Losing to win: The strangest game in football history

Sometimes sporting rules can incentivise teams to do behave in ways that appear to defy logic – by actively trying to lose.

It has been called the most extraordinary game of football ever played. Yet there was no global audience watching with baited breath, nor a championship title or coveted trophy on the line.

Indeed, before the two sides – Barbados and Grenada – stepped out onto the pitch, it appeared it would be a very ordinary match between two small nations to decide who would qualify to compete in the 1994 Caribbean Cup.

Barbados looked to be cruising to a 2-0 victory until the 83rd minute when Grenada pulled one back. Minutes later Barbados funnelled the ball to defender Terry Sealey, who passed it back and forth with his goalkeeper Horace Stout. Then Sealey intentionally blasted the ball into his own net to make the score 2-2.

Then things got even weirder. The Grenadians tried to do the same thing. They attempted to score in their own net only to find the Barbadians blocking the way. The Grenadians then went up the other end to try to score in the Barbadian's goal only to find their way blocked again.

They continued to try to score in both nets until the full-time whistle. In extra time the normal pattern of play seemed to resume, with the Barbadians eventually scoring the "golden goal" which ended the game and saw them win the match.

So what was going on? In an attempt to make the qualification stage of the cup more exciting, the organisers had decreed that there would be no draws. If a match finished tied, then it would go to extra time. A "golden goal" was introduced which, if scored, would immediately end the game. The golden goal would be worth two normal goals – a quirk expected to make little difference. Only it made all the difference.

It was all to do with the previous matches in the qualifying group. Puerto Rico had beaten Barbados 1-0, but lost to Grenada 2-0. With only the top team going through to the cup proper, it meant Puerto Rico were effectively eliminated due to the goal difference.

Barbados, however, had a slim chance. If they could beat Grenada by two clear goals or more it would give them the points and the goal difference needed to overtake Grenada in the table.

At 2-0 in the 83rd minute they were sitting pretty, but when they conceded, the 2-1 scoreline would no longer be enough. Instead of trying to score in the remaining seven minutes, the Barbadians reasoned it would make more sense to take the game to extra time by scoring an own goal. This would give them 30 minutes to score the golden goal, which would be worth two. So they duly did.

When........

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