The term "last-minute goal" is used in sport, primarily association football, to describe a goal scored very late in a game, usually one that affects the outcome of the game. The definition of a "last-minute goal" commonly used is one scored either in the final or penultimate minute of regulation time or extra time, or during stoppage time or injury time.
Last-minute goals are often noteworthy if it allows the scoring team to either take the lead or to equalise.
The "golden goal", briefly used to decide extra time in some tournaments, is not usually considered a last-minute goal, unless it was scored late into extra time. Penalties scored in a shootout are not considered last-minute goals.
Notable last-minute goals This list of last-minute goals includes notable goals from higher levels of national or international football in major tournaments and qualifying matches.
Continental cup competition Only matches in the semi-finals and final of European club competitions that changed the outcome of the tie. 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final – Zaragoza vs. Arsenal, 10 May 1995: In the final minute of extra time (timed at 119:16), with the match heading to penalties, a 40-yard shot from Zaragoza's Nayim cleared Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman, winning the cup for Zaragoza. 1999 UEFA Champions League final (and The Treble) – Manchester United vs. Bayern Munich, 26 May 1999: United scored two last-minute goals against Bayern to clinch the trophy and the Treble. Bayern led 1–0 going into injury time, but goals from Teddy Sheringham (assisted by Ryan Giggs) and Ole Gunnar Solskjær (assisted by Teddy Sheringham) turned the game on its head and won the match for United. The goals, timed at 90'+0:36 and 90'+2:17, came so late that the trophy already had Bayern ribbons attached to it. 2004–05 UEFA Cup semi-final – AZ vs. Sporting CP, 5 May 2005: With both legs of the semi-final having ended 2–1 to the home side, the match went to extra time. AZ went 3–1 ahead and were heading for the final until Miguel Garcia scored a headed goal at 120'+1:13 to make it 3–2 and 4–4 on aggregate, with Sporting progressing to the final on the away goals rule. 2008–09 UEFA Champions League semi-final – Chelsea vs. Barcelona, 6 May 2009: In one of the most controversial matches in recent memory, Chelsea went into the final minutes of the second leg 1–0 up and on course to reach the final. Barcelona, its own high standards, were poor on the night, failing to register one shot on target. Chelsea had six penalty appeals turned down, and Barcelona had to play almost half an hour with ten men. Then, with the clock timed at 90'+2:10, Andrés Iniesta scored for Barcelona to give them the crucial away goal that sent them to the final, and ultimately victory over holders Manchester United, reaching a Treble. 2013 UEFA Europa League final – Benfica vs. Chelsea, 15 May 2013: With the scoreline level at 1–1 into injury time and faced with the possibility of extra-time, Branislav Ivanović scored the winning goal of the match with a header from a Juan Mata corner kick in the 92nd minute of the game to win the Europa League for Chelsea. 2013 UEFA Super Cup – Bayern Munich vs. Chelsea, 30 August 2013: After two goals from Franck Ribéry and Fernando Torres sent the game into extra time, Eden Hazard scored an early goal in extra-time to give Chelsea the lead. As time ticked away, the game seemed to be set as a win for Chelsea until a Dante free-kick for Bayern bounced off of a Chelsea defender and into the path of Javi Martínez, who slotted the ball past Petr Čech. This sent the game to a penalty shoot-out that Bayern won 5–4, handing them their (and Germany's) first UEFA Super Cup. 2014 UEFA Champions League final – Real Madrid vs. Atlético Madrid, 25 May 2014: In the first Champions League final with two clubs from the same city, a 36th-minute Diego Godín goal had given Atlético the lead. Sergio Ramos equalised for Real Madrid in the third minute of added time to send the game to extra time. Goals from Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo (with a 120th-minute penalty) meant Real Madrid won the game 4–1. 2018–19 UEFA Champions League semi-final – Ajax vs. Tottenham Hotspur, 8 May 2019: Ajax were leading 2–0 at half time, 3–0 on aggregate after they won the first leg 1–0. Lucas Moura brought two goals back for Tottenham in the second half just before the hour mark. In the 96th minute, Ajax were seconds away from reaching the final, until Lucas completed his hat-trick (and the comeback) to send Tottenham through on away goals, and to their first Champions League final. 2021–22 UEFA Champions League semi-final – Real Madrid vs. Manchester City, 4 May 2022: In the first Champions League after away goals rule was abolished, Manchester City were leading 4–3 on the first leg of semi-final against Real Madrid. In the second leg, a 73rd-minute Riyad Mahrez's goal had given Manchester City the lead 1–0 in second leg and 5–3 on aggregate, but Rodrygo scored two goals just less than one minute before going into stoppage time (timed at 89:21) and within one minute after the stoppage time started (timed at 90'+0:50), making the leg 2–1 and thus equalised for Real Madrid with the scoreline level at 5–5 on aggregate to send the game to extra time. At the 4th minute of extra time, a penalty scored by Karim Benzema was enough to send Real Madrid to the final with 3–1 in the second leg and 6–5 on aggregate. 2023–24 UEFA Champions League semi-final – Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich, 8 May 2024: Bayern Munich were leading 1–0 against Real Madrid, and 3–2 on aggregate thanks to a 68th–minute goal from Alphonso Davies, but Joselu scored two goals within three minutes (timed at 87:18 and 90'+0:01) to give Real Madrid a 2–1 victory on the night, and a 4–3 win on aggregate, which sent Real Madrid to the final.
