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The Own Goal Epidemic: Exploring the Increase in Own Goals
By Jeremy Strause
July 10th, 2024
Currently, the European Championship’s top scorer isn’t who you think it is. It’s not Jamal Musiala, Cristiano Ronaldo or Kylian Mbappe; it's the own goal.
In the European Championship, the spotlight is usually directed on the flashiest footwork and the powerful strikes into the back of the net. However, a surprising trend has emerged in the recent tournaments: the rise of own goals. The unintentional and unfortunate events where a player sends the ball into their net have seen a major spike in the past two European Championships. My article will dive into the reasons behind this surge, exploring the contributing factors.
This trend was also apparent in the last European tournament, where 11 own goals were scored. Before the last two European Championships, there were only nine own goals in every Euro combined. In this ongoing tournament, we have seen eight goals and we haven’t even reached the knockout stage. What can we attribute this to?
(Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Maybe it’s the change in how football is played? Maybe it’s the pressure that comes from the Euros? Or are we seeing corruption tarnish the beautiful game? I can only confirm the first two.
When I broke down all eight own goals so far, I found that six have come off a cutback. The cut back is a driven ball that is played from the goal line across the face of the goal. Usually these balls aren’t exactly targeted and just hit with the hope that the ball bounces into the back of the net. As a defender myself, I hate defending the cutback because you have to make a decision as quick as a blink of an eye about what you’re going to do once the ball reaches your area.
Cutbacks have risen in popularity over the past years due to the danger that comes from them. In the Premier League ten years ago, there were 12.6 shots taken from outside the penalty area per game. Now, it’s only 8.6. The total number of shots has also increased, with teams recording 27 attempts per game. This is partially due to the cutback. According to the American Soccer Analysis, 97% of shots from cutbacks are either great, good or average shot attempts. A shot from close proximity against a goalkeeper trying to get back into position is likely the best opportunity a team can get. The cutback has the highest goal conversion rate compared to any other play, like a cross, another type of progressive ball or an 18 yard strike.
GETTY IMAGES/ RICHARD MILLS
I think another central reason for the clumsy mistakes has to be the pressure put on the participating players. Former English legend Ian Wright said, “there’s more access to them, there are more voices and there is more content about them, the increase in social media does do something to the players' mental.” Players admit that it can even be too much. England center midfielder Declan Rice said that “there is probably more pressure now from the outside, but this is our job and we have to deal with it,” after England’s 1-1 draw to Denmark. The Euros is the second biggest soccer tournament in the world and it only happens once every four years, so there are obviously many eyes focused on the players, and this can lead to many crumbling on the pitch.