This page explains how both teams to score works, what anytime goalscorer means in betting, and the specific situations where readers misread the rules. It covers settlement only. It does not predict matches, recommend operators or suggest stakes.
What Both Teams to Score Settles On
Both teams to score, usually shortened to BTTS, is a market on whether each side scores at least one goal during normal match time. It is not a market on who wins. A 4-1 result and a 1-1 result both settle the same way on BTTS: both teams scored, so the "yes" side wins.
The market asks one question only: did each team put the ball in the net at least once? Nothing about the scoreline, the margin or the quality of the goals changes the settlement. A scrappy deflected goal counts exactly the same as a clean strike from distance.
This is why BTTS is often described as a market that ignores the result. You can back "yes" and watch your team lose 3-2. You can back "no" and watch a dull 0-0 or a 1-0 either way. The only thing that matters is whether both teams scored.
There is no partial settlement. If one team fails to score, "yes" loses in full. If both teams score, "no" loses in full. There is no draw, no push and no refund on the standard two-way version of this market.
What Counts as a Goal for Settlement
This is where most disputes start. A goal only counts for these markets if the referee awards it and it stands in the official result. The market does not settle on what you saw live, what a commentator said, or what a score app showed for thirty seconds before correcting itself.
Own goals count. If a defender turns the ball into their own net, the team that benefits is credited with a goal for BTTS purposes. The own goal does not go on the defender's personal tally, but it does settle the team market in that team's favour.
Goals scored in added time at the end of either half count, because they fall inside normal match time. This is a common source of late swings. A 90+4 goal can flip a BTTS bet from lost to won, and there is nothing unusual about that settlement.
What does not count is the key part. Goals in extra time do not count for standard BTTS markets. Goals in a penalty shootout do not count either. If a cup tie goes to extra time and a team that had not scored finally scores in the 110th minute, that goal does not rescue a "yes" bet. The market settled on the 90 minutes plus added time.
Penalties during normal time do count, because they are goals scored in the match itself. A penalty missed does not count, obviously, and a penalty saved and then converted on the rebound counts as a goal for the scoring team.
Anytime Goalscorer: What the Market Actually Means
The phrase "anytime goalscorer" confuses readers because it sounds like it covers any moment a player is involved in a goal. It does not. Anytime goalscorer means the named player must score at least one goal during normal match time. That is the whole market.
An assist does not count. Winning a penalty does not count. Being fouled for a free kick that someone else scores from does not count. The player must be the one credited with the goal in the official result.
Own goals are the trap here. If you back a player to score anytime and the only goal of the game is an own goal by that player, the bet loses. Own goals are credited to the opposing team, not to the player who deflected the ball. This catches readers out constantly, especially on defenders.
Substitutes count, provided they come on and score. A player who starts on the bench and scores in the 85th minute settles the bet as a winner. A player who is substituted off before scoring does not. Minutes played are irrelevant to settlement; only the goal matters.
Players who do not feature at all also settle as losers. If your selected player is an unused substitute or is left out of the squad entirely, the bet loses. Some readers assume a non-appearance means a void or a refund. On standard anytime goalscorer markets, it does not.
How a BTTS Bet Settles: A Worked Example
The numbers below are invented to show the arithmetic. They are not a price from any operator and should not be read as one.
Suppose you stake ₦1,000 on "both teams to score — yes" at an illustrative price of 1.80. If both teams score, your return is ₦1,000 × 1.80 = ₦1,800, which is ₦800 profit on top of your stake. If one team fails to score, you lose the full ₦1,000.
Now suppose you stake ₦1,000 on "both teams to score — no" at an illustrative price of 2.00. If the match finishes 1-0, 0-0 or 0-1, your return is ₦1,000 × 2.00 = ₦2,000, which is ₦1,000 profit. If both teams score, you lose the full ₦1,000.
The important point is not the prices. It is that the stake is at risk in full on a binary outcome, and the outcome is decided by goals alone, not by the result or by how the match felt to watch.
Where Readers Misread These Markets
Most losing bets in these markets are not unlucky. They are misread. The table below sets out the situations that cause the most confusion.
| Situation | BTTS settlement | Anytime goalscorer settlement |
|---|---|---|
| Goal in normal time | Counts | Counts for the scorer |
| Goal in added time | Counts | Counts for the scorer |
| Goal in extra time | Does not count | Does not count |
| Penalty shootout goal | Does not count | Does not count |
| Own goal | Counts for the benefiting team | Does not count for the player |
| Assist only | No effect | Loses |
| Unused substitute | No effect | Loses |
| Player subbed off before scoring | No effect | Loses |
A few patterns stand out. Extra time and shootouts are excluded from both markets, which matters most in cup competitions and knockout tournaments. Own goals help the team market but never help a player market. And non-appearance is a loss on player markets, not a refund.
Readers also misread the relationship between the two markets. Backing a player to score anytime and backing BTTS "yes" are not the same bet. A striker can score in a 1-0 win, which settles the player bet as a winner and the BTTS "yes" bet as a loser. The two markets can point in opposite directions on the same match.
Both Teams to Score and Tournament Markets
During a World Cup, interest in goalscorer markets rises sharply, and so does confusion. Readers search for World Cup 2026 top goalscorer odds, which is a different market again from anything covered above.
Top goalscorer is an outright market on who finishes the tournament with the most goals. It settles at the end of the competition, not match by match. Anytime goalscorer settles on a single match. Both teams to score settles on a single match. These three markets have different timeframes and different rules, and mixing them up leads to wrong expectations about when a bet is decided and what it needs.
Tournament markets also raise the extra time question more often, because knockout matches can go beyond 90 minutes. If you are backing goalscorer markets in a knockout stage, check whether the market covers normal time only or includes extra time. Standard markets usually cover normal time only, but the terms are set by the operator and should be read before staking.
Reading the Market Before You Stake
A few habits reduce avoidable losses. Read the market rules on the operator's page, not a summary on a forum. Check whether the market is normal time only. Check how the operator treats own goals and non-appearances. These details vary slightly between operators, and the operator's terms are what settle your bet.
- Confirm the timeframe: normal time, or normal time plus extra time.
- Confirm whether own goals count for the team market and how they are treated for player markets.
- Confirm what happens if your selected player does not take part.
None of this makes a bet more likely to win. It only makes sure you understand what you are betting on, which is the difference between a bet that loses on the rules and a bet that loses on the football. The second kind is unavoidable. The first kind is not.