in an instant.
01:30As the play develops, LeBron covers the first 60 feet of his pursuit in just 2.67 seconds.
01:37For all of his offensive potency, LeBron's most impressive play might actually have come on the opposite end of the
01:42court.
01:42I gave everything that I had. I poured my heart, my blood, my sweat, my tears to this game.
01:49Number 8, Kawhi Leonard's buzzer beater.
01:53Game! Series! Toronto has won!
01:58The year was 2019 and the Toronto Raptors were neck and neck with the 76ers with seconds remaining on the
02:03clock.
02:03Kawhi Leonard charged forward knowing that he had one chance to steal the win and victory in the Eastern Conference
02:09semifinal series.
02:10After finding the right angle, he got the shot off just in time.
02:13To say the ball took its time before descending from the rim to the net would be a huge understatement.
02:17It hit the rim, I was like, what's going on? Then it hit the rim again, I was like...
02:21For the win!
02:23You got it!
02:26The win!
02:28You couldn't script a more dramatic trajectory for the ball.
02:31Time stood still and it seemed like an eternity before it went through the hoop.
02:34When it did, the arena erupted. In many ways, it was the ultimate game-winning shot.
02:38I knew it was Game 7, and I didn't want to leave no shots in my mind.
02:45I just wanted to go out and leave it all on the floor.
02:48Number 7, Lionel Messi's ballet versus Bilbao.
02:51I have always said it was a significant moment in my career, because it was an important game, because of
02:57the goals that we scored.
03:00At the peak of his power, Lionel Messi was practically unplayable.
03:03Even by his standards, though, his solo goal in the 2015 Copa del Rey final versus Athletic Bilbao was truly
03:09special.
03:10After picking up the ball on the right wing, despite being boxed in by three defenders, Messi seemed to fancy
03:15his chances.
03:16Oh, God, look at this, Cameron. It's a brilliant run for Messi.
03:19Can he go all the way?
03:22Somehow, his low center of gravity helped him skip away from them all, before then beating a fourth and slotting
03:27the ball into the corner of the net.
03:28Messi is responsible for some of the most electric moments in football history, and this one was as good as
03:33any of them.
03:34Great time to score. Look at this.
03:35One, two, run ahead.
03:38Kits away from Rico.
03:40One more defender inside.
03:41Bye.
03:42Number 6, David Tyree's helmet catch.
03:44Throw, catch, trust, play, time.
03:47I think that's a play because of all the circumstances involved around it.
03:50It just jumps off the page.
03:52It was the final minute or so of the fourth quarter at Super Bowl XLII,
03:55and David Tyree was about to pull off a truly magical moment.
03:59Giants quarterback Eli Manning aimed his pass in the direction of wide receiver Tyree,
04:02knowing that the game could be won and lost based on how this play went.
04:05Somehow, Tyree managed to catch the ball in the most unorthodox of fashions,
04:09pressing the ball against his helmet to secure it.
04:11Pressure from Thomas off the edge.
04:14Eli Manning stays on his feet.
04:17Airs it out down the field.
04:20It is caught by Tyree.
04:23The Giants went on to finish the drive with a pivotal touchdown,
04:26taking home the win and the title of Super Bowl champions.
04:28Five days after the game, Bill Simmons christened the play the helmet catch,
04:32and the rest, as they say, is history.
04:34When David Tyree makes that catch, I turn to my brother and I say,
04:37I guarantee you, David Tyree will never play in another football game again.
04:43David Tyree did play in another game, but he would never make another catch in his NFL career.
04:50Number five, Roberto Carlos' Impossible Curler.
04:52The Brazilian national team of the 1990s was simply on another level.
04:55Packed to the brim with star talent in each and every position,
04:59left back Roberto Carlos was one of the greatest offensive fullbacks in the history of the sport.
05:03Though his all-round play earned him that reputation, his talent for scoring free kicks only solidified it.
05:08So when he found himself with the chance to score from about 35 yards out against France,
05:12you better believe that he decided against passing.
05:14The run-up he took was almost being joked about by the commentary team,
05:18but then the ball rocketed wildly into the French net.
05:21It was easily the best goal of Carlos' career,
05:22and a contender for the most impressive free kick ever scored.
05:26Number four, Tigers chip in at the Masters.
05:28Looking at the chip, I was just trying to get the ball inside of Chris's ball.
05:31If he happened to make, I could answer with a par, and we'd be all squared going down 17.
05:36Generationally talented athletes like Tiger Woods often have one single play that defines their career.
05:40Sure, most of them have several contenders to that title,
05:42but we think most people would agree on which one gets the win.
05:45Tiger's iconic 2005 Masters chip on the 16th hole at Augusta National Golf Club
05:50might just be the finest of his career.
05:51The shot seemed impossible, and even getting the ball in putting range would have been a win in itself.
05:56Tiger somehow managed to perfectly place the ball right on the edge of the hole,
05:59only for it to dramatically drop.
