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What are the top sports rivalries of all time? Here is our top 10 countdown:
10. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier (Boxing): arguably the greatest boxing rivalry in history, highlighted by a trilogy of classic fights – the Fight of the Century (1971, won by Frazier), Super Fight II (1974, won by Ali), and the Thrilla in Manila (1975, won by Ali).
9. Chris Evert vs. Martina Navratilova (Women’s Tennis): the two dominant women’s tennis players of the 1970s and 1980s with 18 Grand Slam singles titles each (including winning 15 straight between them from 1981 to 1985) and a combined 592 weeks at #1, Evert and Navratilova faced each other 80x, including 14x in Grand Slam finals.
8. Army vs. Navy (NCAA Football): this classic matchup dates back to 1890 (119 meetings) and marks the end of the college football regular season; the annual Army-Navy game is frequently attended by sitting Presidents and marks the biggest game of the year for each team, regardless of their overall records.
7. Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal (Men’s Tennis): perhaps the two greatest men’s tennis players of all time, Federer and Nadal are #1 and #2, respectively, in career Grand Slam singles titles and have met head-to-head 40x, including 14x in Grand Slams (all in the semifinals or finals).
6. Celtics vs. Lakers (NBA): the two most storied franchises in NBA history (17 and 16 titles, respectively), the Celtics and Lakers have met 12x in the NBA Finals; the rivalry was perhaps at its peak in the 1980s, when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson led their respective teams against each other in the Finals 3x.
5. Bears vs. Packers (NFL): a fierce rivalry between NFC North teams that dates back to 1921, the NFL kicks off its 100th season in 2019 with the 199th meeting between the Bears and Packers.
4. Michigan vs. Ohio State (NCAA Football): known as The Game, the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry dates back to 1897 and their 115 meetings have frequently decided the Big Ten title, Rose Bowl matchups, and even national championships, particularly during the Woody Hayes-Bo Schembechler era (1969-1978) and the 2006 Game of the Century between then #1 Ohio State and #2 Michigan.
3. Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona (World Soccer – La Liga): with 59 La Liga and 18 Champions League titles between, the rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona (known as El Clasico) features two of the most storied clubs in world soccer; throughout history, many of the game’s greatest players have worn the colors of each club (Messi, Ronaldo, Zidane, Maradona, Cruyff, Di Stefano, Puskas, etc.).
2. Duke vs. North Carolina (NCAA Basketball): the preeminent college basketball rivalry, the two schools are separated by only 10 miles along Tobacco Road and have played each other more than 250x, resulting in 11 national championships between them, iconic Hall of Fame coaches, and a slew of future NBA stars, including the GOAT Michael Jordan.
1. Yankees vs. Red Sox (MLB): baseball’s most heated rivalry began in 1901 and reached a turning point when the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1919; though the Yankees have won 27 World Series titles and the Red Sox went 86 years without winning one from 1918 to 2004, the 2,200+ games between New York and Boston have featured some of the greatest players in baseball history (e.g. Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams in the 1940s) and have never wavered in their intensity.
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Note: All statistics as of time of publication.
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