How to keep score in soccer

Soccer scoring at a glance

What counts as a goal in soccer?

The rule in the Laws of the Game, in short:

The whole of the ball crosses the goal line between the posts and under the crossbar.

The scoring team must not have committed an offence first. The whole ball has to be over, so a ball on the line, even one that is mostly over it, is not yet a goal.

Which restarts can score directly?

Most restarts can go straight in, but not all of them, and this is where scorekeepers get caught out:

Do own goals count in soccer?

Yes. A goal a player puts into their own net is added to the other team's score, exactly like any other goal. Match reports list it as an own goal, often written OG, next to the name of the player who put it in.

If you keep score for a team, the rule to remember is simple: note which team the goal counts for, not which player touched it last.

How long is a soccer game, and what is stoppage time?

An adult match is two halves of 45 minutes, 90 minutes in all, with a halftime break of up to 15 minutes. The teams change ends at halftime, and the team that did not kick off the first half kicks off the second.

The clock does not stop when the ball goes out of play. Instead, the referee adds time at the end of each half for time lost to substitutions, injuries, time wasting, VAR checks and goal celebrations. This is stoppage time, or added time, and a goal scored two minutes into it at the end of the first half is written 45+2'.

Youth games are shorter, with quarters for the youngest players. See how long a youth soccer game lasts for every age group.

What happens if a soccer game ends in a tie?

It depends on the competition, and its rules say so before kick-off.

• League and group games: a level score, 0-0 included, is the final result, and each team takes a point.
• Knockout games: if the competition needs a winner, it plays extra time: 2 x 15 minutes, with a short break of up to a minute and a change of ends between the two periods. Extra time is played in full. Golden goal, where the next goal ended the match, was dropped in 2004.
• Still level after extra time: a penalty shootout. Each team takes 5 kicks, then sudden death if it is still level. Shootout goals are not added to the score, so the match stays level and the shootout goes in brackets: 1-1 (4-3 pens). The penalty shootout rules cover the order, who may kick, how it can end early and how to record it.

Some competitions skip extra time and go straight to penalties, so check the rules for the event you are scoring. Two-legged ties add the two scores together. UEFA dropped the away goals rule from all its club competitions in 2021/22, so a level aggregate there now goes to extra time and penalties.

How do league points work in soccer?

In league and group tables, each result is worth points: 3 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss. FIFA made three points for a win the standard in 1995, after using it at the 1994 World Cup; England's Football League had used it since 1981.

Teams level on points are usually separated by goal difference, which is goals scored minus goals conceded. Youth tournaments often use their own order and cap goal difference per game: see soccer tournament tiebreakers.

A soccer match scored goal by goal

Here is a league match between Rovers and United, one row per goal, including an own goal and a stoppage-time equaliser. The first column is the minute each goal went in.

Halftime came at 2-1 to Rovers, thanks to the own goal in first-half stoppage time. United turned it around after the break with a penalty and a second goal, and Rovers levelled in the fourth minute of added time. In a league that 3-3 is a draw worth a point each. In a cup tie it would go to extra time and, if still level, a shootout.

How do you keep score from the sideline?

1. Before kick-off, write both team names and check how the match ends if it is level: a draw, extra time or penalties.
2. For every goal, note the minute and the team it counts for. For an own goal, that is the other team.
3. At halftime, write the score down. It is the first thing people ask for.
4. At the final whistle, check your score against the referee's, which is the official record.