gols

Gols is the plural form of the noun gol in Portuguese, used to denote goals scored in football (soccer) and other goal-scoring sports. In Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese, o gol refers to a scored goal, and os gols refers to multiple goals.

Etymology and form: the word gol in Portuguese is a borrowing that reflects the English term goal. The standard plural is formed by adding -s, yielding gols. The noun is masculine, so the definite article is o gol and the plural os gols.

Usage and context: gols appear in everyday sports language, including match reports, broadcasts, statistics, and fan discussions. They are counted for teams and players to measure performance over a game, a season, or a competition. In official statistics, gols are a primary metric alongside assists, shot attempts, and minutes played. The number of gols by a player is commonly used to identify the season’s top scorers or to compare players across leagues.

Statistics and records: tracking gols supports rankings such as top scorers, best goal-per-game ratios, and historical records within leagues and tournaments. The term is used across Portuguese-language media and publications to present scoring data in a concise form.

See also: while similar terms exist in other languages—such as goles in Spanish and goals in English—the Portuguese word gols refers specifically to the plural of gol in Portuguese-speaking contexts. The concept of gols encompasses the act of scoring as well as the numerical tally that represents it.