Okuzeka
Football (Soccer) vocabulary · Match Actions & Skills

Own goal

Meaning in football (soccer), with examples

/ˌoʊn ˈɡoʊl/nounCore term

In football (soccer), own goal means: A goal that a player accidentally scores into their own team's net, so it counts for the opponents.

In Turkish: kendi kalesine gol

How it is used

Players score or put through an own goal, and commentators say a ball "went in off the defender". When a shot is deflected in, the competition's officials decide whether it is the attacker's goal or an own goal. Written as OG in match reports.

Example sentences

  1. We lost 1-0 to an own goal in the last minute.

  2. The cross was so dangerous that the defender could only turn it into his own net: an own goal.

Common collocations

  • score an own goal
  • unlucky own goal
  • credited as an own goal
  • own goal from a cross
  • goalA point scored when the whole ball crosses the goal line between the posts and under the crossbar; also the frame with a net that teams try to put the ball into.
  • clearanceA kick or header by a defender that sends the ball away from danger near their own goal.
  • crossA pass from the side of the pitch into the penalty area, aimed at a teammate who can head or shoot. As a verb, to cross means to deliver such a pass.
  • defenderA player whose main job is to stop the other team from attacking and scoring, usually playing in the line closest to their own goal.

More terms: Match Actions & Skills

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: