Soccer score counter · Free · No sign-up
Soccer Score Counter
A soccer score counter keeps each team’s goals with the minute they were scored. This one also follows the Laws of the Game: up to five substitutes in three windows, a second yellow card as a sending-off, no match below seven players, extra time then penalties, and two-legged ties on aggregate.
Free, no sign-up, works offline, and nothing leaves this browser.
Team A 0–0 Team B, Before kick-off
Tap Kick off when the referee starts the match. If it is level at full time, it is a draw.
If it ended now: Team A 1, Team B 1.
Halves of 45 minutes; up to 5 substitutes in 3 windows, a 6th in extra time
| Team | Goals | Yellow cards | Sent off | Subs | Windows | Players |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/5 | 0/3 | 11 |
| Team B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/5 | 0/3 | 11 |
| Minute | Team | What |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing yet: goals, cards and substitutions appear here with the minute. | ||
Tap Kick off when the referee starts each half and End when the whistle goes. Tap goals, cards and substitutions under the team they belong to; an own goal goes under the team that gets the goal. Type a shirt number first to attach it, and a second yellow for the same number is a sending-off. Substitutions tapped one after another are one window. Ctrl+Z undoes.
This keeps the score, the minutes, the cards and the substitutions; it does not referee. Its clock starts when you tap Kick off and is not the referee’s watch. It counts sendings-off, not temporary dismissals or players off injured, leaves out the concussion-substitute protocol and cards shown to substitutes and team officials, and is built for eleven-a-side: small-sided youth formats, futsal and beach soccer have rules of their own. It is not an official match report.
Counting goals is the easy part. What a plain scoreboard cannot know is that a sixth substitute or a fourth window is not allowed, that a player booked twice is off, that a team down to six cannot play on, or who goes through when a two-legged tie is level on aggregate. This counter does.
Association football, called soccer in the US, Canada and Australia, is scored in goals: one each time the whole ball crosses the goal line between the posts and under the crossbar (Law 10.1). A match is two halves of 45 minutes (Law 7.1), and the time lost in each half is added on at its end.
- No sign-up
- No ads
- Counts never leave your browser
- Works offline
- Unlimited counters
Key facts
| Detail | Answer |
|---|---|
| Price | Free, no sign-up, no ads |
| Match length | Halves of 45 minutes, or 40, 35, 30, 25 or 20; added time written 45+2 |
| Goals | Goal, penalty goal and opponent own goal, each with its minute and an optional shirt number |
| Substitutes | 5 in 3 windows with or without a 6th in extra time, 5 with no window limit, 3, or return substitutions |
| Windows | Changes tapped together are one; half-time and the breaks before and during extra time use none |
| Cards | Yellow and red for each team; a second yellow for the same shirt number is a sending-off |
| Players | Counted down with each sending-off; below seven the match is abandoned (Law 3.1) |
| Level at full time | A draw, extra time of two 15-minute periods then penalties, or penalties at once |
| Two-legged ties | Aggregate from the first-leg score, with or without the away goals rule |
| Table points | 3 for a win, 1 for a draw |
| Where data goes | Nowhere. Local storage in this browser only |
| Official record | No. It records what you tap and does not referee |
How to keep score in soccer with the counter
Set the match up once, then tap what the referee gives.
Set the match up
Half length, the substitution rule, what happens if it is level, and for a second leg, the first-leg score.
Name the teams
Team A is the home side. In a two-legged tie that decides which goals were away goals.
Tap Kick off
When the referee starts each half. The clock runs from there and stamps every goal, card and substitution with its minute.
Tap what happens
Goal, Penalty goal or Opponent own goal under the team that gets the goal; cards and substitutions under the team concerned. Type a shirt number first to attach it.
End each half
Tap End when the whistle goes. At full time the counter gives the result, extra time or penalties, and the table points or the aggregate.
Settle a shoot-out
If it goes to penalties, tap the team that won the shoot-out, or count it kick by kick on the penalty shootout counter.
Where a soccer score counter gets used
Any touchline without a scoreboard, and any match where the rules decide more than the score.
