New Zealand has produced the greatest upset in international rugby league history, rallying from a 10-nil deficit to down red-hot favourites Australia 34-20 in a pulsating World Cup final at Suncorp Stadium.
In a game that was widely expected to be one-way traffic in favour of the Kangaroos, the Kiwis produced the game of their life to record their first World Cup victory over Australia at their 14th attempt.
But the match was tinged with controversy, following a controversial penalty try awarded to the Kiwis inside the final ten minutes that secured the Kiwis victory.
With New Zealand clinging to a 22-20 lead and deep on the attack, Joel Monaghan was unable to diffuse a Nathan Fien grubber and spilled the ball backwards, before tackling a trailing Lance Hohaia.
Video Referee Steve Ganson decided to award a penalty try despite the fact Kanagoos custodian Billy Slater was close to the contest, but in reality, few could argue that the Kiwis were the better side for much of the contest.
Issac Luke converted from in front of the posts gave the Kiwis a 28-20 advantage, with Adam Blair crossing in the dying stages to secure the monumental upset.
The match ignited even before a ball was kicked in anger, as the Aussies produced their own response to the Kiwis rousing rendition of the Haka.
In an unprecedented move, the Aussies linked arms and moved forward to meet the Kiwi challenge head-on, standing a matter of centimetres away from the New Zealanders as they issued their traditional war cry.
Once action was underway, the outsiders looked anything but overawed, and could consider themselves unlucky not to open the scoring.
Fien caught the Kangaroos defence napping with a deft grubber into the in-goal, but a flying Benji Marshall was unable to ground the bouncing ball.
The underdogs continued to man-up in defence against a seemingly sluggish Kangaroos outfit, before a piece of Slater magic kickstarted the red-hot favourites.
From a standing start just inside the Kiwis half, the elusive fullback sliced through the defensive line before linking with Darren Lockyer for the opening try in the 12th minute.
Johnathan Thurston was unable to convert from wide out on the right, but the worrying signs continued for the Kiwis from the restart.
Within five minutes, Slater provided a neat face ball for David Williams, who sprinted 50 metres down the right-hand touchline to cross for the Kangaroos second try.
The Kiwis were starting to self-destruct, kicking out on the full from the restart, and the Kangaroos seemed set to take full toll.
Lockyer looked to have his second try in the 20th minute after winning the race to a neat Cameron Smith grubber, but the ball unbelievably slipped out of the skipper's grasp as he went to touch down.
The Kiwis took full advantage of the let-off.
On their next venture into the Kangaroos 20 metre zone, Jeremy Smith shrugged off three Kangaroos defenders on a rampaging charge to the line from close range, and the Kiwis were back in the contest.
The outsiders then benefited from a controversial decision by video referee Steve Ganson, with Jerome Ropati crossing in the 28th minute after what appeared to be a knock-on from Marshall, that was ruled to be an attempted strip by Anthony Laffranchi.
Issac Luke slotted the conversion from adjacent to the posts to give the Kiwis a 12-10 advantage, and a sniff of an upset.
Some stunning ad-lib football from the Kangaroos resulting in a try to Lockyer restored the home side's advantage in the 35th minute, with Thurston's conversion making it 16-12 at the break.
The Aussies subjected themselves to a stack of needless pressure in the opening stages of the second half, with handling errors and penalties giving the Kiwis a mountain of possession.
New Zealand turned it into points in the 49th minute when Hoahia scythed through a fatigued Kangaroos defensive line, with Luke's conversion giving the Kiwis and 18-16 lead with half an hour to play.
The Kangaroos were desperately close to regaining the lead through Israel Folau in the 55th minute, but a brilliant ball-and-all tackle from Hohaia prevented the towering centre from grounding the ball in goal.
It was a costly miss, but nowhere near as costly as the error produced by Slater shortly after.
The Melbourne flyer fielded a kick inside his own 20 and tried to streak away down the touchline, before flinging a wild ball infield that was scooped up by Marshall to put the Kiwis 22-16 in front with 19 minutes remaining.
But the Kangaroos refused to panic, hitting back in the 65th minute with a soft try in the corner to Greg Inglis to close the gap to two points in favour of the Kiwis.
NEW ZEALAND 34 (L Hohaia 2 A Blair B Marshall J Ropati J Smith tries I Luke 3 B Marshall 2 goals) bt AUSTRALIA 20 (D Lockyer 2 G Inglis D Williams tries J Thurston 2 goals) at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: A Klein. Crowd: 50,599.