When they hand out the Golden Boot prize at EURO 2024, the trophy engraver might have carved the initials ‘O.G.’ in the space usually reserved for the winner’s name. That’s because there has been nine own goals already heading into the quarter-final stage – more than the first 15 editions of the European Championship combined!
It is an extraordinary statistic, but one worth remembering in the context that at EURO 2020 – the rescheduled edition played over the summer of 2021 – there was also a whopping eleven own goals netted. So, between 1958 and 2016, just eight own goals were scored at the EUROs. There was eleven in 2021 alone, and a similar number is expected come the end of 2024. Why the stark increase? Some statisticians will try to tell you it’s merely variance, but evidently there’s something deeper going on here.
The Anatomy of an Own Goal
‘Own Goal’ is currently top scorer at Euro 2024 with 6 goals 😳🫣 pic.twitter.com/WHziUEoPQW
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) June 22, 2024
Generally, we consider an own goal to be the fault of the defending player. Whether it’s a misplaced pass, an unfortunate deflection or a misguided attempt to block a cross or shot, the blame – and subsequent humiliation – is heaped upon one player and one player. But does that tell the whole story? What about credit for the attacking player, who has conjured the error out of the defender – perhaps with a devilish cross into the ‘corridor of uncertainty’ or with a bullet shot that the own goal scorer simply could not get out of the way of.
Football’s authorities have attempted to clear up the definition of an own goal, with some competitions now decreeing that goals recorded from shots that were on target when deflected into the net by a defender should be awarded to the attacker. And that’s what makes the own goal return at the EUROs so extraordinary!
Antonio Rudiger got the show on the road by inadvertently heading in Scotland’s consolation goal in the opening game of the tournament, before Max Wober did pretty much the exact same thing when nodding Kylian Mbappé’s cross into his own net during Austria vs France.
Robin Hranac was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when deflecting the ball into his own net during the Czech Republic vs Portugal encounter, while Klaus Gjasula was also the victim of an unfortunate deflection in Albania’s defeat to Croatia. Lightning would strike thrice in Italy’s game with Spain – a cross was palmed out by Italian goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, but would ricochet into on-rushing defender, Riccardo Calafiore, before nestling in the back of the net.
Portugal again benefitted from an own goal in their game against Turkey, although this time Samet Akaydin didn’t have the excuse of bad luck on his side – he simply passed the ball to where he thought his goalkeeper was standing, and was left rather red-faced when he turned and watched the ball trickle over the line.
Only Donyell Malen knows what he was attempting when he slid in to make a clearance against Austria, managing only to hammer the ball into his own net, while Robin Le Normand – struggling to deal with an awkward cross – only managed to nudge the ball into his own goal with his thigh during Spain’s win over Georgia.
Former Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen inadvertently turned a scuffed shot into his own net during Belgium’s 0-1 loss to France, completing the remarkable nine own goals netted at EURO 2024 prior to the quarter finals even getting underway. Most were bad luck and misfortune, but that’s 20 own goals and counting now at the last two editions of the EUROs….that simply can’t be an anomaly, can it?
Back of the Net
One man can be thanks for the uptick of own goals at the European Championships. Michel Platini, the former president of UEFA, wanted to introduce a uniform approach to determining own goals back in 2008 – at that time, it was the job of the referee (and perhaps the intervention of the dubious goals panel) to decide whether a goal was an O.G. or not.
The Frenchman pushed for the introduction of the simple ruling mentioned above: if the ball is on a direct trajectory towards the goal before striking the defending player, the goal is awarded to the attacker. If the ball is not heading towards the back of the net, and a defending player is therefore responsible for the goal, it goes down as an O.G.
The guideline has simplified what constitutes an own goal, and has also led to more own goals being scored in UEFA sanctioned competitions like the EUROs and the Champions League. Intriguingly, the Premier League has also seen an uptick in own goals – the 49 netted during the 2023/24 season was the joint-most ever, tying the mark set a decade earlier in 2013/14.
But there still isn’t a viable explanation – other than Platini’s revised definition of what is (and isn’t) an own goal. Are teams crossing more balls into the box, which helps to create the chaotic scenes from which an own goal might be scored? The stats would suggest the opposite, with the modern penchant for inverted wingers actually seeing the number of ‘classic’ crosses from the flank falling in many of Europe’s elite competitions.
There would be an argument that a change in the nature of goalkeeping has played a part. In days gone by, keepers took great pride in catching shots and crosses cleanly – today, far more shot-stoppers are choosing to punch the ball… at least a handful of the own goals scored at EURO 2024 were as a direct result of a keeper parrying a shot or cross into the path of an unsuspecting teammate.
But this is all anecdotal opinions, as opposed to stone-cold facts, and so we’ll have to satisfy ourselves with the conclusion that one of the reasons we love football so is its inherent unpredictability – something which has manifested itself in great quantities at the European Championships of late.
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