Youth and grassroots matches
The score and the scorers for the club report, with shorter halves and return substitutions.
Coaches and team managers
How many substitutes and windows are left, before the fourth official has to say no.
Match-day volunteers
A second record of goals, cards and minutes to check against the referee’s notebook.
Cup ties
Extra time, penalties and the aggregate across two legs, worked out as the match goes.
Watching on TV
Whether a second-leg goal is enough, and what the old away goals rule would have said.
PE lessons
Why a team on six players cannot play on, and why a shoot-out win is still a draw.
Soccer substitution rules: five, three windows, and what does not count
Law 3 of the IFAB Laws of the Game allows up to five substitutes in an official competition, and at the top level it limits when they can come on. None of the free soccer scoreboards at the top of a search, checked on 2026-10-03, counts substitutes against a limit. ScoreCounter.com’s soccer rules table still says “Substitutions: 3”. Digitaltallycounter.com logs each substitution with its time but enforces nothing, and ScoreCount.com and KeepTheScore have no substitutions at all.
| Match | Substitutes used | Opportunities to make them |
|---|---|---|
| Top-division club and senior ‘A’ international competitions using five | Up to 5 | 3, plus half-time |
| The same, in extra time, where competition rules allow one more | A 6th | A 4th, plus the break before extra time and its half-time |
| Other official competitions | Up to 5, as FIFA, the confederation or the national association decides | Set by the competition rules |
| Senior ‘A’ international friendlies | Up to 8 of 15 named, or up to 11 if both teams agree (6 until 2026/27) | As in official competitions |
| Other matches | More, if the teams agree a maximum and tell the referee before the match | As agreed |
| Youth, veterans, disability and grassroots football | Return substitutions, where the national association, confederation or FIFA agrees | Not limited |
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 3.2. The counter’s Substitutes setting offers each: five in three windows with or without a sixth in extra time, five with no window limit, three, and return substitutions.
What uses a window, and what does not
Several substitutions by one team at the same stoppage count as one opportunity, and when both teams substitute at the same time it counts as one used by each. Half-time, the period between full time and extra time, and half-time of extra time use none. Any substitutes and opportunities a team has not used carry into extra time. The counter follows the same rule: substitutions tapped one after another, with nothing in between but the other team’s, are one window, and once the windows are gone the Substitution key is disabled until the next break.
| When | Changes | Window used | Running total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half-time | 2 | None | 2 of 5 substitutes, 0 of 3 windows |
| 60th minute | 1 | 1st | 3 of 5, 1 of 3 |
| 75th minute | 1 | 2nd | 4 of 5, 2 of 3 |
| 85th minute | 1 | 3rd | 5 of 5, 3 of 3 |
| Full time, level | — | — | 5 of 6, 3 of 4: extra time adds one of each |
| 100th minute | 1 | 4th | 6 of 6, 4 of 4 |
Concussion substitutes and the ten-second exit
Two more rules sit beside the limit. A competition may use additional permanent concussion substitutes: each team may use at most one, it is separate from the normal limit and opportunities, and when one is used the opponents may make an additional substitution for any reason. The counter does not model that protocol, so leave concussion substitutes out of its count. And from 2026/27 the player being replaced must leave the field within ten seconds of the board being shown; if not, the substitute may only come on at the first stoppage after one minute of play.
Two-legged ties: aggregate, and the away goals rule UEFA dropped
A two-legged tie adds the goals from both matches. Until 2021 UEFA broke a level aggregate with the away goals rule: the team that had scored more goals away from home went through, and goals the visitors scored in extra time counted as away goals too. On 24 June 2021 the UEFA Executive Committee removed the rule from all UEFA club competitions, men’s, women’s and youth, from the qualifying rounds of 2021/22. CONMEBOL announced the same for its 2022 competitions. Law 10.2 still lists the away goals rule as a permitted way to decide a tie, so a competition may keep it. None of the free scoreboards checked on 2026-10-03 adds up a two-legged tie.
| At the end of the second leg | Away goals rule (UEFA until 2020/21) | No away goals (UEFA since 2021/22) |
|---|---|---|
| Aggregate not level | The higher aggregate goes through | The higher aggregate goes through |
| Aggregate level, away goals not | More away goals goes through | Extra time: two periods of 15 minutes |
| Aggregate and away goals level | Extra time | Extra time |
| Still level after extra time | Away goals again, counting the visitors’ goals in extra time; then penalties | Penalties |
UEFA gave two reasons. The rule had come to work against its purpose: it “dissuades home teams – especially in first legs – from attacking, because they fear conceding a goal that would give their opponents a crucial advantage.” And it was unfair in extra time, “obliging the home team to score twice when the away team has scored.”
