own goal

noun

1

chiefly British : a goal in soccer, hockey, etc., that a player accidentally scores against his or her own team

2

British : something that one does thinking it will help him or her but that actually causes one harm

The workers scored an own goal by demanding such high wages that no one could afford to employ them.

Examples of own goal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Argentina finally re-took the lead for good in the 111th minute when Cristian Romero hit a glancing header that deflected off the arm of Cape Verde defender Diney Borges for an own goal. — Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 13 July 2026

Yasin Ayari had his own goal-of-the-tournament competition, and Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres both scored from each other’s assists. — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 11 July 2026

During the knockout World Cup round Tuesday, Argentina's national team mounted a late comeback where Cristian Romero scored a goal then Lionel Messi equalized with his own goal in the 83rd minute for the win. — Jennifer Elias, CNBC, 9 July 2026

Unfunny and out of bounds, offsides, an own goal — all of the things. — Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026

His bulldozing run and dangerous service forced Australia into a tone-setting own goal in the Americans’ 2-0 victory. — Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 6 July 2026

Argentina scored twice in extra time, with the winner coming courtesy of a Diney Borges own goal in the 111th minute. — Tim Rohan, NBC news, 4 July 2026

Cape Verde gave the defending champions a major scare on Friday, forcing extra time before Argentina got by via a late own goal in an epic Round of 32 confrontation. — Michael Lewis, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026

It was eventually ruled to be an own goal off Cape Verde’s Diney Borges. — Jacob Lev, CNN Money, 3 July 2026

Rhymes for own goal

• bankroll
• bedroll
• borehole
• cajole
• catchpole
• charcoal
• condole
• control
• dipole
• downhole
• enroll
• extol