Goalscorer Bets: Types, Settlement and How They Work
Goalscorer bets are a market in which you do not predict the result of the match, only the specific player who will score a goal. It is one of the most popular side bets on football matches. It lets you back a chosen striker regardless of who ultimately wins the game. In this guide we explain the differences between the variants of the market: anytime goalscorer, first goalscorer, goalscorer and result. We show step by step how such bets are actually settled: what happens when the player you picked is not in the starting line-up, comes on from the bench or scores an own goal. We also explain why the odds on one player can be much higher than on another. This is a guide to how the market works, not to tips for a particular match – if you are looking for the basics of reading odds, start with the guide to betting odds, and for your first betting slip you will find how to place bets step by step useful. Updated: November 2026.
Types of goalscorer bets
The name “goalscorer bet” covers several different markets. They differ in the winning condition and in the level of the odds. Mixing them up is one of the most common mistakes with this type of bet (more on mistakes below). Before you confirm your slip, check exactly which variant you are backing.
Anytime goalscorer is by far the most popular variant. It combines relatively accessible odds with a simple settlement rule. First and last goalscorer are more speculative bets: even an accurate read of a player who scores regularly says nothing about when in the match he will do it.
How goalscorer bets are settled
The winning condition itself sounds simple, but the devil is in the settlement details. Below are the most important situations to watch for.
When a goal counts
A goal counts if it is scored in regulation time, that is, in 90 minutes plus stoppage time. Extra time in cup matches is usually a separate matter: some bookmakers include extra-time goals when settling the goalscorer, others limit the market to regulation time. This rules detail needs to be checked before betting on a match in which extra time is possible.
Own goals
An own goal by default does not count as a goal scored by the player in the goalscorer market. The reason is simple: the slip is placed on the player scoring against the opposition, not against his own team. An own goal goes into the match statistics, but not into the settlement of a bet on a specific goalscorer.
Penalties
A goal from a penalty kick counts normally if the player named in the bet is the one taking it and puts it in the net. If someone other than the player you picked takes the penalty, the goal does not count, even if it was he who won it.
A player outside the starting line-up
This is where the rules differ most between operators, so it is worth checking before you place the bet, not after. Two approaches are found. Some bookmakers void (refund the stake on) a bet on a player who is not in the starting eleven at the moment of the kick-off whistle, regardless of whether he comes on from the bench later. Other bookmakers void the bet only if the player does not appear on the pitch at all during the whole match. If he comes on as a substitute, the bet stays active in exactly the same way as if he had started in the starting line-up. The difference matters in practice: in the same situation (the player is on the bench at the start, comes on in the second half and scores) one set of rules will give a win, while another may have voided the slip earlier. Always check the rules of the specific bookmaker for this market before you place a bet – this is not a uniform rule across the industry.
A player withdrawn just before the match
It happens that a player is named in an earlier line-up announcement, and just before the match, for example after the warm-up, he is withdrawn from it because of an injury and does not make it onto the official match sheet at all. The vast majority of bookmakers treat such a situation in the same way as absence from the match squad from the start: the bet on that player is voided and the stake refunded. This rule is much more uniform across the industry than the issue described above of starting in the line-up versus coming on from the bench. Even so, for bets placed very close to kick-off it is worth looking at the rules, especially if the slip was placed just before the line-up was officially confirmed.
A player coming on from the bench
If the bet stays active, that is, the player appeared on the pitch at any moment in line with the rules of the specific operator (see above), a goal scored after coming on from the bench counts in exactly the same way as a goal scored by a player from the first minute.
First and last goalscorer – settlement after the match
These variants are settled only after the match has ended, on the basis of the official match report. If the VAR referee disallows a goal after it was originally awarded, which changes which goal was actually first, settlement is based on the final, corrected course of the match, not on what the live score showed at the moment of the shot.
Why the odds on specific players look the way they do
The odds on an anytime goalscorer are in practice the bookmaker’s assessment of how likely it is that the player will score in that particular match. Several factors go into that assessment:
- Position and role in the team. A striker who usually starts and takes his team’s penalties will have clearly lower, that is, safer, odds than a centre-back or a defensive midfielder, for whom a goal is an occasional exception rather than an everyday event.
- The team’s form and attacking role. A team that plays on the attack and creates many chances raises the chances of each of its strikers scoring, which lowers their odds.
- The opponent’s style of play. A match against a team that defends deep and rarely gives up space usually means fewer shooting chances than an open match in which both sides attack.
- Risk of rotation. A player at risk of rotation, for example because of a tight fixture list or a return from injury, has higher odds, because the risk grows that he will not start at all or will be substituted early.
As with a bet on the match result, the bookmaker’s margin is built into the odds, exactly the same mechanism that we describe in the guide how to read betting odds. Unlike in the match-result market, however, more than one player can score in a single match, so the sum of the probabilities implied by the anytime-goalscorer odds for the players of one team can exceed 100% even without a margin. That sum therefore cannot be used to judge the size of the margin.