One tie, two answers: Ajax v Tottenham, 2019
In the 2019 Champions League semi-final, Ajax won the first leg 1–0 at Tottenham. In the second leg in Amsterdam, Ajax led 2–0 at half-time and Tottenham scored three in the second half, the third in the sixth minute of added time: Ajax 2–3 Tottenham, 3–3 on aggregate. Tottenham went through on away goals, three to one. Under today’s UEFA rule the same match goes to extra time.
| Ajax | Tottenham | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st leg, in London | 1 (away) | 0 |
| 2nd leg, in Amsterdam | 2 | 3 (away) |
| Aggregate | 3 | 3 |
| Away goals | 1 | 3 |
| With the away goals rule | Out | Through |
| Without it | Extra time, then penalties if still level | |
To replay it, set Match to 2nd leg, away goals rule, name Ajax as Team A (the home side in the second leg), enter the first leg as Ajax 1, Tottenham 0, and tap the goals in. Switch to 2nd leg, no away goals and the same match goes to extra time. The counter shows the aggregate and the away goals as you go, and names who goes through at the whistle.
Second yellows, red cards and the seven-player minimum
A yellow card is a caution, and Law 12 lists “receiving a second caution in the same match” as a sending-off offence, so the second yellow is followed by the red. A player who has been sent off cannot be replaced, and the team plays on with one fewer. Of the free scoreboards checked on 2026-10-03, only digitaltallycounter.com turns a second yellow into a sending-off by itself. None counts the players left, and none knows the seven-player minimum.
| Card | What it is | The team plays with |
|---|---|---|
| First yellow card | A caution | No change |
| Second yellow card, same match | A sending-off (Law 12) | One fewer, not replaced |
| Straight red card | A sending-off | One fewer, not replaced |
| A fifth player sent off | Six left: the match may not continue (Law 3.1) | Abandoned, and in principle forfeited by that team (Law 7.5) |
The 2026/27 Laws changed this corner in three ways. Law 3.1 now reads: “A match may not start or continue if either team has fewer than seven players (not including temporary dismissals or one-minute periods off the field of play in connection with the ‘Time-limited substitution protocol’ or the ‘Off-field treatment and assessment protocol’).” Law 7.5 adds that, in principle, a team responsible for a match being abandoned because it has fewer than seven players forfeits it; before, an abandoned match was replayed unless the competition said otherwise. And the VAR may now step in when the referee shows a clearly incorrect second yellow card that results in a red.
Give the counter a shirt number with each card and it does the rest: a second yellow for the same number is recorded as a sending-off, a player already sent off cannot be carded again, the panel counts the players left and turns amber, and a team’s fifth sending-off ends the match.
Across matches: when yellow cards add up to a ban
Cautions also add up from one match to the next, under each competition’s own regulations rather than the Laws, and the thresholds change: from the league phase on, UEFA suspended players after three yellow cards until 2025/26 and after four from 2026/27.
| Competition | Suspended for the next match after | Yellow cards wiped |
|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League, qualifying and play-offs | The 3rd yellow card, then the 5th, 7th and so on | At the end of the play-offs |
| UEFA Champions League, from the league phase | The 4th yellow card, then the 6th, 8th and so on | At the end of the quarter-finals |
| Premier League | 5 in a club’s first 19 league matches (one match); 10 by its 32nd (two matches) | — |
| FIFA World Cup 2026, final tournament | Set by the tournament regulations | Single yellow cards after the group stage, and again after the quarter-finals |
Sources: Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2026/27, Article 63; premierleague.com, September 2026; the FIFA Council decision of 28 April 2026. The counter tracks one match, so carry the yellow cards across yourself.
