First Half Both Teams to Score: Why It Lands Less Often

First half both teams to score is a bet that each side finds the net before the half-time whistle. If either team is still on zero at the break, the slip is lost, no matter what happens after. It lands less often than the full-match version because the first half is the quieter half: in the Premier League, 60.1 per cent of 2023/24 goals came after the break.

That one number explains most of what you need to know about this market. The rest is settlement detail, and that detail decides whether a slip pays, loses or comes back as a refund.

How first-half BTTS works on your slip

You are backing one thing only: by the interval, both sides have at least one goal. The final score does not matter. A match that finishes level with goals flying in after the restart still loses a first-half BTTS Yes slip if one side was blank at the break.

That makes it a narrower bet than full-match BTTS. Picture the Super Eagles in a qualifier: they go ahead early, the opponents equalise late in the second half, and full-match BTTS lands. On the first-half market the same match is a loser, because only one team had scored when the referee blew for half-time.

Read the label carefully, because "1st Half" and "Both Halves" markets look alike on a small phone screen and settle very differently.

How bookmakers settle first half both teams to score

Settlement follows a short list of standard rules, and three of them matter here.

Regular time only. Bookmaker rules say bets settle on regular time without extra time. For the first-half market this means the scoreline at the interval is final for your slip. Nothing in extra time or a penalty shootout can rescue or ruin it.

Own goals count. Under the same rules, an own goal counts as an ordinary goal. It goes to the team that benefits. If the NPFL side you backed has not created a thing all half but an opposing defender slices into his own net, your side has scored for BTTS.

Abandonment can mean a refund. The LSports football rulebook lists abandonment before the end of the first half as a case where every selection on the first-half BTTS combination market is refunded. That rule covers the combination market, so check how your own bookmaker treats the plain Yes or No line before assuming you get your stake back.

Why first-half BTTS lands less often than full-match BTTS

Both teams have to score inside a window that, on the evidence, produces fewer goals than the other half. The Premier League's own goal-timing review found that second-half goals reached 60.1 per cent in 2023/24, the highest share of the six campaigns it covered. The second-highest was 55.6 per cent in 2018/19. So even in a normal Premier League season, most goals are scored after the restart.

The same pattern shows up beyond England. A study of scoring by period across four major European leagues found 55.1 per cent of goals in the second half and 44.9 per cent in the first. Break it into quarter hours and the climb is steady:

Source: goal share by fifteen-minute block from the University of Milan study.

The first three blocks are the three lowest in the table. For first-half BTTS you need two goals, one from each side, inside that quieter stretch. Full-match BTTS gives both teams the busier second half as well, including the final quarter hour, which carries the biggest share of all.

Team profiles matter too. In the Premier League review, Chelsea were the only club to score more first-half goals than second-half goals. Most sides, in other words, do more of their scoring late, which works against a market that is settled at the break.

What the goal-timing gap means for the odds

Because both teams scoring before the interval is less likely than both teams scoring across the full match, the first-half Yes asks more of a fixture than the full-match Yes does. It has the shorter window and the quieter part of the game.

The practical reading for a slip: if you would only back a match for full-match BTTS with some hesitation, the first-half version asks for more. Both attacks have to be sharp early, and both defences have to give something away before the break. Matches where one side usually starts slowly are a poor fit for this market, whatever the full-match pattern looks like.

Both teams to score yes or no in the first half

The market has a Yes side and a No side. Yes wins only if both sides score before the interval. No wins if at least one team is blank at the break, which covers a goalless half, a one-sided half and any half where only one team scores.

Both teams not to score in the first half is a different bet from the full-match No, which needs a team to stay blank for the whole game.

Punters ask

Does an own goal count for first-half BTTS?

Yes. Under standard settlement rules an own goal counts as an ordinary goal, so it is credited to the side that benefits from it. If your away team is on zero and the home defender turns the ball into his own net before the break, the away side has scored for BTTS purposes.

What happens to my first-half BTTS bet if the match is abandoned?

It depends on when play stops and which market you took. On the LSports rulebook, a fixture abandoned before the end of the first half refunds every selection on the first-half BTTS combination market. Check your own bookmaker's rules for the plain market, because operators word this differently.

Do extra time or penalties affect a first-half BTTS bet?

No. Football bets settle on the official result of regular time without extra time, and the first-half market is decided by the score at the interval anyway. A cup tie that goes long changes nothing on this slip.

Why do more goals come in the second half?

The data shows the pattern without settling the cause. Across four major European leagues, goal share climbs steadily through the match and peaks in the final quarter hour.

Where the facts come from

• Premier League, Premier League goal timing 2023/24, accessed 16 October 2026
• University of Milan / Sport Sciences for Health, Alberti et al. goal scoring by period, Sport Sciences for Health 2013, published 2013, accessed 16 October 2026
• Betbazar, Football settlement rules, accessed 16 October 2026
• LSports, Football settlements rulebook, accessed 16 October 2026