World Football: Ranking the Top 25 All-Time Luckiest Goals (With Video)

Football is known as the beautiful game, and indeed there aren’t many things better than watching a flowing move as one team dissects another in imperious fashion.

However there are some moments in football when this strive for harmonic, skillful perfection is thrown completely out the window as a moment throws the laws of reason into flux, and the ball somehow ends up in the back of a humiliated goalkeeper's net.

I won’t even try to rank these 25 efforts on the grounds that they’re all equally freakish. Some are hilarious, and some purely make you want to put an arm around the men at fate's mercy and tell them to let the tears out.

Nonetheless here are some of the luckiest, most bizarre and ultimately funniest goals ever captured on video in football.

Rob Green No. 1

This is probably one of the more memorable howlers in recent years.

It's the first game of the World Cup, and obviously it's crucial to start the tournament on a positive note. As an England fan, it's the biggest sporting event around, the hype and media expectations were immense as our "golden generation" were set to take international glory.

It looked set to be a strong start for the English as Steven Gerrard put them up 1-0 against our American counterparts, but then West Ham's Rob Green, selected at the last minute, failed to deal with Clint Dempsey's tame shot and the rest as they say is history.

He certainly set the tone, just not the one Fabio Capello was hoping for. 

Rob Green No. 2

One of the oddest things is that the World Cup howler may not be the worst mistake of Green's career.

Back in his younger days at Norwich, Green had arguably the most embarrassing error of his footballing life as Rob Earnshaw crept up behind the howler-prone keeper to poach the ball away from him and into an empty net.

Maybe Green spent so long focusing on what was behind him that in the USA game, he forgot what was in front of him, the ball.

Darren Bent vs Liverpool

Another fairly recent, famous clip from last season which pretty much summed up the way Liverpool's fortunes have been over the past few years.

We've seen plenty of shots deflecting off defenders and deviating past a helpless goalkeeper, but the use of a beach ball in getting the finishing touch is a little more unheard of.

Liverpool fans may have King Kenny back at the club and new additions Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll, but if you see an inflatable object drifting towards the Reds' 6-yard box, be afraid, be very afraid.

Watford vs Reading: The Phantom Goal

They say the hardest thing to do in football is score, but that task becomes increasingly easier when you don't even have to put the ball into the designated area required to score.

The victims of this clip are Watford and poor old, or should I say young, Stuart Attwell, the youngest referee in the Football League, who is given false information by his visually impaired assistant who relays the news that the ball had crossed the line despite never being within the vicinity of the goal.

And they wonder why people complain about the officials.

Paul Robinson vs the Pitch

There must be some sort of curse against English international goalkeepers as Paul Robinson was a veteran of embarrassing gaffs long before Rob Green was on the international scene.

To be fair to Robinson, there wasn't much he could do about the abnormal bounce the ball takes off of the inconveniently placed divot on the field.

It all went down hill for Robinson following this moment.

Paul Robinson No. 2

Similarly to Rob Green, Robinson has been involved in a pair of bizarre incidents. However fortunately for Robinson, he's on the other end of the mocking on this occasion. It's Ben Foster who's left to hang his head in shame after misjudging the bounce of Robinson's hoof up-field.

You win and you lose some I suppose.

Stan Collymore's Powers

If you thought the Paul Robinson miss-kick took a freakish bounce, this takes a seismic shift and not only bounces over a stray foot but over an entire goalkeeper left bemused, confused and completely speechless.

Stan Collymore is the beneficiary of this strange piece of physics giving him one of the more fortunate finishes in his fine career.

Peter Enckelman's Fancy Footwork

When you're playing in a local derby, tensions are high, and the expectations of both fans are great. The last thing you want is material for your rival's supporters to mock you with for the foreseeable future.

This theory was botched by Aston Villa's careless keeper Peter Enckleman who eloquently shows us what led to him being put in goal as a child.

The one thing that's arguably funnier than the incident itself was Graham Taylor's post-match interview in which he was as perplexed as his goalkeeper was at the time.

Massimo Taibi

Massimo Taibi's Manchester United career was short-lived, but his impact was everlasting.

The Italian only played a handful of games at Old Trafford, but whispers of his name send shivers down the spines of United fans, and here's the reason why.

Taibi fail's to deal with a shot that Matt Le Tissier may not have been able to strike weaker if he tried, this moment will forever be enshrined in Sir Alex Ferguson's mind, and he must go to bed at night wondering how he payed £4.5m for a man who couldn't prevent an effort that Fergie himself could have stopped.

Javier Hernandez's Face-Plant

"Chicarito" as he's now known already had a reputation as a good finisher when he arrived in Manchester. Clearly Hernandez wanted to impress Sir Alex by displaying his ability to head the ball as well as the pure strength of his skull to take the momentum of a ball he smashes into his own face.

