The year of anomalous trophies. All the historic triumphs of 2025

The 2024/25 season delivered sensational victories and long-awaited silverware to the football world—trophies fans had been waiting decades to see. From the stunning achievements of underdogs to the historic milestones of football giants, here's a rundown of the biggest successes by European and global teams that have written their names into the history books.

PSG — Champions League

Back in 2011, the new Qatari owners set an ambitious target for the Parisian club: win the Champions League. To achieve that, PSG signed superstars like Ibrahimović, Cavani, Neymar, Messi, Mbappé and many more over the years.

But PSG's best result remained the 2019/20 Champions League final, where they lost to Bayern Munich. Only in their first season without their galaxy of stars did PSG finally capture the ultimate European trophy, demolishing Inter 5-0 in the final.

Tottenham Hotspur — Europa League

The North London club clinched the Europa League title in the 2024/25 campaign. In the final of Europe's second most prestigious club competition, the Spurs edged out Manchester United 1-0.

Tottenham's trophy drought had lasted since 2008, when they won the English League Cup. Since then, the Spurs lost four finals, including the decisive 2018/19 Champions League showdown.

Pyramids — CAF Champions League

It wasn't just in Europe that a newcomer captured the continent's most prestigious trophy. In 2024/25, Egyptian side Pyramids won the CAF Champions League for the first time in their history. In the two-legged final, the Egyptians overcame South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns.

Crystal Palace — FA Cup

Another London club lifted a major trophy for the first time in its 120-year history. In the FA Cup final, Oliver Glasner's side, thanks to a goal from Eberechi Eze, stunned Manchester City 1-0 in a result for the ages.

Newcastle United — English League Cup

After defeating Liverpool 2-1, Newcastle ended a 70-year trophy drought. The last time the Magpies claimed a major domestic trophy was in 1955, when they won the FA Cup.

Platense — Argentine Primera División Apertura

Platense only finished 13th out of 30 in the regular stage, but fought their way into the playoffs. There, the club from Florida knocked out River Plate, San Lorenzo and Huracán, securing their first national title in 120 years of existence.

Bologna — Coppa Italia

In the Coppa Italia final, Vincenzo Italiano's men toppled AC Milan 1-0. This trophy was Bologna's first in 51 years. The club also set a record for the longest gap between cup wins (from 1974 to 2025).

Stuttgart — DFB-Pokal

A 4-2 win over Arminia in the final brought the Swabians their first trophy in 18 years. The club's last title was the 2007 Bundesliga crown. Stuttgart hadn't won the German Cup since 1997.

Go Ahead Eagles — KNVB Cup

The modest club from Deventer last lifted a major trophy in the 1932/33 season. After a 92-year drought, Go Ahead Eagles triumphed over AZ in a dramatic penalty shootout and claimed their first ever national cup.

Union Saint-Gilloise — Belgian Pro League

This year the club celebrated its 128th anniversary. With 12 league titles, Union trails only Anderlecht and Club Brugge in Belgium. But all those triumphs came in the early 20th century. Before 2025, Union Saint-Gilloise's last league crown was in 1935—a staggering 90 years ago.

Rijeka — Croatian Championship

Compared to others, Rijeka had won the national title relatively recently—in 2017. But after that, Dinamo Zagreb claimed seven consecutive Croatian championships. Only in 2025 did Rijeka finally break the capital club's stranglehold.

Milsami — Moldovan Championship

Here's an interesting fact about the club from Orhei. Milsami was founded in 2005 and won their first national title in 2015. Supporters had to wait exactly ten more years for a second "golden" season.

Pafos — Cypriot Champions

The club was formed in 2014 from the merger of AEP and AEK Kouklia. Eleven years later, Pafos captured their first ever league gold medals.

Bonus

Harry Kane — first club trophy of his career

Throughout his long career, the 31-year-old Englishman collected a cabinet full of individual honors: nine times top scorer in tournaments, Golden Boot winner in 2023/24, and England's player of the year in 2017 and 2018.

But club and national team silverware had eluded him. For years, it seemed he was cursed. In the 2023/24 season, Harry joined Bayern Munich, who had won 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles. But in Kane's first campaign, Bayer Leverkusen snatched the championship away from Bayern. Only at the second attempt did Kane finally conquer the German league.