Level at full time: extra time, penalties and added time
Law 7.1 plays a match as two equal halves of 45 minutes, shortened only by agreement before kick-off and in line with competition rules, and the referee adds on the playing time lost in each half; the fourth official shows the minimum at the end of the final minute. If the teams score the same number of goals, the match is drawn (Law 10.1). When a competition needs a winner, Law 10.2 permits only three procedures, alone or together: the away goals rule, two equal periods of extra time of no more than 15 minutes each, and penalties. Golden goal and silver goal, which ended extra time early, were abandoned in 2004.
| Match | Level at full time | Counter setting |
|---|---|---|
| League match | A draw: 1 table point each, against 3 for a win | A draw |
| Knockout match with extra time | Two periods of up to 15 minutes, then penalties | Extra time, then penalties |
| Knockout match without extra time | Penalties at once | Penalties |
| Second leg, level on aggregate (UEFA) | Extra time, then penalties | 2nd leg, no away goals |
A shoot-out win is still a draw
Law 10.3 says penalties “are taken after the match has ended”, so a shoot-out decides who goes through, not the score. A 1–1 match won on penalties stays a 1–1 draw, after extra time if it was played, and the counter reports it that way. For the kicks themselves, with the early finish and sudden death, use the penalty shootout counter.
How match minutes are written: 46, 45+2 and 90+4
Match reports give the minute in progress, so a goal 30 seconds in is a first-minute goal, written 1′, and the second half begins in the 46th. Time added on is written on the end of the half it belongs to: a goal 1 minute 20 seconds into first-half added time is 45+2, not 47, because the 47th minute is in the second half. The counter stamps every goal, card and substitution this way, and its clock shows added time separately, as 45:00 +1:20.
| Time since the half kicked off | 1st half | 2nd half |
|---|---|---|
| 0:30 | 1′ | 46′ |
| 44:10 | 45′ | 90′ |
| 45:30, in added time | 45+1′ | 90+1′ |
| 46:20, in added time | 45+2′ | 90+2′ |
With shorter halves the arithmetic is the same: with halves of 40 minutes the second half starts in the 41st. Extra time continues the count, so its first minute is the 91st and its added time is written 105+1 and 120+1.
Online counter vs a clicker, an app, paper and a spreadsheet
Every counting method trades something away. This is what each one actually costs you.
| Feature | This online counter | Handheld clicker | Counter phone app | Pen and paper | Spreadsheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | $5–$15 | Free with ads, or paid | Cost of paper | Subscription |
| Anything to install | No | Buy the device | App store download | No | Yes, or a web login |
| Several counts at once | Unlimited | One per device | Usually limited | Yes, messy | Yes |
| Fix a miscount | Undo and redo | Start over | Sometimes | Cross it out | Edit the cell |
| Counts by more than one | Any step size | One at a time | Sometimes | Manual maths | Yes |
| Below zero | Yes | No | Rarely | Yes | Yes |
| Keeps the count if you close it | Saves automatically | Until you reset the dial | Yes | If you keep the paper | Yes |
| Works with no signal | Yes, after first load | Yes | Yes | Yes | Often not |
| Keyboard and shortcuts | Full | None | None | None | Partial |
| Sends your data anywhere | Never | Never | Often, for accounts and ads | Never | Yes, to the cloud |
Other counter types
The same counter, set up and explained for a specific job. Your counters are shared across all of them.
Online counter
The all-purpose counter. Any step size, any number of counters, negative values allowed.
Open online counter →Tally counter
Tally marks in groups of five for surveys, stock takes and wildlife counts.
Open tally counter →Click counter
A browser clicker that replaces the handheld thumb counter for door headcounts.
Open click counter →Lap counter
Count pool lengths, track laps and treadmill intervals without losing your place.
Open lap counter →Rep counter
Track reps and sets during a lifting session, with a step size for supersets.
Open rep counter →Score counter
A scoreboard for cards, darts and board games. One counter per player, negatives allowed.
