Why away goals no longer count in European ties, and what replaced them

A two-legged European tie that ends level on aggregate is no longer settled by who scored more goals away from home. Since 2021/22 it goes to two 15-minute periods of extra time at the end of the second leg, and then, if still level, to a penalty shoot-out. With the league phases of the three UEFA club competitions running into November and the two-legged knockout rounds still to come, this is how the 2026/27 regulations of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League set it out, in Articles 15, 20, 21 and 22, together with UEFA's announcement of June 2021.

What was the away goals rule?

In a tie over two legs, if both clubs had scored the same number of goals in total, the one that had scored more goals at its opponent's ground went through. A 2–2 away and a 1–1 at home was a win; a 1–1 away and a 2–2 at home was elimination. Only if the away goals were also level after normal time of the second leg did the tie go to extra time, and then to penalties if needed.

UEFA's president, Aleksander Čeferin, said in 2021 that the rule had been part of UEFA competitions since it was introduced in 1965.

When and why did UEFA abolish it?

UEFA's Executive Committee approved the change on 24 June 2021, on the recommendation of its Club Competitions Committee and its Women's Football Committee. It applies to every UEFA club competition, men's, women's and youth, from the qualifying rounds of 2021/22.

UEFA gave three reasons. First, home advantage had shrunk. In men's competitions, it said, the share of home wins had fallen from 61 per cent in the mid-1970s to 47 per cent, and away wins had risen from 19 to 30 per cent, while home goals per match fell from 2.02 to 1.58 and away goals rose from 0.95 to 1.15. It put that down to better and more uniform pitches, better stadiums and security, goal-line technology and VAR, wider television coverage, easier travel and more squad rotation in a crowded calendar.

Second, the rule had come to work against its own purpose. Its impact, Čeferin said, "now runs counter to its original purpose", because it "dissuades home teams – especially in first legs – from attacking", for fear of conceding a goal that would give the visitors a crucial advantage.

Third, extra time. Čeferin pointed to criticism of the unfairness, especially in extra time, of making the home side score twice once the away side had scored. His conclusion was that it was "no longer appropriate for an away goal to carry more weight than one scored at home".

What happens now when a tie is level on aggregate?

The qualifying rounds, the play-offs and the knockout rounds before the final are all played home and away (Articles 15.01 and 20.01). The club that scores more goals over the two matches goes through, wherever they were scored (Article 20.03).

If the aggregate is level, Article 21 takes over. Two periods of 15 minutes of extra time are played at the end of the second leg, after a five-minute break in which the players may stay on the pitch if the referee allows. The club that scores more in extra time goes through. If extra time is level, or goalless, the tie goes to a penalty shoot-out, taken under the IFAB's Laws of the Game (Articles 21.01 to 21.03).

The wording is identical in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League regulations for 2026/27. UEFA may also order a tie to be played as a single match if circumstances require, and then sets how the winner is found (Articles 15.02 and 20.02).

What about the final?

The final is not a two-legged tie, so the change does not touch it. It is a single match at a neutral venue fixed in advance. If it is level after normal time, two 15-minute periods of extra time are played, and if it is still level after that, penalties decide it (Article 22.01).

Do away goals still count anywhere?

Yes, in two places. In the league phase, away goals are still a tie-breaker. If clubs finish level on points, they are separated by goal difference, then goals scored, then away goals scored, before wins and away wins (Article 18.01 of the Champions League regulations). That ranks clubs in a 36-club table; it never decides a tie between two of them.

And the rule is still in the laws. Law 10 of the IFAB's Laws of the Game lists the away goals rule as one of the only three procedures a competition may use to find a winner after a drawn match or a level home-and-away tie, beside extra time and penalties, and lets a competition combine them. UEFA's decision was a choice of its own; the laws did not change.

What difference has it made this season?

Two of this summer's play-offs show it best, because in each the old rule would have ended the tie at the final whistle of the second leg.

In the Champions League, Celtic beat Lask Linz 3–0 at Celtic Park. In Linz, LASK were 4–1 up after 90 minutes, which made the tie 4–4, with C. McGregor's goal on 21 the only away goal of the two matches. Under the old rule Celtic would have gone through. Instead the tie went to extra time, S. Adeniran scored on 109, and the second leg finished Lask Linz 5–1 Celtic: LASK through, 5–4 on aggregate.

In the Europa League, FK Crvena Zvezda won 3–0 in Belgrade against Plzen, who then led 4–1 after 90 minutes at home, with Plzeň's fourth a penalty on 90 by C. Kabongo. M. Ivanić's goal on 11 would have taken Crvena Zvezda through on away goals. D. Krčík scored on 96 in extra time, and the second leg finished Plzen 5–1 FK Crvena Zvezda: Plzeň through, 5–4 on aggregate.

Penalties now settle what extra time cannot. In the Conference League play-off between Heart Of Midlothian and Rapid Vienna, the first leg at Tynecastle was 2–2 and the second leg in Vienna was 1–1 after 90 minutes. Rapid's two away goals to Hearts' one would once have been enough. The second leg, Rapid Vienna v Heart Of Midlothian, went to penalties, and Hearts won the shoot-out 4–3.

In numbers

Our records hold 214 two-legged ties from this season's qualifying rounds and play-offs in the three competitions: 45 in the Champions League, 40 in the Europa League and 129 in the Conference League.

• 44 were level on aggregate after 180 minutes, about one in five: ten in the Champions League, six in the Europa League and 28 in the Conference League.
• 23 of those were settled in extra time, and 21 on penalties.
• In 23 of the 44, the two clubs had not scored the same number of away goals, so the old rule would have decided the tie without extra time.
• In 13 of those 23, the club that went through was the one the old rule would have knocked out.
• In the other 21, the away goals were level too, so even under the old rule the tie would have gone to extra time.

The knockout rounds of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League will be decided the same way.

Sources: UEFA Champions League regulations 2026/27, Article 21, Article 20, Article 15, Article 22, Article 18, UEFA Europa League regulations 2026/27, Article 21, UEFA Conference League regulations 2026/27, Article 21, UEFA: abolition of the away goals rule in all UEFA club competitions, UEFA: why the away goals rule was scrapped, IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 10.