Barbados scored in its own net on purpose to win a match

On January 27, 1994, Barbados played Grenada at the National Stadium in Barbados, in a qualifying group for that year's Caribbean Cup. Barbados had to win by at least two goals to reach the finals. Anything less would send Grenada through.

The organizers had added two unusual rules. Every match had to have a winner, so a game tied after 90 minutes went to sudden-death extra time. And the golden goal that ended extra time would count as two goals.

Grenada had already benefited. Two days earlier it beat Puerto Rico with a golden goal in extra time, and the result went down as 2 to 0. Barbados had lost to Puerto Rico 1 to 0.

Barbados led 2 to 0 until the 83rd minute, when the score became 2 to 1. A one-goal win would not be enough. Barbados attacked for a few minutes, could not score, and changed its plan. In the 87th minute a Barbados defender and the goalkeeper passed the ball back and forth between them, and then the defender put it into his own net. It was 2 to 2.

A tie now meant extra time, and a golden goal there would give Barbados the two-goal margin it needed. The Grenada players worked out what was happening. A goal at either end would put them through. In Barbados's net, it would win them the match. In their own net, it would make Barbados 3 to 2 winners, one goal short.

For the rest of normal time, Grenada attacked both goals and Barbados defended both. Nobody scored. In extra time Barbados got the golden goal, the match went into the records as a 4 to 2 win, and Barbados went through.

Grenada's coach, James Clarkson, said afterward, "I feel cheated." His players, he said, had not even known which goal to attack. FIFA took no action against Barbados, because it had broken no rule.

The double golden goal came into play five times in qualifying that year, and the organizers dropped it after the tournament. At the finals in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados drew with Guadeloupe and Dominica, lost to the hosts, and finished third in its group.