Own Goal
A goal accidentally scored by a player against their own team, counted for the opposition.
Definition
An own goal is credited to the attacking team when a defending player is the last to touch the ball before it enters their own net. It counts exactly like any other goal for the opponents, and in official records it is attributed as an own goal, often marked "o.g.," rather than to a named scorer on the conceding team.
Governing bodies apply guidelines on when a deflection is ruled an own goal versus credited to the attacker who forced it. Own goals occur across goal-scoring sports such as football, field hockey and ice hockey. They are involuntary in the sense that the player did not intend to score for the other side, and they can decisively swing tight matches and aggregate-scored ties.
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Rules
- Penalty kick awardA one-on-one kick against the goalkeeper awarded when a defending player commits a direct-free-kick foul inside their own penalty area.
- Ice hockey penaltiesHow hockey punishes infractions by putting a player in the box — minor, double-minor, major, misconduct and game misconduct — and which ones end early when a goal is scored.
- Volleyball rotationThe rule that players rotate one position clockwise each time their team wins back the serve.
- Backcourt violationA basketball rule breach for returning the ball into a team's own defensive half after it has crossed into the attacking half.
Positions
- PivotThe pivot is a handball attacker who plays close to the opposition defence, setting screens and looking for chances near the goal area.
- GoalkeeperThe goalkeeper is the last line of defence in football and the only player allowed to handle the ball inside their own penalty area.
- Defensive midfielderA defensive midfielder sits in front of the defence, breaking up opposition attacks and shielding the back line.
- Centre (netball)The centre is netball’s link between attack and defence, the only player allowed in every third except the two goal circles, and the player who takes the centre pass.
Scoring systems
- Football (soccer) scoringFootball is scored by goals, with each goal worth one point and the team scoring the most goals winning the match.
- How golf is scoredGolf counts strokes: the fewest shots taken to complete a hole or a round wins, with par providing the reference every score is described against.
- Scoring in rugby unionThe five ways points are scored in rugby union and what each is worth — try, conversion, penalty try, penalty goal and drop goal — with the rule that surprises people about the penalty try.
- Padel scoring and the tie-breakHow padel matches are counted — the game and set structure, the tie-break serving order, and the alternative scoring methods the FIP rules explicitly authorise.
Sports communication
Tactics
- The forecheckHow a hockey team attacks in the opposition's defensive zone without the puck — the 1-2-2, 2-1-2 and trap approaches, and what each one risks to win the puck back.
- High pressA football tactic where a team hunts the ball high up the pitch to win it back close to the opponent’s goal.
- Serve and volleyAn attacking tennis tactic where the server follows their serve to the net to finish the point with a volley.
Techniques
- Ice hockey shootingThe four shots hockey is scored with — wrist shot, snap shot, slap shot and backhand — how each trades power against release time, and why the stick is bent on purpose.
- The loop and the blockTable tennis's primary attacking stroke and its primary counter — how a loop lifts backspin into topspin, and why a block uses the attacker's own pace against them.
- Carving TurnA turn where the edged skis cut a clean arc in the snow and follow their own shape with little or no skidding.
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- Tier A — evergreen educational
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- Content updated
- 2026-09-01
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