The year 2025 is rapidly drawing to a close, and I find myself thinking once again, where did it all go? The year has flown by in a flash, and people generally say that time flies when you are having fun. For me, and I am sure for plenty of others, a lot of that fun can be traced back to the sporting world.
With that in mind, it feels like the perfect time to look back at the moments that defined the year.
So, while Spotify are releasing their 2025 Wrapped with everyone’s favourite songs and genres, here at betcha we are ready to produce our own rewind as we outline the best moments in sport from 2025.
Rory Mcilroy Gets Over The Hump
To get this one started, we are making the trip to the mecca of the golfing universe in Augusta, which this year delivered a special moment while etching a legend into golf history. The all time great is Rory McIlroy, who had one very elusive title missing from his illustrious career, the prestigious green jacket awarded for winning the Masters.
It wasn’t just the green jacket that had been eluding McIlroy, but also the idea of being placed on golf’s Mount Rushmore by earning a career Grand Slam. This feat is achieved when a player is crowned champion of all four major golf tournaments and has only been accomplished by a select group of golfers. Some of those names may ring a bell, including Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, with most of them firmly in the GOAT conversation.
For a player of McIlroy’s ilk and pedigree, he undoubtedly had the talent and history to be among those legends, but the question remained whether he could get over the hump at the Masters. After multiple attempts, it began to feel like something that might continue to evade him, despite several top five finishes, including a runner up result in 2022.
However, this year McIlroy would not be denied, no matter how many holes he dug himself into. He responded with shots that left jaws on the floor, keeping himself afloat on the leaderboard. The tournament came down to a playoff against his long time friend Justin Rose, who certainly did not make it easy, carding a par on the hole and leaving Rory with no room for error. With the opportunity to finally win in Augusta, Rory did not let it pass him by as he sunk the putt for birdie, instantly launching himself into the history books.
Billions Later And PSG Finally Crowned The Kings Of Europe
For most European football clubs, the pinnacle of their season is the Champions League, if they were fortunate enough to be one of the teams to qualify for the competition the season before. One of the clubs that has always seemingly been in and around the contenders for the title, but never actually crowned the kings of Europe, is Paris Saint Germain.
For the Parisian supergiants, they were never shy about spending resources to give themselves the best chance of claiming the top accolade on many clubs radars over the years, being more than willing to splash the cash. This approach was amplified by a team that boasted a front three of Neymar, young Kylian Mbappé, and of course Lionel Messi, who were touted as the trio that would finally take PSG to glory. Those billions of dollars would prove to be in vain, as their best finish was a runners up medal in 2020 after losing to Bayern Munich.
With Neymar and Messi departing, the team was set to be built around the best player of the generation, Kylian Mbappé, who was given the keys to the club, quite literally. However, this would not appease their talisman for long, as he decided to fulfil his dream of playing at the Bernabéu for Real Madrid.
With their future star moving on, PSG had to turn the page to the next chapter of the club, and wow did they do that this year. Led by Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, PSG steamrolled the Champions League knockout rounds and earned themselves a second finals appearance of the decade. This time they would not be denied, as Inter Milan were at their mercy all night in what could only be described as one of the most dominant Champions League finals. PSG dispatched the Italian side 5–0. The emphatic victory brought an end to years of frustration for the club, and what made it even sweeter was that they achieved it through a far more organic approach, building a superstar squad rather than a team full of superstars.
A New Tennis Rivalry Was Born
For me, tennis is one of the greatest sports on earth, and what makes it so special are the rivalries that are formed through the Grand Slam structure of the game. There is an opportunity for the same group of players to go toe to toe for two weeks, four times a year, for the sport’s greatest honours. This idea was amplified by the “Big Four” during the latter stages of the 2000s, where names like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were constantly fighting tooth and nail for Grand Slam titles in what was a storybook period for the game.
Ever since Murray and Federer retired, Nadal and Djokovic were the last of a dying breed, consistently sitting at the top of the rankings and battling it out for Grand Slam titles, while other young talents were more flashes in the pan. However, this was never going to last, as the bodies of the old guard began to break down.
That next generation has now arrived in Italian Jannik Sinner and the flashy Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who now seem capable of pencilling themselves into the finals of Grand Slam tournaments for years to come. This is backed up by the fact that the last eight Grand Slams have been won by one of those two, with a special rivalry forming right in front of our eyes.
For me, the moment this truly signaled the changing of the guard came this year at Roland Garros, when the two were duking it out for the French Open on the stunning clay courts of Paris. In that match, Sinner surged out to a two sets to love lead and even held three championship points, only for Alcaraz to save them in the fourth set. That moment became the catalyst for an incredible comeback, with Alcaraz going on to win both the match and the tournament in what became the second longest Grand Slam final in history.
The “Weakest” Australian Test Side Sweeps The Ashes in Three Tests
The Ashes was set to return to Australian soil this summer in what was expected to be a closely fought battle between the two sides. English pundits were claiming this to be the weakest Australian side in 15 years, while England’s squad, having prepared extensively for the moment, were ready to steal the limelight.
The England side was built around attacking from ball one with the bat on fast, hard Australian wickets that were expected to suit their approach. Their bowling attack was full of big, fast and angry seamers who were meant to hit the deck hard and cause the Australian batters plenty of problems at the crease.
This idea did not play out at all across the series, with the first Test setting the tone. England were bowled out for 172 and 164 in what was some of the most stunning cricket I can remember, while Australia calmly chased the runs in the fourth innings to secure a 1–0 lead as the series headed to the Gabba.
With a largely unchanged England side, there was optimism that the first Test was merely a blip and that they would bounce back emphatically. It started reasonably well, with Joe Root scoring a century and the visitors posting a respectable total of 334. However, it quickly unravelled as that fierce pace attack failed to materialise and the Australian batting order feasted. Every batter reached double figures, with five of them scoring fifties as Australia piled on 511. England then collapsed once again, adding just 241, handing Australia a commanding grip on the series
The third Test represented England’s last real chance to do something special. After holding Australia to an under par total of 371, there was a flicker of hope. However, once again their batting let them down, falling around 80 runs short of Australia’s total. The insult was added in the third innings as Travis Head blasted 170, setting up a daunting chase of 430 in the fourth innings for the visitors. While England fought hard, they ultimately fell short, delivering the final blow to their Ashes dream.
Now they have two more Test matches to play, with the urn already secured by Australia for another cycle in what is now being described as a major failure, losing the Ashes in just 11 days to what many had labelled the weakest Australian side in a decade and a half.
