Score (sport)

In sport, score is a quantitative measure of the relative performance of opponents in a sporting discipline. Score is normally measured in the abstract unit of points, and events in the competition can raise or lower the score of the involved parties. Most games with score use it as a quantitative indicator of success in the game, and in competition, a goal is often made of attaining a better score than one's opponents in order to win.

In team sport, the most common point metric is the "goal" or "score". Goals are accrued by the respective teams, and the match score represents the total score accrued by each team. For example, in association football and hockey goals are achieved by putting the ball in the opposing team's net. Other team sports like rugby, baseball and cricket have more complicated scoring procedures. The winning team is that which has recorded the best score, usually the team with the higher total score; a draw or tie is a result in which the competing teams record an equal score, sometimes requiring a tiebreaker.

Individual-based sports, such as golf and tennis, have points-based scoring as well. These may be abstract quantities defined for the sport, or more natural measures such as a distance or duration. Each competing athlete accrues points based on the sport's scoring system, and the athlete with the best score is deemed the winner. In some sports, the best score is that of the competitor with the highest score, such as in tennis or high jump. In other sports, the best score is that of the competitor with the lowest score, such as in golf or the 100 metres sprint.

Most sports have time limits, which means point-based victories are usually the result of obtaining more points than one's opponent. In others, the winner must achieve a fixed number of points sooner than the rival. In some sports there is a perfect score that is the highest attainable, such as a 6.0 or 10.0. In boxing and mixed martial arts, a match runs an agreed number of timed rounds, each scored at its conclusion with a mandatory 10 points for winning and 9 or fewer for losing, depending on relative inefficiency. If either player scores a knockout or submission, they immediately win the match regardless of points or time.