In Soccer, A Goal Is Worth How Many Points? Scoring Rules And Football Penalty

In Soccer, A Goal Is Worth How Many Points?

One. A goal increases your team’s scoreline by 1.

So a final score of 3–2 means:

• One team scored 3 goals
• The other scored 2 goals
• The team with more goals wins

The “points” question usually comes from mixing up these three screens:

• The scoreboard (goals in this match)
• The table(points across many matches)
• The stats page (sometimes uses “points” for goals + assists)

If you keep that separation, the rules become simple.

How Many Points Are Awarded For A Soccer Goal?

A goal only counts if it follows the rules and the referee says it does.

The Laws of the Game define a goal as the whole ball passing over the goal line, between the posts, and under the crossbar, with no offence by the scoring team.
To make it simple:

• When the referee signals a goal, the score changes right away.
• In games with VAR, the referee might stop play for a review, but the referee always decides in the end.

This matters in real games. Sometimes young players celebrate too early and lose focus, which lets the other team restart quickly. So we teach a simple habit: reset first, celebrate after.

How Many Points Is A Penalty Goal Worth In Soccer?

A goal from a penalty counts as just one goal, like any other.

A penalty kick is a way to restart play, and you can score directly from it.

Whether a goal comes from open play, a free kick, a corner, or a penalty, it always adds one to the score.

Many people are unsure about the difference between these situations:

• A penalty kick taken during the match counts toward the final score.
• A penalty shoot-out after extra time does not change the official score.

We will explain this more in the extra time section below.

How Many Points In A Soccer Game?

A soccer match has no fixed points total. The total depends on how many goals are scored.

That’s why you can get:

• 0–0 (no goals)
• 1–0 (one goal decides it)
• 4–3 (seven total goals)

For a real benchmark, FIFA’s World Cup Qatar 2022 reporting notes 172 goals across the 64-game tournament, which is about 2.7 goals per match.

In coaching, this matters because most matches are decided by small margins. You don’t need five goals. You often need one at the right moment.

How Are Points Earned In Soccer Standings?

Standings points are how teams are ranked over a season or a group stage.

Most competitions use:

• Win = 3 points
• Draw = 1 point
• Loss = 0 points

Example: if your last three matches are W–D–L, your total is 4 points (3 + 1 + 0). If you turn that draw into a win, it becomes 6 points (3 + 3 + 0).

One goal can really change your season.

• If you turn a draw into a win, you go from 1 point to 3 points.
• That one moment of quality gives you a 2-point boost in the standings.

At Alicante Football Academy, we do more than teach technique. We help players win by working on finishing, decision-making, and game management in real matches.

Where “points” show up in soccer:

That last line is not universal, but it’s common in college soccer stats.

How Many Goals In Soccer To Win?

To win, you need to score more goals than your opponent by the end of the match.

You don’t need to reach a certain score to win. In most leagues, winning 1-0 or 5-0 still earns your team 3 points.

From a tactical perspective, scoring the first goal is important. A PubMed study of 1,116 Chinese Super League matches found that teams who scored first won about 66% of the time, drew 21%, and lost 13%.

That’s why we focus on things like:

• Creating chances early
• Staying organized after scoring
• Staying calm.

If you want to play at a higher level, it’s important to move from just knowing the rules to truly understanding the game. A single goal might seem like just a number, but it can change the entire match.

Are Own Goals Worth Points In Soccer?

When a player scores an own goal, it still adds one goal to the scoreboard.

The only difference is which team gets the credit. The goal is added to the other team’s total and is recorded as an own goal in the match report.

In the game, an own goal changes the score the same way as any other goal.

Why Soccer Uses Goals, Not Points

The main goal in soccer is to score more than the other team.

The team that scores the most goals wins. If both teams score the same number, the game is a draw.

People still talk about “points” in soccer for a few reasons:

• Teams earn points in the league standings as the season goes on.
• Some stats websites add up goals and assists and call that total “points.”
• Other sports use points to keep score, so people sometimes use the same word when talking about soccer.

Here’s a simple way to remember:

• Inside the match: goals
• Across the season: points

Are Goals In Extra Time Worth More Points?

No, each goal scored in extra time still only counts as one goal.

In some knockout matches, if the score is tied after 90 minutes, the teams play extra time, which is usually two halves of 15 minutes each. If the score remains tied, the match is decided by penalty kicks.

Penalty shoot-outs are a separate process. According to the IFAB, penalty shootouts take place after the match.

This is why you might see results written like this:

• 1–1 (4–3 on penalties)

The match finished 1–1, and the penalty shoot-out determined which team advanced.

Extra note: Two-legged ties sometimes used an “away goals” tie-breaker. Law 10 lists it as one possible procedure. However, UEFA removed the away goals rule from its club competitions starting in 2021/22. Now, many European ties go straight to extra time and penalties if the aggregate score is level.

Does The Type Of Goal Change Its Point Value?

No, a goal is always just a goal.

It doesn’t matter if the goal comes from open play, a set piece, a penalty, a deflection, an own goal, or a bicycle kick. As long as it follows the Laws of the Game, it counts as one goal on the scoreboard.

The way a goal is scored can be important for coaching and analysis, but it doesn’t affect the score.