They’re delightfully soothing pictures – snaps as Des Barry would self-effacingly call them. If great sporting pictures should make noise, with a booming soundtrack, then this year was truly orchestral. From the McIlroy majesty of the Masters at Augusta to a raucous Ryder Cup and Shane Lowry to Ireland’s World Cup playoff qualification rollercoaster that troughed then peaked. If you are reading the print version of Camera Classics, there are 60 of the world’s great sports images from 2025 on the following pages. When we started this off, the picture of the year was ZZ blowing his top by headbutting Italy’s Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final.

Source: Irish Examiner December 25, 2025 18:00 UTC