Emotional Moments in Football

Football is much more than a game. It has the power to bring us together. It has the power to bring joy, and great sadness. It has the power to divide, and it has the power to bring unity.

There are many moments when football has caused an outpouring of emotion. Seb Stafford-Bloor charts some of the biggest and most impactful moments. Illustrated by Henry Cooke.

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#Football

[SujoyChakravarthi]

Tifo really got me tearing up on a Wednesday morning. My Gates are incredibly moved

[ORiDeR_]

Recently the most touching moment for me was the Anfield crowd holding a minute's applause for the passing away of Ronaldo's baby boy. Highlighting the fact that United and Liverpool are Rivals not enemies

[juniorkhomari]

Greatest sport in the world. Never copied, never replicated. Football is the epitome outpouring emotion

[makononamangolwa]

Zambia winning their only AFCON in the country where their best ever side perished in plane crash is noteworthy also. They beat Ghana, and the Ivory Coast in the finals. Written in the stars.

[TheNostalgiaMerchant]

I would like to add Marc-Vivien Foé who sadly lost his life while playing for Cameroon in the semi-finals of the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. Both the Cameroonian and French teams played the final in honour of him.

[augustkristensen]

Never thought I would shed a tear watching a tifo video

[LeviAdam]

eriksens resurgence shows how good he really is

[Whalebelly]

I will never forget that Denmark - Russia game. We knew we had to beat Russia with at least 2 goals while Belgium had to win against Finland. Russia scored at penalty in the 70th minute making it 2 - 1, and that score would not be enough for us to advance. Meanwhile, the Belgium - Finland game was still 0 - 0. The next 10 minutes were the greatest thing I've ever witnessed in football. Christensen's screamer of a goal and Mæhle's near post finish came simultaneously with the two goals for Belgium in the other match, solidifying our place in the knockout stages. Everyone in Denmark cared about football that summer, and the national team's heroic efforts of overcoming the trauma of Eriksen's collapse united the country.

[lumiere]

The most emotional moment I have seen whilst watching football has to be Lampard taking a penalty against Liverpool just after his mum died. I remember watching it as a kid thinking how can he concentrate on scoring when his mind must be all over the place. He scored it and let out all his emotion right there on the pitch, like he hadn't allowed himself to grieve until that moment. It was such a powerful moment and is just one example of many on why this sport is the best.

[oscarknight]

Matt Bubsy surviving Munich and winning the European cup just 10 years on. By far the most inspirational football manager to walk this earth

[kelvinkaranja]

Football is just emotion in motion ❤️🤍

[Starwin-Darwin]

I thought Anfield singing YNWA after Ronaldo’s kid passed away was also quiet special given the history

[akamiguelsanchez]

Newcastle’s tribute to Gary Speed against Swansea absolutely did me in. I’d lost my sister three weeks before so felt extra emotional

[LMarcon]

Damn, Chapecoense's tragedy still makes my eyes wet. Such an underdog story and a team in ascension. My favorite football radio broadcaster was also in the plane and died.

[JayD-fxwc]

There was a night of 80, 000 tears! The day Totti retired. I still can't get halfway through it without crying and I don't even know Italian

[MultiAwesome]

My personal favorite is Neymar scoring the winning penalty for Brazil in the 2016 Olympics. He immediately started crying. The relief in that emotion is so real.

[shomgerry]

This was more emotional than I expected

[echzee]

I can't think of more emotional moment than Jonas Gutierrez saved Newcastle United from relegation on the final day of the 14/15 season, having beaten the testicular cancer himself a season prior.

[jeffmalone]

This was a nice change up in the type of video. I would love to hear moving speeches gathered on what football means to them, be it pros, writers, fans or even films.

[leodomingox]

I was still young when Miklós Fehér passed away playing for Benfica, but still get emotional every time there's talks about it. The other things were Portugal winninif finally a international tournament after so many ''almost there''. The other was the passing of Eusebio, even the ultras from Porto and Sporting ( out two biggest rivals) come and did their honors.

The following game was against Porto at our home. I cant describe how that game felt, was something else, the atmosphere was not something I felt during a game. We ended winning that game. When Portugal won the Euros there was a photo of Eusebio with the team during the all tournmenment and come with them on the airplane.