Greatest Sports Moments Quiz
Miracle on Ice, Hand of God, 28 to 3: how many legendary moments do you remember?
In which year did the US hockey team pull off the 'Miracle on Ice' by defeating the Soviet Union at the Olympics?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
1980
On February 22, 1980, Herb Brooks' team of college players beat the four-time defending champion Soviets 4 to 3 at Lake Placid, then beat Finland for the gold.
Sports Illustrated ran the celebration photo on its cover with no headline at all, the only time the magazine has ever done so.
Which legendary athlete lit the Olympic cauldron at the 1996 Atlanta Games?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Muhammad Ali
Ali, his hands shaking from Parkinson's disease, lit the cauldron in a moment kept secret until swimmer Janet Evans handed him the torch before 83,000 people.
The same Games saw Michael Johnson win the 200 and 400 meters double in gold shoes, setting a 200 meters world record of 19.32 seconds.
Liverpool trailed AC Milan 3 to 0 at halftime in the 2005 Champions League Final in Istanbul. What was the final result?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
3 to 3, Liverpool won on penalties
Steven Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso scored in six second-half minutes, and Jerzy Dudek's wobbly-legs routine helped Liverpool win the shootout 3 to 2.
Milan got their revenge two years later, beating Liverpool 2 to 1 in the 2007 final in Athens.
How many consecutive Tour de France titles were stripped from Lance Armstrong?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
7
Armstrong's seven straight Tour wins from 1999 to 2005 were voided by cycling's governing body in 2012 after the USADA report detailed his doping program.
No rider was awarded those seven Tours in his place; the official record books simply leave the years blank.
Which country won the first-ever FIFA World Cup in 1930?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Uruguay
Hosts Uruguay beat Argentina 4 to 2 in Montevideo's Estadio Centenario, with only 13 nations taking part after the long boat trip deterred most of Europe.
Uruguay won again in 1950, stunning Brazil at the Maracana in front of nearly 200,000 fans in a game remembered as the Maracanazo.
What world record time did Usain Bolt set in the 100m at the 2009 World Championships?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
9.58 seconds
Bolt ran 9.58 in Berlin on August 16, 2009, slicing 0.11 seconds off his own Beijing Olympic record, the biggest improvement since electronic timing began.
Four days later he broke his 200 meters record too, running 19.19, and both marks still stand in 2026.
In the 'Rumble in the Jungle' (1974), who did Muhammad Ali defeat using the 'rope-a-dope' strategy?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
George Foreman
In Kinshasa, Zaire, Ali leaned back on the ropes and let the unbeaten Foreman punch himself out before knocking him down in the eighth round.
The fight, staged by Don King with a 10 million dollar purse, was the subject of the Oscar-winning 1996 documentary When We Were Kings.
Which NFL team overcame a 25-point deficit to win Super Bowl LI in the first-ever Super Bowl overtime?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
New England Patriots
New England trailed Atlanta 28 to 3 in the third quarter, tied it at 28 and won 34 to 28 on James White's overtime touchdown in February 2017.
Tom Brady's 466 passing yards that night set a Super Bowl record, and the win gave him his fifth title, then a record for a quarterback.
Who scored both the 'Hand of God' goal AND the 'Goal of the Century' in the same 1986 World Cup match?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Diego Maradona
Four minutes after punching the ball past Peter Shilton, Maradona ran from his own half past five England players to score the Goal of the Century.
Argentina won 2 to 1 and went on to beat West Germany in the final, with Maradona named the tournament's best player.
Which Grand Slam did Serena Williams win to complete the 'Serena Slam', holding all four major titles at once?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
2015 Wimbledon
Serena beat Garbine Muguruza in the 2015 Wimbledon final to hold the US Open, Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon titles at the same time.
Her first Serena Slam ended at the 2003 Australian Open, and her bid for a true calendar-year slam in 2015 ended in a US Open semifinal loss to Roberta Vinci.
In which season did Leicester City win the Premier League at odds of 5,000 to 1?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
2015/16
Claudio Ranieri's Leicester, tipped for relegation, clinched the 2015/16 title with two games to spare on May 2, 2016 when Tottenham drew at Chelsea.
Bookmakers paid out an estimated 25 million pounds, and Jamie Vardy scored in 11 consecutive matches along the way, a Premier League record.
