An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own net or goal, awarding the other team a point.
In some parts of the world, the term has become a
metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...
for ''any'' action that backfires on the person or group undertaking it, sometimes even carrying a sense of "
poetic justice
Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a literary device with which ultimately virtue is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature, it is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, henc ...
". During
The Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...
, for instance, it acquired a specific metaphorical meaning in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
, referring to an IED (
improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mecha ...
) that detonated prematurely, killing the person making or handling the bomb with the intent to harm others.
A player trying to
throw a game might deliberately attempt an own goal. Such players run the risk of being sanctioned or banned from further play.
Association football
In
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, an own goal occurs when a player causes the ball to go into their own team's
goal
A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.
A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...
, resulting in a
goal being scored for the opposition. Defenders often "turn behind" dangerous balls into the
penalty area
The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it.
With ...
, particularly crosses, by kicking or heading the ball out of play behind their goal-line. In this way, the defender's aim is to concede a
corner
Corner may refer to:
People
*Corner (surname)
* House of Cornaro, a noble Venetian family (''Corner'' in Venetian dialect)
Places
*Corner, Alabama, a community in the United States
*Corner Inlet, Victoria, Australia
*Corner River, a tributary of ...
rather than giving attacking players scoring opportunities. Consequently, the defender may misjudge and inadvertently turn the ball into their own goal, particularly if they are under pressure from attacking players who might otherwise score. While the defending player who scored the own goal is personally "credited" with the goal as part of the statistical abstract of the game (with the annotation "(og)" to indicate its nature), own goals are not added to a player's seasonal or career goalscoring total.
The
Laws of the Game currently stipulate that an own goal cannot be scored directly from most methods of restarting the game; instead, a
corner kick
A corner kick is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defending team. The kick is take ...
is awarded to the attacking team. This is the case for the
kick-off,
goal kick
A goal kick is a method of restarting the play in a game of association football. Its procedure is dictated by Law 16 of the Laws of the Game.
Award
A goal kick is awarded to the defending team when the ball goes out of the field of play by cr ...
,
dropped-ball
A dropped-ball (or drop-ball) is a method of restarting play in a game of association football. It is used when play has been stopped due to reasons other than normal gameplay, fouls, or misconduct. The situations requiring a dropped-ball resta ...
(since 2012),
throw-in, corner kick, and free kick (
indirect and
direct).
The Laws do not stipulate any rules or procedures for crediting goals to players, and indeed such records are not a compulsory part of the game.
In 1997 FIFA issued detailed guidelines for crediting own goals, recognising the increasing commercial importance of statistics such as
top scorer awards and
fantasy football.
The guidelines state that credit for scoring is decided by the referee, or match commissioner if present; and "
defender's intervention must be deliberate in order for an own goal to be registered against him".
Regarding a shot which deflects or ricochets into the goal off a defender, some sources credit the score to the attacker; others count them as own goals; for others it depends on whether the original shot was off target; others are more nuanced.
There was controversy in 2013 when the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
credited
Tim Howard with an own goal when a shot came off the post, hit him in the back, and went in.
Major competitions may have video reviews which can alter the accreditation, such as the
Dubious Goals Committee
A Dubious Goals Committee is a committee in the English football leagues which adjudicates in any instance where the identity of the scorer of a goal is disputed.
The Premier League Committee meets on an ad hoc basis, whenever a disputed goa ...
of the FA Premier League. In the
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...
, one of
Ronaldo's eight goals in winning the
Golden Boot was initially credited as an own goal but reassigned on appeal by Brazil. UEFA's review procedure was formalised in 2008. , the
English Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...
allowed the club which scored to nominate the scorer, which ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' criticised with an example from 2002: "every single national newspaper, agency and football factbook agreed that
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...
defender
Calum Davenport had scored an own goal against
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
. The Clarets, however, gave the goal to
Gareth Taylor
Gareth Keith Taylor (born 25 February 1973) is a football manager and former player who is the head coach of Manchester City Women.
He began his career as a defender at Bristol Rovers, having left the Southampton youth team in 1991. After lo ...
".
The most infamous own goal was perhaps that of
Andrés Escobar
Andrés Escobar Saldarriaga (; 13 March 1967 – 2 July 1994) was a Colombian footballer who played as a defender. He played for Atlético Nacional, BSC Young Boys, and the Colombia national team. Nicknamed ''The Gentleman'', he was known ...
of
Colombia in the
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...
which lost
the match against the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and knocked Colombia out; a week later, Escobar was shot dead in Colombia by a drug gang member whose boss had lost betting on the match.