Open score counter →Tasbeeh counter
A digital dhikr counter that stops at 33, 99 or 100 and keeps each dhikr separate.
Open tasbeeh counter →Differential counter
Six keys for a manual white cell differential, with an auto-stop and live percentages.
Open differential counter →Multi counter
Run as many counters as you like at once, side by side in a grid.
Open multi counter →Pitch counter
Count pitches, then get the rest days owed and the next eligible date.
Open pitch counter →Auto counter
Counts on its own from every 0.1 seconds to once an hour, and stops at your limit.
Open auto counter →Click speed test
Measure your clicks per second over 1 to 60 seconds, with your personal best kept on-device.
Open click speed test →Habit counter
Count toward a daily target and keep the streak, with a day boundary you choose.
Open habit counter →People counter
In and out at a door, with live occupancy against a capacity and a fix for drift.
Open people counter →Bird counter
A row per species recording the high count, so a circling flock is not counted twice.
Open bird counter →Inventory counter
A count sheet holding the book quantity beside the counted one, with the variance per line.
Open inventory counter →Knitting counter
Rows, pattern repeats and a shaping schedule that names the increase rows and then ends.
Open knitting counter →Omer counter
The 49 days of Sefirat HaOmer, in days and weeks, with the blessing state tracked.
Open omer counter →Yes/No counter
Two options, a live percentage, and the sample size and caveats the percentage needs.
Open yes/no counter →Golf scorecard
Strokes per hole with the course handicap allocated by stroke index, net and Stableford.
Open golf scorecard →Breath counter
Count breaths one to ten for meditation, with lost count recorded, or time breaths per minute.
Open breath counter →Badminton score counter
Rally scoring with the service court and doubles positions, for 3x21 and the 2027 3x15 system.
Open badminton score counter →Pickleball score counter
The 0-0-2 call with the right server and side, in side-out or 2026 rally scoring.
Open pickleball score counter →Squash score counter
Point-a-rally to 11 with the server, the service box, hand out and lets.
Open squash score counter →Penalty shootout counter
Five kicks each that stop the moment a team cannot catch up, then sudden death.
Open penalty shootout counter →Basketball score counter
Points by period with team fouls and the bonus as FIBA, NBA, NCAA or high school count them.
Open basketball score counter →Baseball score counter
Balls, strikes, outs and the line score, with foul bunts, dropped third strikes and walk-offs.
Open baseball score counter →Cricket score counter
Runs, wickets and overs by legal balls, with wides, no-balls, free hits and the chase.
Open cricket score counter →American football score counter
Touchdowns and the try at each level, with NFL, college and high school overtime rules.
Open american football score counter →Boxing score counter
Three judges' 10-point must cards and the verdict they give, split and majority draws included.
Open boxing score counter →Hockey score counter
Ice hockey goals and shots by period, with each league's overtime, shootout and standings points.
Open hockey score counter →Pool score counter
Straight pool with the breaking foul and three-foul penalties, and 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball races.
Open pool score counter →Rugby score counter
Union, sevens and league points, conversions tied to tries, golden point and bonus points.
Open rugby score counter →
Frequently asked questions
How many substitutions are allowed in soccer?
Up to five in an official competition, under Law 3. In top-division club and senior international competitions those five must come on in no more than three opportunities, plus half-time, and several changes at one stoppage count as one. Where the competition allows, extra time adds a sixth substitute and a fourth opportunity. Senior international friendlies may use up to eight, or eleven if both teams agree.
Can a substituted player come back on?
Not in most matches: a player who has been replaced takes no further part. Law 3 allows return substitutions only in youth, veterans, disability and grassroots football, and only where the national association, confederation or FIFA agrees. The counter’s Return substitutions setting counts every change with no limit, for exactly those matches.
How many yellow cards equal a red card?
Two in the same match. Law 12 makes a second caution a sending-off offence, so the referee shows the second yellow and then the red, and the player leaves and cannot be replaced. Yellow cards from earlier matches do not combine into a red; across matches they add up toward a suspension under each competition’s own regulations.
How many players does a team need to finish a soccer game?
