In-play betting might be the best thing to happen to online sports betting apps. You’re watching a sports fixture, and you can tell a comeback is coming. These days, if Manchester City go a goal down, you can log on to your sports betting platform and then bet on them to win with slightly better odds because they are in a losing position. It's fair to say that the real money online sports betting apps ranked here are still to hit peak popularity, so we can only imagine what the odds would've been on these crazy moments from the past.
Australia’s Three Goals in Eight Minutes
The 2006 World Cup was great for many reasons, and the opening fixture in Group F defined a proper football comeback. Shunsuke Nakamura had taken the lead at the mid-point of the first half and led the game 1-0 with 10 minutes remaining on the clock. What happened at this point at Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Kaiserslautern, was utterly unexpected. The in-play odds for an Australia win would have been very profitable then. That’s exactly what Tim Cahill provided as the then Everton forward scored twice before Aloisi added a third to win 3-1, scoring all their goals in eight minutes.
Agassi Goes two Sets Down at the French Open
The 1999 French Open was a pre-cursor to the exceptional tennis that would define the proceeding era as Andre Agassi and Andrei Medvedev played for the spoils in Paris long before Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal dreamed of winning a grand slam title. Agassi found himself two sets down with a horrific performance as he was 1-6 and 2-6 for the first two sets. At this point, in-play betting would have been great for Agassi fans as he dug deep, winning the three subsequent sets and lifting the trophy.
Wales Comeback at Wembley
Despite being in London, England, Wembley Stadium served as Wales’ Rugby Union's temporary home for the 1999 Five Nations tournament. As fate would have it, the championship would go down to the final week. While Wales couldn’t win the title themselves, they could spoil the party for England as Scotland had already won their last game against France. England went into half-time, winning 25-18, making them odds on favorites to win the title. If In-play betting were prevalent at this point, some rugby fans would have made a tidy profit on a Welsh victory. Neil Jenkins performed a fierce second half to stop the English from lifting silverware as Wales triumphed 32-31.
Ferguson’s Never Say Die Attitude
Alex Ferguson ruined football for everyone who didn’t support Manchester United during his tenure. However, it was particularly distasteful in the late 1990s and the early 2000s when he assembled a tricky troupe that won many games from losing positions. The 1999 UEFA Champions League final was a classic embodiment of ‘Fergie Time’. Bayern Munich led the game from the sixth minute, and the celebrations had probably seen multiple fine German beers being uncorked in Bavaria as Bayerm were still winning come 90 minutes. At almost any point during the second half, in-play odds would have been very profitable. Of course, they would have paid out, too, as Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær scored twice in injury time to ensure that Manchester United took the European trophy back to England.
Another example of this type of comeback that Alex Ferguson championed came in the Premier League during the 2001-02 season. An away day at White Hart Lane seemingly went sour as Tottenham Hotspur took a 3-0 lead into the half-time break. Should in-play betting options have been available at this juncture, the odds of a Red Devils win would have been astronomical. Everyone knew that Manchester United were good, but not this good. Andrew Cole, Laurent Blanc, Ruud van Nistelrooij, Juan Sebastian Veron and David Beckham scored in the second half to give the visitors a 5-3 victory.
The Jazz Defy 36-Point Deficit
Back in 1996, the NBA was a very different place. One of the top franchises was the Utah Jazz, dominating the Western Conference throughout the 1996-97 season. On November 27, 1996 the Jazz found themselves down by 36 points against the Denver Nuggets, one of the weaker teams that year. Back then, in-play betting wasn’t an option on sportsbooks, but if it were, people opting for a Jazz win would have seen a significant return. The Jazz started to fire on all cylinders, with Karl Malone starring in their resurgence. The Utah franchise would win the match 107-103 despite being so many points behind.
