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The golden goal is a sports rule used in association football, Australian rules football, bandy, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, and rugby league to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of regular time. It is a type of sudden death. Under this rule, the game ends when a goal is scored; the team that scores that goal during extra time is the winner. Introduced formally in 1993, though with some history before that, the rule ceased to apply to most FIFA-authorized football games in 2004. The similar silver goal supplemented the golden goal between 2002 and 2004.
The golden goal was played in NCAA soccer matches up to 2021, was eliminated in 2022, and then reinstated for post-season play in 2024. It is still used in FIH sanctioned field hockey games. A related concept, the golden point, is used in National Rugby League games. A similar golden goal rule is also used in all National Hockey League (NHL) overtime games (followed by a shootout if needed, in the regular season and preseason); however, the term "golden goal" is not used. A rule similar to the golden goal also applies in National Football League regular season games (only if a touchdown or safety is scored, or any score on any possession after the first possession unless both teams score a field goal in the first two possessions then the game becomes true sudden death), although again the term itself is not used.
A similar rule was used the following year in the Cromwell Cup, which like the Youdan Cup was played under Sheffield Rules. In the final of this competition, played at Bramall Lane, Sheffield in 1868, the deciding goal was scored by the then newly formed team called The Wednesday, now known as Sheffield Wednesday.
The golden goal was introduced due to perceived failings of other means of resolving a draw (tie) in round-robin or knock-out tournaments where a winner is required. In particular, extra time periods can be tense and unentertaining as sides are too tired and nervous to attack, preferring to defend and play for penalties; whilst penalty shootouts are often described as based upon luck, and unrepresentative of football. FIFA introduced the golden goal rule in 1993. It was hoped that the golden goal would produce more attacking play during extra time, and would reduce the number of penalty shootouts.
The first golden goal recorded was on 13 March 1993 by Australia against Uruguay in a quarter-final match of the World Youth Championship. The first major tournament final to be decided by such a goal was the 1995 Football League Trophy, where Birmingham City beat Carlisle United 1–0, with a goal from Paul Tait, followed by the 1996 European Championship final, won by Germany over the Czech Republic. The golden goal in this final was scored by Oliver Bierhoff. In MLS Cup 1996, Eddie Pope scored 3:25 into extra time as D.C. United beat the LA Galaxy 3–2. The first golden goal in World Cup history took place in 1998, as Laurent Blanc scored to enable France to defeat Paraguay in the round of 16.
In a qualification game for the 1994 Caribbean Cup, Barbados deliberately scored a late own goal in a successful attempt to qualify for the finals by forcing golden-goal extra time against Grenada, as an unusual tournament rule stated that golden goals counted double in calculating goal difference. Needing a two-goal victory to qualify, Barbados found themselves 2–1 up with three minutes left of normal time. After the Barbadians scored an own goal to bring the scoreline level at 2–2, Grenada tried to score in either net while Barbados defended both goals for the final three minutes of normal time. Barbados won the game in extra time and advanced to the next round. The Barbadian, January 3 2008, p5
In 2000, France defeated Italy in extra time in the 2000 European Championship final when David Trezeguet scored a golden goal. France thus became the first holder of both the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship since West Germany in 1974.
Also in 2000, Galatasaray had a 2–1 victory over Real Madrid in the 2000 UEFA Super Cup in Stade Louis II. The 90 minutes had produced a 1-1 draw and in extra time the Brazilian player Mário Jardel scored the golden goal and won the first ever UEFA Super Cup in club history.
The following year, Liverpool overcame Deportivo Alavés in the UEFA Cup final with a golden own goal by Delfí Geli to make the score 5–4 to Liverpool.
The UEFA Champions League is one of few tournaments not to have been settled by a 'golden goal'.
The golden goal was used in the FIFA World Cup for the last time in 2002, when Turkey defeated Senegal in the quarter-finals when İlhan Mansız scored what would be the final golden goal in male tournaments. However, the 2003 Women's World Cup final was decided by a golden goal as Germany defeated Sweden 2–1 with a header by Nia Künzer in the 98th minute. It was the last golden goal in FIFA Women's World Cup history.
FIFA Men's World Cup golden goals
| 28 June 1998 |
| 16 June 2002 |
| 18 June 2002 |
| 22 June 2002 |
FIFA Confederations Cup golden goals
| 19 December 1997 |
| 1 August 1999 |
| 29 June 2003 |
On 27 August 2003, Dutch club AFC Ajax qualified for the group stage of the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League by virtue of the silver goal against Austrian club Grazer AK after the two legs finished 1–1 each after 90 minutes. In extra time, Ajax was able to take advantage of GAK having two players sent off when Tomáš Galásek scored from a penalty in the 103rd minute.
Less than a year later on 1 July 2004, Galásek was on the field when the silver goal was featured in the only major competitive match to be decided by a silver goal: that of the semi-final match at Euro 2004 between Greece and the Czech Republic. However, the silver goal would eliminate the Czech Republic as Traianos Dellas scored for Greece after a corner kick in the last two seconds of the first period of extra time. The Czech team had been known for their come-from-behind wins earlier in the tournament against Latvia, Netherlands, and Germany, but the extremely late Greek score left the Czechs no chance to equalize. On the other hand if the Greeks had scored at the start of either period of extra time, the Czechs would have had a decent opportunity to come back in the match. As well as being the only silver goal ever seen in an international match, it was also the only goal Dellas ever scored in his international career.
In February 2004, the IFAB announced that, after Euro 2004, both the golden goal and silver goal methods would be removed from the Laws of the Game. Since the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, the golden goal has never been used in the event of a drawn match during the knockout stage, as FIFA restored the previous rules: in the event of a drawn game after the regular 90 minutes, two straight 15-minute periods of extra time are played. If scores remain level, the winner is decided by a penalty shoot-out.
The golden goal rule was abolished in NCAA soccer in 2022, used the FIFA overtime procedure as above, but was reinstated for post-season play in 2024. The championship games of the 1995, 1996, 2002, and 2013 women's tournaments were decided by a golden goal; this situation also happened in the men's tournament in 2017 and 2020.
The Winter Olympics ice hockey tournament used the golden goal rule only in the gold medal game, with a 20-minute period of 5-on-5. The game ended if a goal is scored; otherwise, a penalty shootout determined the winner. This method was used to determine the 2010 men's final, where Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal 7:40 into overtime. As that goal won Canada the Gold Medal, it has become known as "The Golden Goal." Another happened at the 2014 women's final, as Marie-Philip Poulin scored at 8:10 of overtime for Canada. In both instances, the team they beat was the United States. The two teams met in the rematch four years later, and lasted the whole 20-minute overtime without a goal before the United States prevailed in a shootout for their first gold in 20 years. Jocelyne Lamoureux scored in the sixth round of the shootout while Meghan Agosta failed. Kirill Kaprizov scored at 9:40 of overtime as the Russian Olympic Committee beat Germany in the 2018 men's final. Since 2022, the overtime procedure changed to multiple 20-minute periods of 3-on-3, until one team scores, and applies to both genders.
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