06:00And then, that one little moment of...
06:06It was a great shot, but how could it not go in?
06:11In your life have you seen anything like that?
06:15It was like something out of a movie, and sure enough,
06:17it proved to be the moment that swung the race for Masters' glory in his favor.
06:20Oh my goodness!
06:28Oh, wow!
06:30Number three, Jordan's shot over Elo.
06:33Zellers has Jordan.
06:35Jordan with two seconds to go.
06:36Puts it up and scores!
06:38And the buzzer!
06:38Michael Jordan has won it for Chicago!
06:41It's hard to single out one play from Michael Jordan's career that is worthy of inclusion.
06:45However, despite the many pivotal championship winning shots that are littered throughout his career,
06:49his shot over Craig Elo to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1989 was something special.
06:54Michael Jordan picked up an inbound pass and, with time ticking down,
06:57made a buzzer-beater shot to give the Bulls a 101-100 win, claiming the series.
07:02A lot of people put us out of this whole series, and I opened my mouth a little bit,
07:08and I challenged the guy that challenged myself.
07:10The shot itself was a thing of beauty, but it was Jordan's impassioned celebration that really made it stick in
07:15our memory.
07:16It was so dramatic, and it was typical that we would see Michael do the rest of his career in
07:21big moments.
07:22Number two, the Immaculate Reception.
07:24It's absolutely the smoking gun.
07:25If you ever need to prove it in court, roll that tape out.
07:34It's not every day that a football play gets crowned with a title as grandiose as the Immaculate Reception.
07:38Yet, when Franco Harris pulled off this remarkable moment, the name seemed fitting.
07:42After Terry Bradshaw fired a pass to his Steelers running back,
07:45John Fuqua, in the dying seconds of their clash with the Raiders,
07:48a wild deflection led the ball right into the hands of Franco Harris.
07:51Most believed that the pass was incomplete,
07:53but a deflection off of Raiders' safety Jack Tatum left the ball in the hands of Harris.
07:57Bradshaw, trying to get away, and his pass is broken up by Tatum.
08:04Tipped off, Franco Harris has it, and he's over.
08:10What followed was a dynamic run for a game-winning touchdown that seemingly came out of nowhere,
08:14a truly memorable way to clinch the win.
08:16Everybody loves a mystery,
08:19and that's why the Immaculate Reception will always remain unsolved.
08:24Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
08:27The catch, Clark's legendary grab, a moment worthy of championship honors.
08:31Has the calm to say, I gotta get these guys up in the air.
08:36Pumps them, they jump, and then he throws it in the exact spot it had to be.
08:42It was just a perfect pass, magical moment from Joe Montana.
08:48The beast quake run.
08:49Marshawn's iconic 67-yard touchdown run.
08:52Oh, look at this run!
08:54What a run!
08:55Marshawn Lynch!
08:57Still on his feet!
08:59Has blockers now!
09:01He's dancing his way for the touchdown!
09:04Bird's last-second steal.
09:06Larry's ultimate game-winning steal.
09:08Does to Lambia.
09:09Stolen by Bird, and a cut to DJ!
09:12Yes!
09:12Yes, and a foul!
09:15Ibrahimović's flying overhead kick, the most outrageously acrobatic goal of all time.
09:19Hart's header never looked good enough, but he didn't bank on the incredible improvisation
09:25and skill from Ibrahimović, whose staggering overhead kick found the net.
09:30Magic Johnson Jr. skyhook.
09:32Magic's moment of pure poetry on the basketball court.
09:35In the game's final moments, Johnson would find himself not only with the ball,
09:40but also with the chance to put an end to the decade's most compelling rivalry.
09:46To the left, goes back.
09:47He's got it.
09:47He didn't shoot it.
09:48Five seconds left.
09:49Magic down the middle.
09:50Just what I thought.
09:50A hook shot at 12.
09:51Goal!
09:53Number one.
09:54Maradona's goal of the century.
09:56When I see the linesman running,
09:59I go out shouting goal,
10:02and I look behind me to see whether the referee took the bait,
10:07and he had.
10:08So that was it.
10:09Come on, come on, it was a goal.
10:11Diego Maradona was simply in a class of his own during his prime years.
10:14At the 1986 World Cup,
10:15he led his Argentinian side to one of the most iconic victories in football history,
10:19a 2-1 win over England in the tournament semifinals.
10:22Maradona had already scored the infamous hand-of-god goal
10:24just four minutes prior to picking up the ball in midfield.
10:26This time, despite the controversy that had just followed,
10:29Diego skipped past five English players before slotting the ball home.
10:32It was a truly remarkable feat of solo skill
10:35that was later voted the goal of the century in 2002.
10:38Maradona somehow managed to score two of the most legendary goals in football history
10:41within five minutes of each other.
10:43But what do you consider to be the single most impressive play in sports history?
10:47Let us know in the comments below.
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