GAA Scoring Explained: Goals, Points and How to Read 2-14
How scoring works in Gaelic football and hurling: goals worth three, points worth one, how to read a 2-14 scoreline, and the 2025 football rule changes.
Two ways to score
Gaelic football and hurling share the same scoreboard grammar. A point — over the crossbar and between the posts — is worth one. A goal — under the crossbar, past the keeper into the net — is worth three, and is written separately.
A team’s score is always written goals first: 2-14 means two goals and fourteen points, worth (2 × 3) + 14 = 20. Commentators say it "two fourteen". A team on 1-17 (20) and a team on 2-14 (20) are level — the scoreline format keeps both the story and the total visible.
Recent additions in football
Since the 2025 Football Rules Enhancement changes, Gaelic football also has a two-point score: a point kicked from outside the 40-metre arc — from open play or a placed ball (a free or a 45) — is worth two, signalled by the referee raising both arms. Hurling scoring is unchanged.
This is worth knowing when reading modern football scorelines — a team’s points column can now climb in twos, and the traditional goals-points format still holds with the total in brackets doing the arithmetic for you.
Keeping the score at a club game
Because every GAA score has two currencies, scoreboard mistakes are common — someone flips the goals and points, or the total drifts from the tally. Club scoreboards also need the traditional format; a soccer-style single number looks wrong to every supporter in the ground.
A GAA scoreboard app keeps it right by construction: separate goal and point buttons, the proper 2-14 (20) display format, and an undo for the inevitable "that was waved wide" moment — controlled from a phone on the sideline and shown on the clubhouse TV.
Put a live scoreboard on any screen
Score Cast is a free-to-start scoreboard for 22 sports — control from your phone, display on any TV, projector or stream.
Start Scoring — FreeFrequently asked questions
How much is a goal worth in GAA?
Three points, in both Gaelic football and hurling. A goal is scored under the crossbar into the net.
What does a scoreline like 2-14 mean?
Two goals and fourteen points. The total is (2 × 3) + 14 = 20. Goals are always written first.
What is the two-pointer in Gaelic football?
Since the 2025 rule changes, a point kicked from outside the 40 m arc — from open play or a free/45 — is worth two points. It applies to football only, not hurling.