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

Haley Hopkins had a hat trick and created another score by way of a Palmeiras own goal, bringing her tally to four goal contributions in the 2026 Teal Rising Cup. —Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 13 Apr. 2026

An own goal gave Rennes an early lead and Jordan forward Mousa Al-Tamari latched onto a long ball to lob the goalkeeper in the 25th minute. —ABC News, 11 Apr. 2026

Celina girls win 5th straight title The Celina girls won its fifth straight soccer title on the strength of a heart-breaking own goal by Salado in the 69th minute in the Class 4A Division I championship game on Thursday. —Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Apr. 2026

And finally… The highlight of Nottingham Forest’s 1-1 draw at Porto in the Europe League’s quarter-finals last night was Porto’s Martim Fernandes conceding this early own goal from not far off the halfway line. —Phil Hay, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2026

Rhymes for own goal

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