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The away goals rule is a method of breaking ties in football fixtures contested over two legs. In two-legged fixtures, one match is played at each contestant's home ground, and the winner is determined by the aggregate score — i.e. the scores of both games are added together. If the aggregate score is tied, the number of goals scored away is the first tie-breaker in case of an aggregate draw.
If both teams have scored the same number of away goals, then the second leg goes to extra time, after which the revised aggregate score determines the winner. If both teams score an equal number of goals in extra time, the away team will win on away goals. If no goals are scored in extra time, then a penalty shootout decides the winner.
The away goals rule is intended to encourage the away team to be more aggressive. However, players and managers sometimes state before a home leg that 'it is vital for us not to concede a goal', so the home team may play more defensively than usual.
Usage
The away goals rule is applied in many football competitions that involve two-legged fixtures, including the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup, and any two-legged playoffs used in qualification for the FIFA World Cup or European Championships.
Not all competitions use the away goals rule. For example, before 2005, CONMEBOL used neither the away goals rule nor extra time in any of its competitions, such as the Copa Libertadores. Ties that were level on aggregate went to an immediate penalty shootout. The away goals rule (without extra time) was introduced to the Copa Libertadores in 2005.
In English football, two-legged fixtures in the League Cup are only subject to the away goals rule after extra time; even if one team leads on away goals after 90 minutes of the second leg, extra time is played regardless.
The semi-finals of the promotion playoffs in the Football League, despite being two-legged, do not employ the away goals rule at all. This has cost a number of teams places in the play-off finals. A prime example was when Nottingham Forest were denied a place in the Division One play-off final - and possibly the Premiership - in 2003. After a 1-1 draw at The City Ground in the 1st leg, the score was 2-2 at Bramall Lane after 90 minutes. Forest would have been through, but The Blades won in extra time 4-3 on the night, 5-4 on aggregate. Sheffield United are now in the Premiership - though not as a result of this 2003 play-off - and Forest are in League One.
Anomalies
If the two clubs contesting a two-legged fixture share the same stadium, each club is the home club in one leg, and the rule still applies. In many such cases, most tickets to each leg will be reserved for the "home" side's fans, so the designation is not simply arbitrary. More anomalous was a qualification play-off for the 1991 World Youth Championship between Australia and Israel: Australia won on away goals even though, due to security concerns arising from the First Intifada, Israel's "home" leg was played in Australia *.
There has been at least one case of a wrong application of the away goals rule by a referee in an international club tournament. It happened during the second-round tie in the 1971–72 Cup Winners' Cup between Rangers and Sporting Lisbon. This fixture had the following scorelines:
- First leg: Rangers 3–2 Sporting
- Second leg, after 90 minutes: Sporting 3–2 Rangers
- Second leg, after extra time: Sporting 4–3 Rangers
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"Away goals rule"