Domestic cup Only finals of primary national domestic cups are included in this section. 1979 FA Cup final – Arsenal vs. Manchester United, 12 May 1979: In this match, known as "the five-minute final", Arsenal were beating United 2–0 with five minutes remaining, but United then drew level by scoring two goals in two minutes. However, their celebrations were short-lived when Alan Sunderland scored Arsenal's winning goal just a minute later. 1993 FA Cup final replay – Arsenal vs. Sheffield Wednesday, 20 May 1993: With the 1993 FA Cup final between Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday ending in a 1–1 draw, the same scoreline stood in extra time during the replay. However, the 119th minute saw Arsenal defender Andy Linighan outjump Wednesday's Mark Bright to head in the winning goal. Linighan played most of the match with a broken nose, having been deliberately struck in the face earlier in the match by Bright, and his winner made Arsenal the first English side to win the domestic cup double. 2002 Scottish Cup final – Celtic vs. Rangers, 4 May 2002: With Old Firm rivals Celtic and Rangers drawing 2–2 in second-half stoppage time, Neil McCann sent in a far post cross for Peter Løvenkrands to nod the ball into the ground and over Celtic goalkeeper Rab Douglas from close range to win the cup for Rangers. The goal came with less than eleven seconds left to play, barely giving Celtic enough time to take the resulting kick-off. 2006 FA Cup final – Liverpool vs. West Ham United, 13 May 2006: West Ham were leading 3–2 going into injury time, but Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard scored what proved to be the Goal of the Season with a 30-yard strike, timed at 90'+0:08. Liverpool went on to win the match on penalties. 2009 Russian Cup final – CSKA Moscow vs. Rubin Kazan, 31 May 2009: CSKA played most of the cup final with ten men following a red card issued to Pavel Mamayev against reigning league champions Rubin Kazan. CSKA won its fifth cup final with Evgeni Aldonin scoring two minutes into stoppage time to steal a 1–0 victory. 2011 Danish Cup final – Nordsjælland vs Midtjylland, 22 May 2011: The 2011 Danish Cup Final marked the first time ever that the previous season's finalists returned. Nordsjælland and Midtjylland were tied at 2–2 until Søren Christensen scored two minutes into extra time to give Nordsjælland its second-straight Danish Cup with a 3–2 victory. 2012 Liechtenstein Cup final – USV Eschen/Mauren vs Vaduz, 16 May 2012: USV Eschen/Mauren pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Liechtenstein Cup history by overcoming a 2–0 deficit and a man disadvantage to force extra time. Despite allowing an Igor Manojlović penalty in the 68th minute, Vaduz was on course to win the tournament cup final for a 15th straight season and 40th overall. However, Eren Dulundu scored three minutes into stoppage time to force extra time for USV Eschen/Mauren, who was also playing in the final for a fourth season running. USV Eschen/Mauren went on to win in the penalty shootout, with Dulundu and Manjolović scoring in the shootout, the latter giving USV Eschen/Mauren its first cup final victory since 1987. 2013 FA Cup final – Manchester City vs. Wigan Athletic, 11 May 2013: Manchester City, in second place in the Premier League, were highly favoured over Wigan, facing relegation from the League with only two games left to improve their record. The teams were tied 0–0 going into stoppage time, but Wigan midfielder Ben Watson, who had suffered a broken leg just six months earlier in a match against Liverpool, scored with a header in the 91st minute (time 90'+0:09) to give Wigan the FA Cup trophy in a 1–0 victory over City. This game was the first time Wigan had won the FA Cup and was one of the biggest final upsets in the tournament's history. Wigan were, in fact, relegated at the conclusion of the 2012–13 season, the first such occurrence in FA Cup history. 2016 Scottish Cup final – Rangers vs. Hibernian, 21 May 2016: Heading into stoppage time, the scoreline was tied at 2–2. Looking like the match would go into extra time, Hibernian won a corner. Liam Henderson delivered a cross and their captain David Gray scored to win the match for Hibs. It was their first Scottish Cup since 1902. 2017 Scottish Cup final – Celtic vs. Aberdeen, 27 May 2017: With 92 minutes on the clock and the game all square at 1–1, Tom Rogic picked up the ball 40 yards out and dribbled into the area before firing a low shot past Joe Lewis in the Aberdeen goal. Rogic's goal clinched the Scottish Cup for Celtic, completing both a treble and an unbeaten domestic season.
Domestic league Only matches that affected whether a team would win the title or be relegated are included in this section. 1988–89 Football League First Division decider – Liverpool vs. Arsenal, 26 May 1989: The final goal in the final minute of the final game of the season won Arsenal the First Division title. Arsenal had to beat championship rivals Liverpool by two clear goals or more to win the title; any other result would mean an eighteenth title for Liverpool. Arsenal, the away team, led 1–0 at 90 minutes, and in the last minute of injury-time (90'+1:22), Michael Thomas ran through the Liverpool defence and scored a dramatic goal to win the title for the Gunners. This match is often remembered for commentator Brian Moore's famous phrase "It's up for grabs now!" as Thomas ran through to score. 1996–97 Ekstraklasa – Legia Warsaw vs. Widzew Łódź, 18 June 1997: Going into the penultimate match of the season; Widzew was one point ahead of Legia. In the 87th minute Warsaw led 2–0, when Sławomir Majak scored. Three minutes later Dariusz Gęsior equalised with a header. Just a minute later, Legia managed to score, but the referee disallowed the goal. Finally, in 90+2', Andrzej Michalczuk made it to 3–2 to Widzew. Thanks to this comeback, Widzew defended the title, winning it for the fourth time in history.