Lucky Strikes: 25 Weird, Lucky or Just Plain Bad World Football Goals

Not every goal can be a stunning, graceful, well-executed wonder goal that makes Pichichi tremble with ecstasy from beyond the grave. So today's video montage will focus on those goals that will be remembered for lack of execution and aesthetic appeal (own goals included)—today, we salute the dregs. 

Here are 25 ridiculous goals for your viewing pleasure: the strange, the super lucky and the just plain awful. If you have more you want to share or just have a reaction to the videos posted that you'd like to share, have at it in the comments.

Lucky Little Leaguers

Let's start things off with a lucky strike from a youth match. 

The community field can often lead to interference: joggers, rogue dogs running onto the pitch, your game getting tangled with a softball game or some pickup Ultimate Frisbee. A ball from a neighboring pickup match knocks into the game ball from these kids' match, giving one team a goal and getting them one step closer to Coach taking them out for pizza after the game. 

Bump 'n' Grind 'n' Goal

Wisla Plock fans were none too happy when Adam Czerkas scored this freak goal for opponents MKS Odra Wodzisław Śląski. 

Czerkas attempts to drive up the field, and when the Wisla Plock defender tries to stop him, the resulting knocking about and deflection from Czerkas scores a magnificently lucky aerial goal that pings into the corner of the net. 

Straight Trippin'

In this 2010 League One match between Colchester United and Southend United, Colchester scored their unlikely first goal as their players struggled with the poorly-maintained, sandy pitch. Southend captain Adam Barrett tried to clear a flimsy attempt from Colchester's Anthony Wordsworth, but his foot got caught in the sand and after some slipping and sliding, Colchester was able to score.

Still, a goal's a goal, and Colchester was able to defeat their opponents 2-0. As Colchester assistant manager John Ward put it: 

"

"Yes it was an odd goal, the first one, and you're grateful it goes in your favour."

"

A Cheeky Ballboy Attempts to Change the Game

In this Copa Paulista match between Atlético Sorocaba and Santacruzense, a rogue ball boy decides to try to take matters into his own hands. Sorocaba was leading 1-0 at Santacruzense's ground, so a ball boy decided to furtively place a ball into the opponent's goal in the midst of a flurry of play. It worked, and Santacruzense got the 1-1 draw. 

Sad Day for Sammy Bossut

It's not easy being Sammy Bossut. The Zulte Waregem keeper has been at it for years, with more than 100 appearances in the Belgian league and helping the club make a name for themselves in UEFA Cup play. But what he will be most remembered for is this assist of sorts, where Bossut overshot his throw-in, leading to an easy goal for his opponents. Not exactly what you want to be immortalized doing on YouTube.

Ajax: The Gentlemen's Game

This is actually awesome and an example of how all teams should perform with fair play in mind. In a 2006 match, an Ajax player accidentally scored while trying to kick the ball out and stop play for an injured opponent. The officials wouldn't disallow the goal, so the Amsterdammers stopped playing to give the other team a chance to even it out. They did, and Ajax got the ultimate reward: the satisfaction of fair play. 

Double Flip-Kick Action in Argentina

In this Argentine league match between Gimnasia La Plata and Boca Juniors, two Gimnasia players get past a barrage of leaping Boca defenders, do what appears to be a synchronized flip-kick and score a goal to give Gimnasia the lead. 

Also, bonus points for the awesome voiceover work from the very enthusiastic commentator in this video. 

Khalid Askri Continues His Unlucky Streak

It wouldn't be a list of weird, bad or lucky goals without paying tribute to FAR Rabat keeper Khalid Askri and his history of blunderdom. 

In 2010, in a match between FAR and Mahgreb Fez, Askri became a viral sensation when he stopped a penalty and in his celebration, let the ball roll past him into the goal. He taught us a valuable lesson: you gotta watch out for that backspin. 

An Extremely Lucky 95-Yard Golazo

In this 2009 NCAA match between Southern Methodist University and then-ranked Tulsa, Ryan Rosenbaum fired an impressive 95-yard golazo, the first goal of his college career, which sailed past the entire Tulsa defense and beat the keeper to the inside of the goal. SMU would go on to upset their opponents 3-2. 

Call Them RSC Ander-Lucky

In another clip that comes to us from the Jupiler League in Belgium, the goalkeeper for KSV Roeselare thinks he has the ball saved, but he falls over, lets it go and gives RSC Anderlecht their second goal. A lucky break for Anderlecht and a sad day for the keeper, who just looks totally dejected. 

Nani's One-Touch Shot

In this 2010 match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, Nani appears to faceplant while going for the ball. He gets up again, is practically fed the ball by the Spurs keeper and slides it into the goal. Huh? 

[Sorry about the weird feedback noise on this video.]

Tony Popovic's Graceful Own Goal

If Tony Popovic had put the same goal in the opponent's net instead of his own, it would have been called splendid. His back-heel was meant to neutralize the opposing team's attack, but it ended up having the opposite effect and knocked into the back of the net. 

