From Palace's FA Cup triumph to Vacherot's dream run: The biggest sporting upsets of 2025

[p]Everyone loves an underdog story and 2025 was filled with plenty of thrilling upsets across a variety of sports.[/p][p]Here, [b][i]Flashscore [/i][/b]takes a look at the biggest upsets of the year.[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/crystal-palace/AovF1Mia/"]Crystal Palace[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/newcastle-utd/p6ahwuwJ/"]Newcastle[/a]'s cup triumphs[/h2][p]We start with two big upsets in English football, in the form of Crystal Palace winning the FA Cup and Newcastle clinching the Carabao Cup.[/p][p]Palace faced [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-city/Wtn9Stg0/"]Manchester City[/a] in the FA Cup final, with the majority of the footballing world pretty certain that City would gain another trophy.[/p][p]That's not to say the Eagles were a bad side - far from it - but the might of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/guardiola-pep/hxNijWrJ/"]Pep Guardiola[/a]'s side couldn't be ignored.[/p][p]The final had a bit of everything, from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/eze-eberechi/Stf4BYFn/"]Eberechi Eze[/a] finishing off a superb Palace counter to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/henderson-dean/OpFOJojt/"]Dean Henderson[/a] very fortunately avoiding a red card, only to save a penalty just minutes later.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/crystal-palace-AovF1Mia/manchester-city-Wtn9Stg0/?mid=O6cKbEIc"]A 1-0 win[/a] saw Palace win not only their first FA Cup, but the first piece of major silverware in the club's history, and they added to it a couple of months later by beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/lId4TMwf/"]Liverpool[/a] in the Community Shield.[/p][embed guid="c4b7beaf-088c-4c54-985a-d55176ff5b9b" url="https://x.com/CPFC/status/1924209629715706063" social-type="twitter" /][p]Speaking of Liverpool, the Reds also fell victim to an upset at the hands of Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final.[/p][p]The Magpies defeated Liverpool - who would go on to become Premier League champions- [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/liverpool-lId4TMwf/newcastle-p6ahwuwJ/?mid=QRJfbG5K"]2-1 at Wembley after goals from Dan Burn and Alexander Isak[/a].[/p][p]It was Newcastle's first major domestic trophy for 70 years and sparked wild celebrations amongst the Geordie supporters.[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/plaisier-wesley/Ag14SXsd/"]Plaisier[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/munyua-david/QyeMobK5/"]Munyua[/a] shock the world[/h2][p]The PDC Darts World Championships always throw up some shocks, and the 2025 tournament has been no different.[/p][p]World number 92 Wesley Plaisier pulled off a staggering [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/darts/plaisier-w-Ag14SXsd/price-g-8dDDoW0B/?mid=xlMr7onm"]3-0 victory over former world champion Gerwyn Price[/a], thrashing the 'Ice Man' in the second round of the tournament.[/p][p][b]"I can't believe it, I'm so over the moon. It's my biggest victory ever. I don't know how I did it,"[/b] Plaisier said after the match.[/p][p]Price was the ninth seed heading into the tournament and even posted a higher average than his opponent - but fell to a shock defeat.[/p][embed guid="cc01c5bb-6bd1-4a3b-af94-08cd7707a5be" url="https://x.com/OfficialPDC/status/2001690681497006403" social-type="twitter" /][p]If that wasn't enough, the World Championships also created another star in David Munyua.[/p][p]The first-ever Kenyan to compete in the tournament, Munyua came from two sets down to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/darts/de-decker-m-ARzd8nfD/munyua-d-QyeMobK5/?mid=d6WNWMGL"]beat world number 18 Mike De Decker 3-2 and send the Ally Pally crowd insane[/a].[/p][p]Munyua's on-stage antics and impressive darts earned him cult hero status - and fans will always have a soft spot for the World Championships debutant.[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psv/M9UEHJWi/"]PSV[/a] make historic Eredivisie comeback[/h2][p]PSV found themselves nine points behind [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ajax/8UOvIwnb/"]Ajax[/a] with just seven games remaining in the Eredivisie season, but a staggering run saw the Dutch giants clinch a 26th league title.