This moment boded well for Hernandez, whose goalscoring record has been sublime for the Red Devils this season.

Who knows, but if Hernandez would have wasted this opportunity and lost his confidence, maybe we'd be talking about the Mexican in a different manner to which we are now.

Goalkeeper with the World's Most Gripped Gloves

I have no idea which teams we are seeing in action or who the guilty goalkeeper in question is, which is probably best for both parties. The one organisation who will want increased exposure however, is the company who make the goalkeeper's gloves. 

Either they have the world's strongest rubber or someone has played a glue-based prank on the poor keeper, but either way, I dare you to watch this without a smile on your face.

Darlington vs Bury

The simplicity and pure comedy in this clip from Darlington vs Bury makes it probably my favourite of the collection.

The amount of ridicule the defender in question must have gotten is surely incredible. You can watch this a hundred times and it's still totally hilarious.

Cesc Fabregas' Super Lob

Cesc Fabregas is known for his stylish passing game and his ability to control the pace and flow of a game. However he also gets the odd piece of luck, and here, he gets himself on the score-sheet when he charges down a defender's clearance, and it ricochets ferociously over a helpless Sunderland goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

Many say that Arsenal like to pass the ball into the net, but on this occasion, it's blind luck.

Adam Czerkas

Very similar to the Fabregas goal, this offering is from Poland. Equally freakish, equally bizarre, equally lucky.

Tomislav Piplica

I have no idea what the hell this guy is doing. As the ball hangs for an eternity who knows what the goalkeeper is thinking?

Maybe he sees someone familiar in the crowd, maybe he remembers he left the iron on, or maybe he just loses the use of his brain for a couple of seconds.

Whatever he's thinking, the Polish keeper is taken out of his day dream and fails to carry out his sole task in stopping the ball with his hands and then realising his embarrassment, acts like he's been struck by lightning and falls into the net.

Completely brilliant.

Jan Lecjaks' Fab Finish

Clearly this guy has been suppressed as a defender for all of his career. Perhaps the best chance to showcase his attacking skill would be in training, but when the ball falls to him, Lecjaks unleashes his inner striker with this stunning top-corner finish.

Despite his efforts, I imagine this act of defiance was more likely to get a rollicking from his manager than a change of position.

Andre Dias' Independent Legs

One of the biggest story lines of the past decade in football was the Italian match-fixing scandal of a few years ago.

I'm not suggesting this is categorical proof of fixing still existing, but it's a pretty decent piece of evidence. Regardless of whether or not this was a fix, this clip surely will be one of the greatest scientific discoveries in history.

Even if it wasn't deliberate, we've found the first ever human being to have legs independent from the rest of his body. Clearly the defender is thinking STOP, but his legs have a mind of their own, and no brain actions will stop him running into the ball thus knocking it into the net.

Defensive Clearance Gone Wrong

The one thing that I wonder about this clip is why is the attacker celebrating and pointing to his name? He has no impact on the goal whatsoever yet claims it like he supplied the brilliant finish that the centre-back does.

If you told the defender to do that again, he would wouldn't be able to do so for the rest of his life.

Goalkeeper with Lazy Leg

The goalkeeper gets everything right. He gets behind the ball and stops it well enough but then somehow loses control and his sight of the ball.

He then twists sharply and that proves to be his downfall as he inadvertently swipes the ball into the net, poor guy.

Leverkusen Keeper Milking It Just a Little Too Long

You could argue that this is more down to skill and presence of mind on the part of the Schalke team who've just conceded, but if Bayern Leverkusen's penalty taking goalkeeper wasn't as much of a showman, lapping up his adulation from the crowd then the resulting events wouldn't have transpired.

Deon Dublin

This effort is similar to the Rob Green one from the beginning.

Dublin gets up and realises that he's in behind the defense but in a different sense to which the phrase is normally used, and the clueless goalkeeper drops the ball out for Dublin to sneak around and capitalise on.

Well played Deon.

Sweeden vs Iceland

This is just cruel on Iceland.

Already down 4-0 to their Sweedish opponents, the Icelandic defenders assume a free-kick was given but the referee is having none of it, and Sweeden play their way into the back of the net, I would not have liked to have been in the Iceland dressing room after this one.

Patrice Ollo

This defensive unit could certainly do with some communication sessions.

This clip is just slap-stick comedy as the defenders converge on the ball, no one calls for it, no one deals with it and it, ends up with Ollo flicking the ball into his own empty net, oh dear.

Waterford United V Mervue United

If Javier Hernandez has a strong head with his goal, this guy's skull must be made of metal.

It rebounds about 40 yards off his head and over the keeper into the net. He must have been seeing stars after that impact.

Geoff Hurst

I'm English and I'm happy to say this goal was awarded, but in my impartial view, the whole of the ball doesn't cross the line.

Regardless, it was given, we won the World Cup, and now we'll eagerly await our next one for the rest of our lives.