Goal celebration

Celebrations

Goal song

Common celebrations

• A group hug of the players on the pitch with the scorer underneath, or the players jumping on each other's shoulders.
• The scorer running to corner flag, standing with one of his hands holding the flagpole while screaming – Gabriel Batistuta's similar celebration when he played for Fiorentina inspired the design of his life-size bronze statue.
• The scorer putting an index finger to his lips, as if telling the crowd and/or critics to be quiet – Real Madrid forward Raúl memorably celebrated in this manner when scoring against fierce rivals Barcelona at the Nou Camp in 1999. Starting with the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo adopted a variation in which he would wag his index finger at the crowd, as if telling his critics off.
• The scorer pretending to fire a machine gun, as done by Gabriel Batistuta and Edinson Cavani.
• The scorer turning his wrist near his ear, this is usually done while running. It was used many times, if not all, by Luca Toni.
• The scorer diving onto the grass with arms and legs outstretched. This was supposedly first done by Jürgen Klinsmann, shortly after he joined Tottenham Hotspur. Klinsmann was actually performing this goal celebration to satirise his own reputation for diving to win free-kicks and penalties. It became known as "a Klinsmann".
• The scorer walking or running away in a nonchalant style with a "cocky" smirk as if to say, "I'm the best, that was easy, etc." An adaptation of this involves the scorer standing still and turning or looking around with said look. This was done by Manchester United striker Eric Cantona, and later by Zlatan Ibrahimović.
• Ibrahimović also popularised shaping the fingers on both hands in the shape of a heart for his goal celebrations. This has since been used by Gareth Bale, Angel Di María & Lorenzo Insigne.
• The scorer kissing the ring finger – as Raúl always did. Married players are saluting to their spouses with this celebration. Rivaldo also famously performed this celebration in the quarter-final match against Denmark in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Luis Suárez has popularised a similar celebration, kissing his wrist and fingers as a tribute to his wife and kids.
• The scorer sliding on his knees – often done by Didier Drogba and Eden Hazard.
• The scorer outstretching both arms and running around changing the angle of arms mimicking an aeroplane. This was made famous by former Brazilian striker Careca and later earned Italian forward Vincenzo Montella his nickname of "little aeroplane".
• The scorer outstretching both arms and running straight. Brazilian striker Ronaldo often celebrated in this manner in his early career – his goal celebration was the basis for Pirelli's 1998 commercial where he replaced the figure of Christ from the Christ the Redeemer statue while in an Inter Milan strip. Zlatan Ibrahimović, whose idol was Ronaldo, often celebrates with both arms outstretched.
• The scorer rocking his arms from side to side, as though rocking a baby. This usually signifies that the scorer recently became a parent, whether or not for the first time. It was brought to the world's attention by Brazilian striker Bebeto at the 1994 FIFA World Cup after his quarter-final goal against the Netherlands, celebrating his son Mattheus, born two days before.
• The scorer putting the ball underneath their shirt to indicate the pregnancy of a loved one.
• The scorer sucking his thumb as a tribute to his child or to signify that scoring a goal is like child's play; over the years this has become a trademark celebration of Roma legend Francesco Totti, which gained him the nickname, er Pupone. Bruno Fernandes often places his hands over his ears after sucking his thumb.
• The scorer pointing towards the skies, either to express gratitude to God or to reference a person who is deceased – Kaká invariably gave thanks. Lionel Messi also celebrates goals in a similar manner, dedicating them to his late grandmother.
• The scorer taking a camera. Son Heung-min often does camera celebrations after scoring.
• The scorer putting his hands behind his ears as if to listen to the reaction of the crowd more. This is usually done when a player is getting booed during the game and then scores, or if a player returns to score against his former club – as Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku did when he cupped his ears to Everton fans after scoring. Rarely, this celebration is aimed at club staff, players or officials for various internal reasons.
• The scorer exhibiting some kind of dancing after the goal, usually joined in by teammates. The first player to gain worldwide fame for this was probably Cameroon veteran Roger Milla at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, who celebrated all four of his goals by dancing around the corner flag. Peter Crouch garnered attention for his robot dances after scoring goals for England. Five South Africa players performed a memorable Macarena-style dance after scoring the opening goal at the 2010 World Cup. Antoine Griezmann's 'Hotline Bling' goal celebration dance features in a 2016 Puma commercial.
• The scorer performing some kind of acrobatic routine after the goal. Mexico striker Hugo Sánchez was the first notable exponent of the backflip. In the women's game, Sam Kerr of the Australian Women's National Team is also known for celebrating a goal with a backflip. Nigerian footballers are also well known for performing backflips after they score a goal, this notably includes Obafemi Martins and a very famous one performed by Julius Aghahowa at the 2002 FIFA World Cup after he scored a goal against Sweden. Lomana LuaLua was banned from performing backflips by his then-club Portsmouth after injuring one of his feet during a celebration. Miroslav Klose and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are also noted for celebrating in this manner, albeit with front flips.