Who hit the 'Shot Heard Round the World', a walk-off homer that won the 1951 National League pennant?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Bobby Thomson
Thomson's three-run homer off Ralph Branca at the Polo Grounds won the deciding playoff game 5 to 4 for the Giants over the Brooklyn Dodgers on October 3, 1951.
Radio announcer Russ Hodges' call of The Giants win the pennant, shouted over and over, became the most famous in baseball broadcasting.
Which F1 driver shares the all-time record of 7 World Championship titles with Michael Schumacher?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton won his first title in 2008 with McLaren and six more with Mercedes between 2014 and 2020, matching Schumacher's seven.
Hamilton holds the outright records for wins and pole positions, and Max Verstappen's run of four straight titles ended when Lando Norris won the 2025 championship.
At the 1976 Olympics, 14-year-old Nadia Comăneci made history. What did the scoreboard display for her perfect score?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
1.00
Omega's scoreboards in Montreal had only three digits because a 10 was thought impossible, so Comaneci's perfect uneven bars score appeared as 1.00.
She recorded seven perfect 10s at those Games and won three golds, and the scoreboards were redesigned for later Olympics.
Michael Jordan's iconic 'Last Shot' in the 1998 NBA Finals sealed the Bulls' 6th title. Who did they beat?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Utah Jazz
Jordan stole the ball from Karl Malone, then hit a pull-up jumper over Bryon Russell with 5.2 seconds left in Game 6 to win 87 to 86 in Salt Lake City.
It was Jordan's last shot as a Bull; he retired months later and returned in 2001 for two seasons with the Washington Wizards.
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All Sports quizzes →About the Greatest Sports Moments Quiz
Some moments outgrow the game. A squad of American college kids beat the Soviet hockey machine at Lake Placid. Liverpool came back from three goals down in a Champions League final in Istanbul. An NFL team erased a 25-point deficit in a Super Bowl, and in Berlin in 2009 Usain Bolt ran 100 meters faster than anyone before or since. Nadia Comăneci scored a perfect 10 at the age of 14, and the scoreboard could not even display it.
These 15 questions span the Olympics, soccer, basketball, tennis, boxing, baseball, Formula 1, cycling, gymnastics and the NFL, mixing famous years and scores with the names behind them. Some are well known enough for any casual fan; others reward people who have watched the highlight reels a few too many times. It suits sports bars, family trivia nights and anyone who loves a great comeback.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Medium. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
What is considered the greatest sports moment of all time?
The Miracle on Ice at Lake Placid is the usual pick in American polls, while Diego Maradona's 1986 solo goal against England and Liverpool's Istanbul comeback top many international lists.
Does the quiz cover both American and international sports?
Yes. It mixes the NFL, NBA and MLB with soccer, Formula 1, cycling, tennis, boxing and Olympic hockey and gymnastics, so fans on both sides of the Atlantic get a fair shot.
How many sports moments does the quiz cover?
Fifteen, spanning 1951 to 2017. Each question focuses on a single moment, and the answer reveals the year, the score or the person and why the moment still matters.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- In which year did the US hockey team pull off the 'Miracle on Ice' by defeating the Soviet Union at the Olympics?
1980 On February 22, 1980, Herb Brooks' team of college players beat the four-time defending champion Soviets 4 to 3 at Lake Placid, then beat Finland for the gold. Sports Illustrated ran the celebration photo on its cover with no headline at all, the only time the magazine has ever done so. - Which legendary athlete lit the Olympic cauldron at the 1996 Atlanta Games?
Muhammad Ali Ali, his hands shaking from Parkinson's disease, lit the cauldron in a moment kept secret until swimmer Janet Evans handed him the torch before 83,000 people. The same Games saw Michael Johnson win the 200 and 400 meters double in gold shoes, setting a 200 meters world record of 19.32 seconds. - Liverpool trailed AC Milan 3 to 0 at halftime in the 2005 Champions League Final in Istanbul. What was the final result?
3 to 3, Liverpool won on penalties Steven Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso scored in six second-half minutes, and Jerzy Dudek's wobbly-legs routine helped Liverpool win the shootout 3 to 2. Milan got their revenge two years later, beating Liverpool 2 to 1 in the 2007 final in Athens. - How many consecutive Tour de France titles were stripped from Lance Armstrong?