The fastest own goal in history is believed to have been scored by
Torquay United
Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
defender
Pat Kruse
Patrick Karl Kruse (born 30 November 1953) is an English former professional footballer who is best remembered for his five-year spell in the Football League with Brentford, for whom he made over 200 appearances as a centre back. Kruse is kno ...
, eight seconds into a match against
Cambridge United
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...
in January 1977.
Another notable own goal was scored in a
1994 Caribbean Cup match between Barbados and Grenada. To advance in the competition Barbados needed to win by a margin of 2 or more goals. Because they were winning by just one goal as the match was nearly over, they deliberately scored an own goal to take the match into extra time to give themselves an opportunity to score a goal in extra time. Due to unusual tournament rules, this would not only win the game but also be
worth 2 goals allowing them to advance on goal difference.
Ice hockey
If a
goal
A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.
A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...
is scored by a player on the defending team, credit for the goal goes to the last player on the other team to have touched the
puck; this is because own goals in hockey are typically cases where the player so credited had the shot deflected, but this convention is used even where this is not the case. Occasionally, it is also credited to the closest player to the goal from the other team if he is determined to have caused the opposing player to shoot it into the wrong net. Assists are not awarded on an own goal because the defending team has possession of the puck between any pass and the goal itself. Occasionally in the
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
, players have directed the puck into their own
empty net
An empty net goal, abbreviated as EN or ENG and colloquially called an empty netter, occurs in several team sports when a team scores a goal into a net with no goaltender ''(goalie)'' present.
Ice hockey
Empty net goals usually occur on two occas ...
, either late in the game or because of a
delayed penalty call
A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penaltie ...
. This was the situation which resulted in
Billy Smith of the
New York Islanders becoming the first
goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...
to receive credit for a goal in the
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
. In some parts of
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, an own goal is referred to as a
limoges. The term is believed to have originated in
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
(approximately 1970) and became more common in the greater
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
region starting in the 1990s.
Field hockey
Treatment of "own goals" in field hockey has varied over recent years. In 2013 the
International Hockey Federation (FIH) implemented a "mandatory experiment" such that a deflection of a shot from outside the shooting circle from a defender would be equivalent to a touch from an attacker, and thus if the shot continued into the goal the score would be counted. This proved unpopular and the change was reversed.
Presently rule 8.1 states that ''"A goal is scored when the ball is played within the circle by an attacker and does not travel outside the circle before passing completely over the goal-line and under the crossbar."'' Added clarification: ''"The ball may be played by a defender or touch their body before or after being played in the circle by an attacker."''
Thus, an "own goal" may occur, but in such situations the goal will likely be credited to the attacker whose initial play into the circle was necessary for the goal to stand.
Basketball
When accidentally scoring at an opposing team's basket (basketball's equivalent of an "own goal"), the goal is credited to an offensive player. One typical own-goal scenario occurs when a player tries to block a goal shot but ends up knocking the ball into the goal.
In
NFHS basketball, the two points are merely listed for the scoring team, as a footnote.
In
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
basketball, the rules state: "When a player scores a field goal in the opponent’s basket, it shall count two points for the opponent regardless of the location on the playing court from where it was released. Such a field goal shall not be credited to a player in the scorebook but shall be indicated with a footnote."
In
NBA rules, the goal is credited to the player on the scoring team who is closest to defensive shooter and is mentioned in a footnote.
Under
FIBA
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...
rules, the player designated captain is credited with the basket.
American football
When a ball carrier is tackled or exits the field of play within the end zone being defended by his team, the result is a
safety
Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk.
Meanings
There are two slightly dif ...
and the opposing team is awarded two points, and receives the ball after a free kick taken at the twenty-yard line. (This does not apply if the ball carrier secures possession of the ball in the end zone as a result of an interception or a kick; in that case, no points are awarded and the play is considered a
touchback
In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to tra ...
.)
A true "own goal", in which the team place kicks or drop kicks the ball through their own goal posts (which has never happened at any level in football history and would require either a very strong headwind or a deliberate act of sabotage), is treated as any other backward kick in most leagues' rule books. Backward kicks are treated as
fumbles, and as such, a backward kick through the back of the end zone, including through the goal posts, is scored as a safety. This occurred in a 2012 game between two Texas high schools; a punter kicked against a strong wind that blew the ball backward into the end zone, where the defense took control of it.