Valeri Aleksanyan's Fatal Own Goal

Valeri Aleksanyan of the Armenian national football team became a household name in Ireland when he scored an own goal to give the Republic of Ireland a point in a Euro 2012 qualifier match earlier this month. And as you can see by the video, Aleksanyan was pretty upset with the whole thing, curled up on the ground in defeat. 

Taking a Page from René Higuita's Playbook

It looks like the famed Colombian goalkeeper and his "scorpion kick" may have had some influence on this play. When one player stumbles on a scoring drive, the other team is able to kick it away, but in the process, the opponent trips and manages to scorpion kick, or maybe scorpion fling, the ball into the back of the net.

Also, the wacky America's Funniest Home Videos-style sound effects just make the whole thing tackier/better. 

Ronaldo Uses His Head

In this match from the 2010 World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo proves why he's one of the world's greatest and perhaps is worthy of his notorious big head.

After stumbling on a goal drive, CR7 caught the ball with his shoulder blades, headed it in front and managed to fire the ball into the net. Amazing. 

Manchester City Fans Should Probably Skip This One

Not only was Jamie Pollock's notorious own goal almost awe-inspiring in how well-crafted it would have been had it, you know, been for the right side, but it gained an extra layer of notoriety as the death-knell goal that would send Manchester City back to Division Two. 

Pro Tip: Don't Let Your Keeper Take a Penalty

Every once in a magical blue moon, a goalkeeper scores. When this happens and it happens successfully, the sun shines extra brighter and a horse somewhere on Earth becomes a unicorn. That being said, it doesn't mean using your goalkeeper as a penalty taker is always a good idea. Or really ever a good idea.

In this 2004 Bundesliga match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Schalke 04, Bayer keeper Hans-Jörg Butt successfully takes a penalty for his team. But in celebrating, he's too busy having a moment with his teammates that Schalke's Ebbe Sand and Mike Hanke were able to easily maneuver the ball into an empty net and score for the opponents. Bayer would go on to win, but not without Butt being, well, the butt of the joke.

Diab Awana Makes It Look Way Too Easy

In this match in Lebanon, Diab Awana takes what looks like the easiest penalty ever. Is the goalkeeper even trying here? It doesn't look like it. 

Fan Takes a Penalty... and Scores!

We're sure you've seen this one before on BR, but it's so wonderful it bears repeating. In a match between Spartak Moscow and crosstown rivals FC Saturn, one very dedicated Spartak fan decided to try to take the penalty in place of Spartak's Alex. Craziest of all, the fan makes the shot, much to the delight of his fellow supporters, and he and his wingman have a celebration to match. 

Alex would take the penalty and score for Spartak, but much to the pitch-rushing fan's disappointment, they lost to Saturn 2-1.

The Phantom of the Pitch

In this 2006 match between Bohemian FC and Drogheda United of the Irish Premier Division, the assistant referee allowed a "phantom goal" scored by Drogheda on a keeper blunder, although whether or not the ball went in was a subject of heavy debate. The match ended in a 2-2 draw. 

Dragan Stojkovic Proves He's Still Got It

The Nagoya Grampus manager, known as "Piksi" by fans, proved he can still do that fancy footwork even in the suit of a manager. In a 2009 J. League match between his Nagoya Grampus Eight and Yokohama Marinos, the Marinos goalkeeper kicked the ball to the sidelines.

Stojkovic fired back, and an impressive aerial found the goal on the first try. Fans applauded, but as play had been stopped due to an injured player in the penalty area, Stojkovic was sent off. 

As the manager explained:

"

"One of my players had just missed a great chance, an easy volley. I just couldn't believe it. When the ball came towards me I couldn't stop myself. I've scored from about 50 metres out before and by doing this I was able to show my players the technique for doing it. The whole stadium applauded."

"

Would You Like Some Bacon with Your Poached Goal?

This goal is actually kind of awesome, but as far as goal-poaching goes, this is it at its cheekiest. In a 2008 match between Torquay and Stockport County, the Torquay striker waits behind the keeper for him to drop the ball, before vulturing in, circling around with the ball and firing it into the goal. 

More Goal-Poaching, This Time with a Megastar

Thierry Henry has scored a number of spectacular goals throughout his career for Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona and even the New York Red Bulls. But one of his most infamous goals (aside from that handball against Ireland) came while he was playing for Arsenal, advancing to the box and nicking the ball from Michael Oakes to score a goal. The referees didn't allow it, but it was still quite the move. 

Rookie Mistake

Pro tip: If you're a goalkeeper and you're trying to roll the ball to someone who isn't there, from the sidelines, you should probably make sure someone is watching the goal. This is just a mess. 

Wow, This Is Terrible Defending

In this match from Scotland (not sure which teams are involved), some just absolutely awful defending of a goalkeeper's long ball leads to an easy-peasy tap-in for the opponents.