7 Armstrong's seven straight Tour wins from 1999 to 2005 were voided by cycling's governing body in 2012 after the USADA report detailed his doping program. No rider was awarded those seven Tours in his place; the official record books simply leave the years blank. - Which country won the first-ever FIFA World Cup in 1930?
Uruguay Hosts Uruguay beat Argentina 4 to 2 in Montevideo's Estadio Centenario, with only 13 nations taking part after the long boat trip deterred most of Europe. Uruguay won again in 1950, stunning Brazil at the Maracana in front of nearly 200,000 fans in a game remembered as the Maracanazo. - What world record time did Usain Bolt set in the 100m at the 2009 World Championships?
9.58 seconds Bolt ran 9.58 in Berlin on August 16, 2009, slicing 0.11 seconds off his own Beijing Olympic record, the biggest improvement since electronic timing began. Four days later he broke his 200 meters record too, running 19.19, and both marks still stand in 2026. - In the 'Rumble in the Jungle' (1974), who did Muhammad Ali defeat using the 'rope-a-dope' strategy?
George Foreman In Kinshasa, Zaire, Ali leaned back on the ropes and let the unbeaten Foreman punch himself out before knocking him down in the eighth round. The fight, staged by Don King with a 10 million dollar purse, was the subject of the Oscar-winning 1996 documentary When We Were Kings. - Which NFL team overcame a 25-point deficit to win Super Bowl LI in the first-ever Super Bowl overtime?
New England Patriots New England trailed Atlanta 28 to 3 in the third quarter, tied it at 28 and won 34 to 28 on James White's overtime touchdown in February 2017. Tom Brady's 466 passing yards that night set a Super Bowl record, and the win gave him his fifth title, then a record for a quarterback. - Who scored both the 'Hand of God' goal AND the 'Goal of the Century' in the same 1986 World Cup match?
Diego Maradona Four minutes after punching the ball past Peter Shilton, Maradona ran from his own half past five England players to score the Goal of the Century. Argentina won 2 to 1 and went on to beat West Germany in the final, with Maradona named the tournament's best player. - Which Grand Slam did Serena Williams win to complete the 'Serena Slam', holding all four major titles at once?
2015 Wimbledon Serena beat Garbine Muguruza in the 2015 Wimbledon final to hold the US Open, Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon titles at the same time. Her first Serena Slam ended at the 2003 Australian Open, and her bid for a true calendar-year slam in 2015 ended in a US Open semifinal loss to Roberta Vinci. - In which season did Leicester City win the Premier League at odds of 5,000 to 1?
2015/16 Claudio Ranieri's Leicester, tipped for relegation, clinched the 2015/16 title with two games to spare on May 2, 2016 when Tottenham drew at Chelsea. Bookmakers paid out an estimated 25 million pounds, and Jamie Vardy scored in 11 consecutive matches along the way, a Premier League record. - Who hit the 'Shot Heard Round the World', a walk-off homer that won the 1951 National League pennant?
Bobby Thomson Thomson's three-run homer off Ralph Branca at the Polo Grounds won the deciding playoff game 5 to 4 for the Giants over the Brooklyn Dodgers on October 3, 1951. Radio announcer Russ Hodges' call of The Giants win the pennant, shouted over and over, became the most famous in baseball broadcasting. - Which F1 driver shares the all-time record of 7 World Championship titles with Michael Schumacher?
Lewis Hamilton Hamilton won his first title in 2008 with McLaren and six more with Mercedes between 2014 and 2020, matching Schumacher's seven. Hamilton holds the outright records for wins and pole positions, and Max Verstappen's run of four straight titles ended when Lando Norris won the 2025 championship. - At the 1976 Olympics, 14-year-old Nadia Comăneci made history. What did the scoreboard display for her perfect score?
1.00 Omega's scoreboards in Montreal had only three digits because a 10 was thought impossible, so Comaneci's perfect uneven bars score appeared as 1.00. She recorded seven perfect 10s at those Games and won three golds, and the scoreboards were redesigned for later Olympics. - Michael Jordan's iconic 'Last Shot' in the 1998 NBA Finals sealed the Bulls' 6th title. Who did they beat?
Utah Jazz Jordan stole the ball from Karl Malone, then hit a pull-up jumper over Bryon Russell with 5.2 seconds left in Game 6 to win 87 to 86 in Salt Lake City. It was Jordan's last shot as a Bull; he retired months later and returned in 2001 for two seasons with the Washington Wizards.
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