As we enter the first days of a new year, what better time to take stock and reflect on the stories that dominated football in 2025.
Underdogs end long wait for trophies
It was a calendar year to remember for several sides previously starved of success. Modern football can be accused of predictability with the richest teams often taking the trophies, but there were underdogs aplenty ripping up the script in 2025.
Newcastle United claimed England’s first trophy of the 2024/25 campaign, downing Liverpool at Wembley to claim the Carabao Cup. It had been 56 years since the Magpies won a trophy of any kind, and 70 years since their last domestic success.
Even that drought pales in comparison to Crystal Palace, whose FA Cup win sealed the club’s first-ever major silverware. The Eagles had never won a trophy in their 119-year existence, until Eberechi Eze’s goal sank Manchester City in May.
2025 has been the year of the trophy droughts ending 🏆 pic.twitter.com/TQBAqEkACB
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 21, 2025
Tottenham, too, ended a 17-year wait for a trophy in the Europa League, while the shock success stories were not restricted to English football.
Go Ahead Eagles upset the odds to claim the KNVB Cup in the Netherlands, breaking a 92-year duck, while Bologna’s Coppa Italia win was a first trophy in 51 years for I Rossublu.
Scenes, everywhere.
Postecoglou prophecy fulfilled before axe falls
Whatever your opinion of Ange Postecoglou the manager, there’s no doubt the Aussie was box-office in the media room. Under pressure early into his second season at Tottenham, Postecoglou boldly backed himself.
“I’ll correct myself – I don’t usually win things, I always win things in my second year. Nothing’s changed”
With Spurs approaching two decades without silverware success, it was a stunning statement from Postecoglou in an era where every comment and error is leapt upon by social media vultures.
His brash talking did not deliver an upturn in the Premier League as a sorry Spurs side limped to a 17th-place finish, but Europe provided solace – and a prophecy fulfilled.
2 – In winning the 2024-25 UEFA Europa League, Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou has maintained his record of winning a trophy in his second full season with a club (1997-98 South Melbourne, 2011-12 Brisbane Roar, 2019 Yokohama F. Marinos, 2022-23 Celtic). Always. #UELfinal pic.twitter.com/sedkuw7Nqd
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 21, 2025
A drab 1-0 win over Manchester United saw Spurs win the Europa League and deliver on the promise he made, handling the self-increased pressure admirably.
It’s perhaps for the best that we ignore the bold quip about ‘series three’ during the trophy parade, as Spurs sacked the head coach just 16 days later. Or an ill-fated short-lived return at Nottingham Forest, for that matter.
Paris Saint-Germain end European wait
For Paris Saint-Germain, the Champions League has always been the holy grail. Since the club’s transformative takeover in 2011, their Qatari-backed regime had put Old Big Ears above all else.
Stars came and went at the Parc des Princes, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani, Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe all passing through Paris without ending the club’s wait for the one that matters most.
Mbappe’s departure for Real Madrid in 2024 looked to have put a huge dent in Parisian hopes of success last season, while an unconvincing league phase only emphasised that view.
But then, something clicked.
Three consecutive wins earned a place in the knockout rounds, where compatriots Brest were dismantled 10-0 on aggregate. Despite losing the home leg to Liverpool in the last 16, PSG won narrowly at Anfield, progressing on penalties in a defining night. Aston Villa and Arsenal were beaten to complete a Premier League hat-trick, before a final performance that will live long in the memory; Paris Saint-Germain 5-0 Inter Milan.
A record-breaking Champions League final scoreline got the monkey off PSG’s back in style, as Luis Enrique’s all-conquering team completed a quadruple.
After the failure and vanity of superstar regimes, this was a PSG team built on a team-first ethos, energy, and precocious young talent. The scary thought for their European rivals is that it’s a side capable of getting even better.
Diogo Jota’s tragic passing
Football was rocked in July by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva. The siblings were involved in a road-traffic accident in the summer, in which neither survived.
What followed was an outpouring of emotion across the game. Jota had arguably been at the pinnacle of his professional life. A Premier League winner with Liverpool in 2025, he followed that success with Nations League success with the Portugal national team in the summer.
Today, as every day, we remember Diogo Jota on what would have been his 29th birthday.
All of our love, thoughts and prayers continue to be with his wife Rute, his children, parents and all of his family and friends, as well as those of his brother, Andre.
Forever in our… pic.twitter.com/FdMXbNADgp
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 4, 2025
Even more important was the life he led off the pitch. A father of three, he had married his long-term partner, Rute, just 11 days before the accident that took his life.
The impact of his life and death is impossible to quantify, with the latter a tragic reminder of the preciousness of time. May Diogo and Andre rest in peace.
Lionesses go back-to-back at Euros
“The first time was so nice, we had to do it twice,” was the quip from Chloe Kelly, as England celebrated another tournament success this summer.
The Lionesses secured their first-ever major tournament success after winning the 2022 European Championship on home soil, before upsetting the odds to go back-to-back in the summer. Sarina Wiegman’s side stunned world champions Spain in Switzerland, beating La Roja on penalties after a nerve-wracking final ended 1-1.
04:52 – @Lionesses won #EURO2025 despite leading for just four minutes and 52 seconds in the entire knockout stages of the tournament (including stoppage time). Battlers. pic.twitter.com/oAdXOMuQxb
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 27, 2025
England had shown incredible spirit to reach the final, with stirring comebacks against Sweden and Italy, before falling behind in the decider. An equaliser from Alessia Russo forced extra-time and penalties, where Hannah Hampton saved two Spanish spot-kicks. Kelly, the hero in 2022, fired home the decisive kick for England.
The men’s side still have the monkey on their back ahead of this summer’s World Cup, but the Lionesses have provided them with the blueprint. For Wiegman, it was a third consecutive European Championship win.
Liverpool break bank in record summer spend
There was once a time when Liverpool were referred to as the ‘Net Spend Kings’. For those unfamiliar with the term, it’s an argument that spending is not really spending, despite spending, with money recouped from sales counter-acting that spending. Still following?
This summer, however, Liverpool decided to flex their financial muscles. Off the back of title success under Arne Slot, owners Fenway Sports Group loosened the purse strings. Twice the British transfer record was broken, first for Florian Wirtz (£116m) and latterly for Alexander Isak (£125m) in a blockbuster deadline day deal.
Liverpool had held the British transfer record just once before, 30 years ago when Stan Collymore crossed to Anfield from Nottingham Forest. Now, the Reds had set it twice in the same summer.
With Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni also arriving, Liverpool’s remarkable recruitment drive surpassed the £400m mark and set a new world record for a single window. Talk of an unstoppable surge towards back-to-back titles followed, but Liverpool’s new recruits are yet to gel as hoped.
It appears there’s more to winning trophies than throwing money at it, after all.
Curacao become smallest nation to reach World Cup
Curacao made history in November after becoming the smallest-ever nation to reach a World Cup finals. The Caribbean island nation upset the odds to reach the 2026 tournament, finishing above Jamaica in qualification.
Under the guidance of 78-year-old veteran head coach Dick Advocaart, Curacao claimed their place at the World Cup, where Germany, Ecuador and Ivory Coast now await.
CURAÇAO HAVE QUALIFIED FOR THEIR FIRST-EVER WORLD CUP ❤️
WHAT A MOMENT FOR THE BLUE WAVE 🌊 pic.twitter.com/Xn4Tm29MAv
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) November 19, 2025
For context, the island has a land area smaller than the Isle of Man, and a population less than Warrington.
Fairytale stuff.
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