A comeback (or come-from-behind) is an occurrence of an athlete or sports team engaged in a competition overcoming a substantial disadvantage in points or position.
For example, in American football, "The Comeback" refers to a specific NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Oilers played January 3, 1993.
It featured the Bills recovering from a 32-point deficit shortly after halftime to win in overtime, 41–38, the largest comeback in terms of points (at that time) in NFL history, postseason or regular season.
[17] Another prominent example of a comeback came in Super Bowl LI, played on February 5, 2017, where the New England Patriots, down by 25 points (28–3) in the third quarter, would eventually defeat the Atlanta Falcons in overtime, 34–28, for its second championship title in three years.
TCU backup QB Bram Kohlhausen (who was playing for starter Trevone Boykin as he was suspended for off-the-field issues) led an unbelievable 31-point second half to tie the game.
[24][25] Another example is Liverpool’s comeback against AC Milan in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final in which Liverpool came back from 3-0 deficit in the first half after scoring three goals in 7 minutes to make it 3-3 and winning on penalties 3-2 (The Miracle of Istanbul) An example of a record breaking comeback is FC Barcelona (6–1, 6–5 on aggregate) against Paris Saint-Germain F.C.
It was the first time in UEFA Champions League history that a team had overcome a four-goal deficit in order to qualify for the quarterfinals.
With Liverpool being down 3–0 after the first game, Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum came to the rescue as both netted 2 goals each, and an extraordinary corner kick from Trent Alexander-Arnold would give the Reds a 4–3 lead on aggregate, sending them through to the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final which they eventually ended up winning versus Tottenham Hotspur 2–0.
Real Madrid completed three successful comebacks in the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League knockout phase.
The match ended 3–1 and Los Blancos reached the final, eventually winning it with a goal by Vinicius Jr. and an outstanding performance by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois on 28 May 2022 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
The greatest comeback in NCAA Division I history occurred on February 22, 2018 when Drexel overcame a 34-point deficit against Delaware.
The greatest comeback in National Basketball Association play occurred on November 27, 1996, when the Utah Jazz, down by 36 points to the Denver Nuggets late in the second quarter (it was 70–36 at the half and 70–34 just before), overcame this deficit to win 107–103.
[36] In the 2019 NBA playoffs the Los Angeles Clippers trailed by 31 points, before overcoming the Golden State Warriors 135–131.
Atlanta rallied back to take the lead on a Wesley Matthews three with 9:58 remaining in the final quarter.
The game went back and forth for the rest of it, until De'Andre Hunter made a dagger three to extend the Hawks' lead to four with 9.2 seconds remaining, and Atlanta won 120-118.
Led by Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, the Warriors outscored Toronto 64–28 in the final 21:20 by means of tremendous 3-point shooting to come away with a 112–103 win at home.
[46] A late foul call led to Dennis Schröder making a free throw and sealing the comeback as the Lakers won 111–108.
22 points — Phoenix Suns vs. Sacramento Kings (January 16, 2024)[47] At the Footprint Center, The Phoenix Suns overcame a 22-point deficit with just 8 minutes remaining in the game Kevin Durant led the comeback with 15 points in the 4th quarter, finishing the game with 27, marking the first time an NBA team made a 22-point comeback in the 4th quarter since the 2019-2020 season.
Joel Embiid and Seth Curry were the only 76ers players to make field goals in the second half, allowing for the Atlanta Hawks to win 109–106.
One example of a limited-overs comeback came in the 1996 Cricket World Cup semi-final between Australia and the West Indies, with each team allotted 50 overs (50 sets of 6 legal deliveries).
In the 2015–16 EHF Champions League final, MVM Veszprem led Vive Targi Kielce 28–19 after 45 minutes of play.
[72] In the 1985 Winston 500, Bill Elliott's car suffered a broken oil fitting and nearly went two laps off of the pace.
Elliott was able to make up the near two lap difference without the aid of a caution flag or the draft, winning the race by over a second.
[73] In the 1995 Indianapolis 500, Jacques Villeneuve overtook the pace car by mistake and was penalized with two laps, but recovered and won the race.
[74] During the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Jenson Button fell to last place on lap 37 after a collision during a torrential downpour.
Sebastian Vettel won the 2012 Formula One World Championship at Brazil by recovering from a spin on lap 1 to finish 6th and secure the title.
Sergio Pérez was due to retire at the conclusion of the 2020 Formula One World Championship as he was without a contract, and having raced 190 times, he had never claimed a win.
With this victory, he completed the Double Career Grand Slam, and won a then all-time record 21st major men's singles title.
[78] In the 10,000 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics at Munich, runner Lasse Virén fell in the twelfth lap after getting tangled with Emiel Puttemans, with Tunisia's Mohamed Gammoudi also falling after being tripped by Viren's legs.
Despite losing about 20 metres, Virén caught up with, and then outpaced, the pack, breaking Ron Clarke's 7-year-old world record with a time of 27:38.40[7][11][79] In the 2013 America's Cup, Oracle Team USA (representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club), fell behind the challenger Emirates Team New Zealand (representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron) by a score of 8 races to 1.