Rooney, Gascoigne, Kelly: Ranking the 15 best goal celebrations ever | OneFootball

Chloe Kelly’s winning goal for England in the Euro 2022 final will live long in the memory –– not just for the finish itself, but for her epic celebration afterwards.

The Manchester City star removed her shirt and swirled it around above her head in a moment that generated flashbacks to Brandi Chastain’s iconic celebration at the 1999 Women’s World Cup.

Kelly’s celebration got us thinking about the most iconic celebrations in history and it’s fair to say there have been some classics.

While the most bog-standard celebrations consist of players sliding on their knees and being swamped by their teammates, a few players have gone the extra mile with their respective attempts to trademark a signature move.

Who could forget Tim Cahill scrapping the corner flag, Robbie Keane’s cartwheeling or Jesse Lingard’s Milly rock?

Therefore, we’ve devised a list of our 15 favourite celebrations ever.

How many of these do you remember? Regardless, they’re all well worth watching again.

Ranking the top 15 goal celebrations ever

15. Emmanuel Adebayor vs Arsenal

Adebayor received a torrent of abuse from Arsenal fans after joining Man City.

How did the striker respond? By scoring against them at the Etihad, then running the length of the field to celebrate in front of the Gunners fans.

14. Wayne Rooney vs Tottenham

When the press leaked a story of Rooney jokingly sparring with Phil Bardsley, the former Man United star responded by netting against Tottenham and then pretending to get knocked out.

Self-deprecating, for sure, but hilarious nonetheless.

https://youtu.be/k4HtdlohM5o

13. Michail Antonio vs Leicester

Antonio loves an eccentric celebration and has admitted he loves coming up with new ideas.

Perhaps his most iconic came when he became West Ham’s all-time leading scorer in the Premier League and proceeded to run to the dugout and hold up his very own cardboard cutout of himself.

12. Megan Rapinoe vs France

Following her goal against France in the 2019 Women’s World Cup quarter-final, Rapinoe’s celebration sent Twitter ablaze.

The American stood triumphant with her arms outstretched in a pose that sought to silence her haters.

11. Lomana LuaLua vs Arsenal

If you’re going to try a backflip, make sure you stick the landing.

LuaLua was famous for his backflip celebration, which he pulled out almost every time he scored.

On one occasion during the 2005/06 Premier League season, however, LuaLua scored against the Gunners, backflipped, before going down injured a minute later.

10. Jimmy Bullard vs Man City

Phil Brown once gave his side an on-pitch team talk at half-time after a disastrous showing.

As ever, Bullard saw the funny side and decided to recreate the team talk after scoring against Man City in 2009.

9. Sam Kerr vs Aston Villa

Given how many goals she’s scored, it’s no surprise Kerr has pulled off some outstanding celebrations over the years.

Like Kelly, the Australian decided to recreate Chastain’s famous shirt-off celebration after scoring an injury-time winner for Chelsea against Villa last season.

8. Peter Crouch vs Jamaica

Crouch admitted he first did the robot at a David Beckham house party in 2006.

However, the world first saw it against Jamaica shortly before England’s World Cup campaign.

7. Eric Cantona vs Sunderland

The chip, the stop, the state –– everything about this goal and celebration is perfect.

6. Ellen White vs USA

White has revealed she copied her goggles celebration off French striker Anthony Modeste, but the world certainly took notice of the England star when she adopted the celebration at the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

5. Chloe Kelly vs Germany

We’ve touched on this one already, but it’s nothing short of iconic.

Kelly removing her shirt, turning to the ref to check if the goal had been allowed, before Wembley erupted.

It still gives us goosebumps.

4. Jurgen Klinsmann vs Sheffield Wednesday

Klinsmann was accused of going down too easily by the media, so responded by adopting his famous diving celebration, while at Tottenham.

3. Brandi Chastain vs China

Chastain produced nerves of steel to slot home the winning penalty for the USA in the 1999 World Cup final, in front of more than 90,000 people.

To this day, the image of the American celebrating is one of the most memorable in the history of women’s sport.

2. Mario Balotelli vs Man United

“Why always me.”

We’re all familiar with the catchphrase Balotelli coined while at Manchester City and his celebration showing these words after scoring versus Man United will forever be remembered.

infamous ‘dentist chair.’