Golden goal was a rule that was officially used for a brief period in the 1990s and early 2000s. It's usage dates back to the 1860s when early codes of association football in Sheffield used this system to decide the winner of a game in early knockout tournaments such as the Youdan Cup and the Cromwell Cup.
Golden goal was introduced to provide a solution to other means of deciding ties that were deemed unsatisfactory and not representative of football. For example, penalty shoot-outs can often be seen as pure luck and not representative of the skill needed to win football games. Additionally, extra-time periods can be tense and can be considered boring, as teams generally prefer to play slower and more defensive football to mitigate the chances of conceding.
The golden goal format was introduced in the early 1990s in FIFA's youth competitions, with the first golden goal being scored by Anthony Carbone for Australia against Uruguay. After this, it was adopted by a number of competitions, such as the Football League Trophy, and by many confederations like UEFA.
A number of tournaments were decided by golden goal in the 1990s and early 2000s, but by 2006 it had been completely abandoned. Here is a rundown of what golden goal was, why it was abandoned, and who scored famous winners with this system.
Risk-averse tactics had become the norm in football by the 1990s. The back pass rule was only introduced in 1992 afterDenmark had won Euro '92 partly because they had exploited the non-existence of the now fundamental rule, and wasted time. Ireland had also done this at World Cup '90 and the tournament as a whole was described as 'dull'. Additionally, the three points for a win norm was only widely adopted in 1995 and this was also to encourage attacking play.
This drive for change was partly driven by the renovation of the game after a dark period in the 1970s and 1980s. This renovation brought in huge revenues and the product on the pitch had to move with the times to keep the profits rising.
As outlined above, the logic behind golden goal was that it would increase attacking play as, theoretically, teams would attack more in order to score as early as possible to end the game. The match that convinced FIFA change was necessary was the 1994 World Cup final between Brazil and Italy. The game ended 0-0 and Brazil won after a penalty shootout when Roberto Baggio skied his penalty.
It was said to have left a hollow feeling in players, coaches, and fans alike. Speaking at the press conference held after the tournament, Sepp Blatter said: "We are not happy, and the teams are not happy to go to penalty kicks, but we have to have a winner. So far, we have no better solutions." He claimed that FIFA would also investigate the usage of other alternatives but the system that was in place by France '98 was Golden Goal.
The first winner in a major tournament came when Paul Tait scored in the 13th minute of extra-time at Wembley in the 1995 Football League Trophy against Carlisle for Birmingham City. There was a bizarre moment in qualification for the 1994 Caribbean Cup, however. In that qualification tournament, golden goals would count as two goals instead of one. Barbados needed to win by two clear goals in order to qualify for the tournament, and they were leading 2-1 with minutes to go in regulation time. Barbados deliberately scored an own goal in order to force extra-time and take advantage of the rule. This resulted in their opponents, Grenada, trying to score in both goals as a 3-2 loss in the final minutes of regulation would have seen them qualify for the tournament, meaning Barbados had to briefly defend both goals. Barbados eventually won in extra-time.
The first international tournament that golden goal decided was Euro '96 as Oliver Bierhoff's goal for Germany sunk the Czech Republic in extra time at Wembley.
The Caribbean Cup incident was perhaps the first sign that the Golden Goal rule was not 100% fit for purpose, especially when variations of it were used. Additionally, teams did not attack as FIFA and other confederations had hoped and instead adopted defensive tactics in order to mitigate their chances of conceding and losing immediately.
The rules had completely failed in their aims. Despite the rule being introduced for Euro 1996, there were four penalty shoot-outs with both semi-finals being decided by spot kicks. Arguably, the more iconic moment of the tournament was Gareth Southgate's penalty miss in the final, which demonstrated the drama, suspense, and heartbreak that spot-kicks can create in football. There were ten penalty shootouts, to decide knockout ties at the World Cup and Euros tournaments that used golden goal, with seven games being won by golden goal across the two tournaments during the same time period.
It was also painfully obvious that the golden goal rule was widely disliked within football. When it was removed, there were a number of coaches, players, and administrators within football who praised the removal of the rule. Raymond Domenech, a youth coach whose country (France) had benefitted from the rule more than most, celebrated the removal of the rule.
He said: "I’m very pleased with the decision. The first time I saw a golden goal was in Montpellier in 1994, during the U-21 European Championship match between Italy and Portugal. I felt so bad for Figo and his team-mates at the end. After the golden goal it was ages before the Italians realised that they had won. It did the sport an injustice.”
Ottmar Hitzfeld, who at the time was the coach of Bayern Munich, also celebrated the end of golden goal. He said: "I’ve never been a fan of the golden goal. When extra-time arrives, you have 30 minutes to win it: the golden goal hasn’t always been fair. One shot and it’s all over. Scrapping it was a good idea.”
Possibly the most famous golden goal ever, David Trezeguet cemented his name in French footballing folklore at Euro 2000. Marco Delvecchio had opened the scoring for Italy in the 55th minute and as the end of regulation time approached, it appeared as if the Italians would emerge victorious from the tournament. A lifeline was offered to France in the 94th minute of regulation time and they snatched it when Trezeguet nodded down a Fabian Barthez free-kick which was put away by Sylvain Wiltord.
13 minutes into extra-time and it was all over, Robert Pires had latched onto a miscontrolled Italian pass and found Trezeguet waiting in the box. The forward produced a sublime finish, half-volleying the ball into the roof of the net with all his might. It has become one of the most iconic moments in French footballing history.
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