[/p][p]Managed by Peter Bosz, PSV took full advantage of Ajax's collapse to steal the title in the final weeks of the campaign - winning all seven of their remaining fixtures in the process.[/p][p]Ajax's capitulation included a first-ever home defeat to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nijmegen/nRluRF0T/"]NEC Nijmegen[/a] and conceding a 99th-minute equaliser to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/groningen/MBUGcjb9/"]FC Groningen[/a], while PSV spectacularly beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/feyenoord/8zjySeoN/"]Feyenoord[/a] 3-2 in the dying embers of their match.[/p][p]Bosz's side pulled off an impossible comeback to win the Eredivisie - condemning their rivals to a second-place finish in the process.[/p][embed guid="096c5d7f-42b3-4fe7-accf-2a3cf9e408e1" url="https://x.com/MenInBlazers/status/1924116508566806646" social-type="twitter" /][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vacherot-valentin/rFqoSYd8/"]Vacherot[/a] triumphs in Shanghai[/h2][p]Valentin Vacherot became the lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 champion in the format's history after winning the Shanghai Masters.[/p][p]The Monegasque was ranked just 204th in the world at the time of his victory, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/rinderknech-a-pIxZZsof/vacherot-v-rFqoSYd8/?mid=tAMhH4Ia"]beating his own cousin Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final[/a].[/p][p]His dream run also saw wins against the legendary [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/djokovic-novak/AZg49Et9/"]Novak Djokovic[/a] as well as players like [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rune-holger/2kRS8swG/"]Holger Rune[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bublik-alexander/t0WN9vR6/"]Alexander Bublik[/a].[/p][p]Vacherot has gone from strength to strength since his Shanghai win and now sits at number 31 in the world rankings.[/p][p]To make this upset even sweeter, Vacherot didn't even start in the tournament - he only joined after two players withdrew.[/p][embed guid="c1afdd3c-1e6e-4eee-8b49-da1f7590491a" url="https://x.com/TennisTV/status/1977329893965693220" social-type="twitter" /][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arminia-bielefeld/pp38UXK8/"]Arminia Bielefeld[/a]'s dream cup run[/h2][p]Second-tier German club Arminia Bielefeld enjoyed a dream cup run in the DFB Pokal, getting all the way to the final despite facing four Bundesliga clubs.[/p][p]After beating Bundesliga 2 side [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/hannover/dfNCCCzS/"]Hannover[/a] in the opening round, Bielefeld went on to record wins against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/union-berlin/pzHW4oaE/"]Union Berlin[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/freiburg/fiEQZ7C7/"]Freiburg[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/werder-bremen/Ig1f1fy3/"]Werder Bremen[/a] and then-holders [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bayer-leverkusen/4jcj2zMd/"]Bayer Leverkusen[/a].[/p][p]Their journey came to an end in the final with a 4-2 defeat at the hands of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/vfb-stuttgart/nJQmYp1B/"]Stuttgart[/a] - but the run before that will be fondly remembered in the years to come, especially in a competition so often dominated by Germany's elite clubs.[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/real-madrid/W8mj7MDD/"]Madrid[/a] fall short of several trophies[/h2][p]A bit of a different one to end off, but Real Madrid are so often the club to beat in every competition they enter, and 2025 saw the Spanish giants fall short on every front.[/p][p]They missed out on La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup at the hands of fierce rivals [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barcelona[/a].[/p][p]Madrid also fared poorly in Europe after crashing out of the Champions League in surprise fashion against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Arsenal[/a] - with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rice-declan/zkQ8Cm6n/"]Declan Rice[/a] netting two spectacular free-kicks on a night to remember for Gunners fans.[/p][p]Things equally didn't go well in the Club World Cup after being thrashed 4-0 by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psg/CjhkPw0k/"]PSG[/a] in the semi-finals, in what was a season to forget for Los Blancos.[/p]