Goalscorer odds can move sharply just before the match. The biggest single trigger is the announcement of the starting line-ups, usually about an hour before the first whistle. A player who had low odds as the favourite to start from the first minute can disappear from the offer, or get clearly higher odds, the moment the line-up shows that he is starting on the bench.
The most common mistakes with goalscorer bets
- Betting without checking the starting line-up. Odds from before the line-up announcement price in the risk that the player will not play at all. If you bet right after the line-ups are published, you are playing with much better information.
- Not checking the rules for a player outside the starting eleven. As described above, this is one of the points on which operators genuinely differ. Check it before you bet, not after.
- Mixing up the market variants. “Anytime goal” and “first goal” are two different bets with different odds. It is easy to pick the wrong selection, especially in a mobile app.
- Underestimating how hard a goalscorer and result bet is. The high odds of a scorecast can be tempting, but both conditions must be met in the same match, and each of them is uncertain on its own. The chance of landing it is therefore much lower than for either of those parts separately.
- Ignoring the rules on own goals. If you back a defender to score at any point, remember that a goal he puts into his own net will not win the bet.
- Not comparing odds between operators. As with any other market, the same player is priced differently by different licensed bookmakers. The difference in margin affects the profitability of a bet in the longer term.
Goalscorer bets in live betting and in an accumulator
The goalscorer market is also available in live betting. The odds update continuously during the match, reacting to what is actually happening on the pitch. A few situations affect them clearly more than others. A substitution in which the player you picked leaves the pitch does not void the bet, but it ends its chance of winning from that moment: the slip waits for settlement until the end of the match, only without any possibility of the condition being met. A red card for another player on the same team usually lowers the chances of all the remaining strikers on the pitch, because the team plays a man down and more often drops back to defend instead of attacking. A missed penalty by the player you picked does not void the bet. The goal simply was not scored, so the slip still waits for settlement, unless the same player scores in another way later in that match.
A goalscorer bet is also sometimes chosen as one of the selections in an accumulator slip, combined for example with a bet on the match result or with a bet on another game on the same day. The settlement rules for a single selection do not change because it is part of an accumulator. Each selection is settled separately, under the same rules described above, and the win on the whole slip depends on all selections landing at once. The more selections on a slip, the lower the combined probability of landing the whole, even if each selection on its own looks like a sensible pick. You will find more about how such a slip works in the guide to the accumulator bet.
Where to place goalscorer bets with legal bookmakers in Poland
This section describes the Polish market, that is, the legal bookmakers serving customers in Poland. The goalscorer market, in the anytime goalscorer variant, is today part of the standard pre-match and live offer at the vast majority of legal bookmakers holding a licence from the Polish Ministry of Finance. The differences concern mainly the number of variants available, for example whether a scorecast is also on offer, and the details of the settlement rules described above. Compare the range of variants and the odds at selected operators, e.g. STS, Superbet, Betclic and AdmiralBet. You will find the full, verified list of operators in the list of licensed bookmakers. Before you place your first goalscorer slip, check there the rules of your chosen operator for this particular market.
A goalscorer bet often comes up alongside football betting in general. You will find a broader overview of football markets on the page bookmaker for football, and if you are interested in another way of evening out the odds in a bet, also see the guide to bookmaker handicap.
Frequently asked questions
What is an anytime goalscorer bet?
It is a bet that the named player will score at least one goal at any point in the match, in regulation time plus stoppage time. It does not matter exactly when the goal is scored or what the final result of the game is.
What happens if the player I picked does not start the match?
It depends on the rules of the specific bookmaker and genuinely differs: some operators void the bet if the player is not in the starting line-up, others only if he does not appear on the pitch at all during the whole match. Check the rules of the given market before placing the bet.
Does an own goal count in a goalscorer bet?
No. An own goal is not counted as a goal scored by the player in the goalscorer market; only goals scored into the opponent’s goal count.
How does the first goalscorer differ from the anytime goalscorer?
An anytime goalscorer bet wins on any goal by the player in the match. A first goalscorer bet wins only if his goal opens the scoring, hence the clearly higher odds than on the “anytime goal” variant for the same player.
What is a goalscorer and result (scorecast) bet?
It is a combination of two conditions in one bet: the named player must score a goal, and the match must end with exactly the stated result. Both conditions must be met at the same time, which is why the odds are much higher than on each of them separately.
Are the settlement rules for goalscorer bets the same at every bookmaker?
Not always, especially on whether the bet is voided when the player does not start in the starting line-up. Before betting, check the rules of the specific market at your chosen licensed bookmaker from our list.
Is a goalscorer bet available in live betting?
Yes, the anytime goalscorer market is usually available in the live offer too, with odds updated continuously: they fall after changes that weaken the opposing team and after the player you picked comes on in a good position to play, and rise when the player is substituted or the team loses the initiative in the match.