Goal (sport)

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An attacker (red shirt) lines up for a shot on goal

In Association football (soccer), the word goal refers to both the result of a score and the physical structure that defines where a score is achieved. A goal is scored after the ball passes completely over the goal line, between the goal posts and under the crossbar. Although the goal frame usually has a net attached to it, the net is simply to contain the ball when a goal is scored so that the referee can be certain the goal is legitimate, and the Laws of the Game do not strictly require the use of such a net. The exact definition of a goal is covered by law 10 of the Laws of the Game. A goalkeeper is the player of a team who is set into position to try to block shots into the goal.

The goal rule is similar in the various forms of hockey and lacrosse. See goal (hockey) and goal (lacrosse)

In American and Canadian football (known collectively as "gridiron football"), as well as Arena Football, a field goal is scored when a player either place kicks or drop kicks the ball from scrimmage through the plane bounded by the two uprights and above the crossbar. A set of goalposts is situated at each end of the field. Gridiron field goals count for three points, unless they are scored from a conversion (in which they score one point). In Arena Football, drop kicked field goals count for four points, and drop kicked conversion goals count for two points.

In rugby union and rugby league, a field goal/drop goal or penalty goal refers to the same concept, but with slightly different scoring. All goals in rugby union count for 3 points except for conversions, which count for two. All goals in rugby league count for 2 points except for field goals, which count for 1.

In Australian rules football, a goal is scored when the ball contacts the foot of an attacker, touches no objects other than the ground, and entirely crosses the goal line between the two defensive goalposts. There is no cross-bar above which or below which the ball must pass. A goal is worth six points. If the ball touches any player on a part of their body other than their foot, hits a goal post, travels between a goal and a behind post, or is kicked by a defensive player into their own goal, only one point is scored. See Laws of Australian football (Scoring).

In basketball, a score made when shooting at the basket during open play (as opposed to from a free throw) is referred to as a field goal.

In Gaelic football and hurling a goal is scored by putting the ball under the posts and is worth 3 points.

In some countries, particularly Britain and Australia, the slang term woodwork is used to refer to the posts which constitute the structure of the goal. The term comes from the 19th century when the posts would be made of wood instead of iron or plastic as is more common today.