On two occasions, players disoriented after recovering a
fumble have returned the ball into their own teams's
end zone
The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...
, believing they had scored a
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...
only to see the other team receiving a safety.
Roy Riegels
Roy "Wrong Way" Riegels (April 4, 1908 – March 26, 1993) played for the University of California, Berkeley football team from 1927 to 1929. His wrong-way run in the 1929 Rose Bowl is often cited as the worst blunder in the history of college foo ...
took a ball 69 yards (more than half the length of the field) to his own end zone during the
1929 Rose Bowl
The 1929 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game and the 15th annual Rose Bowl Game. Played on January 1, 1929, the game saw the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (also known at the time as the Georgia Tech Golden Tornado) defeat the California Go ...
while playing for the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...
, and in 1964
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
' defensive lineman
Jim Marshall went 66 yards pursued by his own teammates in an attempt to prevent him from scoring 2 points for the
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
. Both men have been remembered for those blunders despite accomplished careers otherwise.
In the final minutes of a game, a team may take a deliberate safety in order to get the free kick, rather than punting from the end zone, or to otherwise
run out the clock
In sports, running out the clock (also known as running down the clock, stonewalling, killing the clock, chewing the clock, stalling, time-wasting (or timewasting) or eating clock) is the practice of a winning team allowing the clock to expire thr ...
. In 2003, the
New England Patriots came back to win a game after giving a safety that put them three points behind. Similarly, the
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...
took a safety with twelve seconds left in
Super Bowl XLVII
Super Bowl XLVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
instead of punting out of the end zone, cutting their lead to three points but winning the game since they were able to burn eight seconds off the clock with the safety play, and the opposing
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
were unable to score on the ensuing free kick.
Canadian football
In Canadian football, if a scrimmage kick (punt or missed field goal attempt) is kicked into the end zone and the opponent does not advance it out, the kicking team is awarded a
single, worth one point.
In the
2017 Grey Cup, the
Calgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-o ...
deliberately took a safety when their punter
Rob Maver
Rob Maver (born March 12, 1986) is a retired professional Canadian football Punter (football), Punter, having played his entire 10-year football career with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted fifth overal ...
, having lost control of a high snap, was faced with loss of down deep in his own territory. He intentionally kicked the ball backwards through the back of his own end zone for a safety.
Gaelic football
Gaelic footballers can play the ball with their hands; therefore, they have a much greater degree of control over the ball and thus, own goals are much rarer than they are in association football. They do occur, and two were scored by
Mayo Mayo often refers to:
* Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo"
* Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States
Mayo may also refer to:
Places
Antarctica
* Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land
Australia
* Division of Mayo, an Aust ...
in the
drawn 2016 All-Ireland SFC Final.
As an own goal is scored when the ball goes under the crossbar, so an "own point" is scored (like any other point) when the ball goes over the crossbar. However, when a shot on goal is deflected over the bar by the defending team, the point is credited to the attacker who shot and not considered an "own point". Genuine examples of own points are very rare; one was scored by Stefan Connolly in the
Cavan championship in 2015, while Seanie Malone scored an own point in the final of the
2019 Clare Senior Football Championship
The 2019 Clare Senior Football Championship was the 124th staging of the Clare Senior Football Championship since its establishment by the Clare County Board in 1887.
The 2018 champions, and holders of the Jack Daly Cup were St. Joseph's, Mi ...
.
Hurling
Kildare
Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional ce ...
player
Niall Ó Muineacháin
Niall Ó Muineacháin (born 10 July 1989) is an Irish hurler who plays as a left corner-back for the Kildare senior team.
Born in Celbridge, County Kildare, Mackey first arrived on the inter-county scene when he first linked up with the Kildar ...
scored an own goal against
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in the opening minute of the
2022 Christy Ring Cup contest.
Australian rules football
As a legitimate defensive play, an Australian rules football defender may concede an "own score". Such a score, referred to as a ''rushed behind'' and statistically credited to no player (score sheets simply include the tally of rushed behinds), results in the opposition team scoring one point. A defending player may choose to concede a rushed behind when the risk of the opposition scoring a goal (worth six points) is high. It is impossible for a team to concede an own goal worth six points.
Footnotes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Own Goal
Scoring (sport)
Scoring (association football)
Scoring (basketball)
Scoring (ice hockey)
Association football terminology
Metaphors referring to sport
Terminology used in multiple sports
English phrases