What is a clean sheet in football? Scores and examples

Look at the opponent's score. If it is zero at the end of a completed match, your team has kept a clean sheet. A 1-0 and a 5-0 win each count as one clean sheet for the winner. A 2-1 win does not: winning and keeping a clean sheet are different achievements.

CS is a common abbreviation for clean sheets in football statistics. The same term is used in soccer. Opta's published definition describes going the full match without conceding. A live 0-0 is still a work in progress; a missing result is not a goalless draw.

Yes. Neither side has conceded, so both keep a clean sheet. Neither has won. It is possible for a team to be pleased with its defending and disappointed with its finishing in the same match.

Turn the score around and the distinction becomes clear: a team losing 0-2 has failed to score, but it has also conceded twice. That zero is in the wrong column for its own clean sheet. Its opponent is the side that kept one.

An awarded goal against the team counts, whoever touched the ball last. An own goal removes that team's clean sheet just as an opponent's goal does. A penalty scored during the match counts too; saving the penalty does not guarantee a clean sheet if the opponent scores from the rebound or later on.

Added time is still part of the match. Conceding at 90+5 breaks a clean sheet even though the clock has passed 90. Conversely, a goal that is disallowed does not remain on the score. Wait for the decision and the final result before treating a provisional live tally as settled.

The examples below give the decisions and final scores explicitly. They show how to read those facts, rather than asking you to judge an unseen foul, offside or VAR review.

Premier League matches can end in a draw; they do not continue into extra time or a penalty shoot-out. Cup matches can work differently. A team that reaches 90 minutes at 0-0 but concedes in extra time has not kept a clean sheet over that whole match. A statistic limited to the first 90 minutes answers a narrower question.

A shoot-out is different again. IFAB places it after the match has ended. If the match finishes 0-0 and one side wins the shoot-out 4-3, both teams went the match without conceding. Keep the 0-0 match score and the 4-3 shoot-out tally separate. A shoot-out loss can therefore sit alongside a clean sheet.

Both ideas are useful, but they are not interchangeable. A team's result tells you whether it conceded. A goalkeeper table is an individual record, so participation and that competition or provider's counting rules also matter. If the keeper was substituted, check the recorded appearance and the relevant definition before assigning a personal clean sheet from the score alone.

The Premier League Golden Glove rewards the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in that league season. It is not an award for the fewest total goals conceded or the most saves.

A clean sheet does not tell you how difficult the defending was. One team might allow no shots on target; another might need several excellent saves. Both can finish with zero conceded. To understand the performance, read the chances and shots alongside the result, and remember the players in front of the goalkeeper contribute too.

Fantasy Premier League applies its own player-scoring rules. To qualify, a player needs at least 60 minutes, excluding stoppage time, without conceding while on the pitch. Eligible goalkeepers and defenders receive four clean-sheet points; midfielders receive one. Forwards receive none for a clean sheet.

Suppose a defender starts, leaves after 65 recorded minutes at 0-0, and the team concedes in the 82nd minute. The team has no clean sheet, but the substituted defender keeps the FPL clean-sheet points. Leaving after only 59 recorded minutes would not qualify. A red card is not a substitution: FPL still counts subsequent goals conceded against a sent-off player.

That 60-minute threshold is a fantasy scoring condition, not a rule that ends the team's defensive task after an hour. Check the official FPL record for a real player's minutes and points, especially around the threshold.

Start with a completed result, identify your team and read the opponent's goal total. For a disputed goal, check the final decision in the match record. For an individual player, also check the lineup, substitutions and the definition used by the statistics table.

If a match was postponed, abandoned or has no confirmed result, do not fill the gap with 0-0. An abandoned match needs the competition's final decision. The tools here deliberately leave an unknown result unresolved.

Open Premier League results on Match XI to choose a match and inspect its recorded score, teams and events. Then use current lineups for the next selection question. A past clean sheet does not establish who will start next, or promise another clean sheet.