Seven. Law 3.1 says a match may not start or continue if either team has fewer than seven players, not counting temporary dismissals or the one-minute periods off the field under the time-limited substitution and off-field treatment protocols. Since 2026/27, Law 7.5 adds that a team responsible for an abandonment this way forfeits the match, in principle. The counter ends the match when a fifth sending-off leaves six.
What happens if a soccer game is tied after 90 minutes?
In a league it stays a draw, worth one point to each team against three for a win. When a winner is needed, Law 10 lets a competition use the away goals rule, extra time of two equal periods of up to 15 minutes, penalties, or a combination. Most cups play extra time and then penalties; some go straight to penalties.
Does the away goals rule still exist?
Not in UEFA club competitions. UEFA removed it on 24 June 2021 for men’s, women’s and youth competitions, from the 2021/22 qualifying rounds, and CONMEBOL announced the same for 2022. The Laws still list it as a permitted way to settle a tie, so a competition may use it. The counter offers both, and shows how a level tie ends under each.
Can you win on aggregate if you lose a match?
Yes. In a two-legged tie the goals from both matches are added together, so a team can lose one leg and still go through. Lose the first leg 2–0 and win the second 1–0, and the tie is lost 2–1 on aggregate; win the second 3–0 and it is won 3–2. If the aggregate is level, UEFA now plays extra time and then penalties.
How long is extra time in soccer?
Two equal periods of no more than 15 minutes each, so 30 minutes at most, under Law 10. Substitutions made in the break before it and at its half-time do not use an opportunity, and if the scores are still level at the end the match goes to penalties. Golden goal and silver goal, which ended extra time early, were abandoned in 2004.
What does 90+4 mean in soccer?
The fourth minute of time added on at the end of the second half. Match reports give the minute in progress, so a goal 30 seconds in is a first-minute goal, and added time is written on the end of its half rather than continuing the count: the 91st minute is the first of extra time. A goal 46 minutes 20 seconds into the first half is written 45+2.
Is this an official soccer scoresheet?
No. It is a score counter for youth and amateur matches, coaches, volunteers and following games on television. It keeps the score, the minutes, the cards, the substitutions and the result in this browser and sends nothing anywhere. Its clock starts when you tap Kick off rather than with the referee’s watch, and it cannot see the pitch, so it records whatever you tap.
Counting guides
Longer answers to the questions behind the counting.
- Swimming
How to count laps while swimming
Why swimmers lose count at length 14, and five methods that actually hold up.
- Tallying
Tally marks explained
Groups of five, the five-bar gate, and why the convention has survived for centuries.
- Events
How to do an accurate headcount
Counting people is easy. Counting them accurately, twice, is not.
- Habits
Track a daily habit streak
Why streak apps fail, and what a plain daily counter does better.
- Click speed
How to click faster
Hardware and grip account for most of the gap. Practice accounts for less than people think.
- Inventory
How to do a stock take
Counting is the easy part. Preparing, and knowing your count is right, is the job.
- Training
Reps and sets explained
How to read a programme, and why the rep range matters more than the total.
- Reference
Types of counters explained
Synchronous vs asynchronous, mod-N, ring and Johnson, plus mechanical and software counters.
- Build it
How to make a counter
Twenty lines gets you counting. Here is what to add after that, and why.
- Baseball
How to keep an official pitch count
Little League requires an official recorder at every game. Almost nobody explains the job.
- Dhikr
One tasbeeh is equal to how many?
The same phrase means a bead loop, a single dhikr, or a full set of a hundred. Which one is meant, and when.
- Haematology
How to do a manual differential count
Why the pattern matters, how many cells is enough, and the imprecision built into the method itself.
- Birding
How to count a flock of birds
Blocks, tens, and why the number to report is the most seen at one time.
- Knitting
How to read knitting shaping instructions
Every 4th row, alt rows, at each end, AT THE SAME TIME — translated, with the rows they land on.
- Golf
Stableford points and net scores
Stroke index, strokes received, net score, points — in the order you actually need them.
- Surveys
How many people do you need to survey?
Why 385 answers a city and 45 answers a club, and the margin each sample size buys.