• The scorer removing his shirt. Rivaldo would most often do this in Brazil matches, holding his shirt in his right hand and spinning it over his head. Since 2004, this is considered Excessive Celebration per FIFA's Laws of the game, and results in a yellow card. Andrés Iniesta was so punished for his celebration in the 2010 World Cup Final. Chloe Kelly was booked during the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 Final, for a celebration otherwise praised in the media as "empowering".
• A common alternative, although more common in the late 1990s and early 2000s, was for the scoring player to lift up his shirt and show the crowd a T-shirt with a message underneath. Romário was a frequent adopter of this kind of celebration, showing up with a different message every match. Roma striker Francesco Totti often celebrated goals against Lazio in the Rome derby in this way, once memorably revealing a t-shirt which sported the Italian equivalent of the phrase "I have done you again!".
• The scorer imitating to shoot with some kind of weapon, either aiming towards the sky or to some other virtual target. Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane once performed a forward roll and finished by mimicking an archer against Saudi Arabia. Egyptian/ Liverpool forward Mohammed Salah, often celebrates by imitating the draw of a bow, before releasing, as well as former PSG striker Edinson Cavani.
• Teammates congratulating the scorer by kneeling down and pretending to shine his shoe – Ronaldo's Inter Milan teammates often congratulated him in this manner.
• Lying in the prostrate position to thank God in sujud, mostly done by Muslim players – Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah performs this after a goal same as Santiago Gimenez.
• The scorer saluting the crowd – alternatively the scorer mocking the crowd, as Cristiano Ronaldo did twice after scoring against Barcelona at the Nou Camp, in 2012 and 2016, when he gestured to the crowd to "calm down" after he scored.
• The scorer jumping and punching the air – this celebration features in Pelé's 1969 Brazilian postage stamp that commemorates his 1,000th career goal. Swedish forward Tomas Brolin often celebrated with a jump-pirouette.
• The scorer pulling his shirt over his face – often done by Fabrizio Ravanelli.
• The scorer jumping into the crowd. This is commonly done whenever a very significant goal, such as an injury-time winner, is scored, an example being Troy Deeney's last-minute goal for Watford against Leicester City in 2013, sending Watford to a Wembley Play-Off Final.
• The scorer running the length of the field. Infamously done by then-Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor against his former club Arsenal in 2009.
• Some players who have tattoos on their wrists or forearms will often kiss them to show respect to whoever or whatever the tattoo symbolises. Spanish striker Álvaro Negredo is an example, as is the Uruguayan Luis Suárez.
• "The Thierry Henry" or "Henrying" was made famous by striker Thierry Henry, who would celebrate by simply propping himself up against the goal post while another hand was on the hip, hinting that he's tired and/or tired of scoring goals, and has a "been there, done that"-type of reaction. This went viral in social networks, using the pose to photoshop Henry into appropriate settings, from propping up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, to helping Muhammad Ali with his punching bag.
• The scorer hitting or kicking the corner flag. Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar kicked the corner flag after scoring the winning penalty against Mexico in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Australian midfielder Tim Cahill was famous for his regular celebration of shadow boxing around the corner flag. West Ham United forward Paolo Di Canio once snapped a corner flag in half after kicking it in celebration of a goal against Leicester City, which was thought at the time to have been the Italian's final goal for the club before a strongly-rumoured transfer to Manchester United; the move never materialised.
• The scorer reacting with their mouth as wide open as possible – the magnitude of Zinedine Zidane's left foot volleyed winner in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final saw him produce one of his most emotional goal celebrations as he ran towards the touchline with mouth wide open, screaming in delight. Liberian star George Weah had a similar open mouthed expression having run almost the entire length of the field and scored for Milan in 1996.
• The scorer blowing a kiss to the crowd ; alternatively, the scorer provoking the crowd by kissing his team badge, or in the case of Barcelona captain Carles Puyol in 2009, kissing his Catalan armband in front of Real Madrid fans.
• The scorer pointing/waving to their own fans – alternatively, wave in a provocative manner to opposition fans; after scoring against Manchester United at Old Trafford in 2009 Liverpool striker Fernando Torres held his hand in the air to fans of arch rivals United, with his 'five times' gesture signifying Liverpool's five Champions League titles.
• The scorer swinging an arm – Mick Channon celebrated with his trademark windmill ; South Korea's Park Ji-sung performed a two armed windmill after scoring against Greece at the 2010 World Cup. The two-armed windmill was also a trademark celebration for Marcelinho Carioca.
• The scorer kissing the club/national badge on their shirt, to show their love and loyalty for the club/country; some players have even revelled in kissing the badge of their new team when scoring against their former club, a notable example being Wayne Rooney kissing the Manchester United badge when scoring against his boyhood team Everton.
• The scorer jumping and spinning simultaneously with both arms pointing upwards and landing with a firm stance with both arms pointing down. Commonly known as the "Siuuu", this gesture was first done by Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo and means "yes" in Spanish.
• The scorer puts on a mask after scoring. Many different masks were used in the past, some of the most notable ones are Quincy Promes, who wore a red mask, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who used a Black Panther mask and Dominic Solanke who used Obito's mask.