Finding the best soccer goal for backyard is not that easy as you might have been thinking.
Why?
It’s because a lot of brands are promoting their soccer goals aggressively, and it’s quite overwhelming to decide on one due to all those marketing gimmicks.
Good for you!
I’m here to do the legwork for you and separate the wheat from the chaff.
In this portable soccer goals review article, I’m going to make a shortlist of 4 best soccer goals for the backyard, mentioning both their upsides and downsides.
I’m sure it will help you to decide on one considering the quality and price.
Let me point out some of the parameters I considered to put a particular model on my list –
- It’s portability and weight.
- Ease of assembling and storing.
- The stability and durability.
- The size of the goal.
- The material used to make the frame.
- The depth of the goal.
- Its cost-effectiveness and brand value.
- And many more specific characteristics to the particular brand and model.
So, Let’s dive right into the comparison part among the four goals.
Best Soccer Goals for Backyard (Full Size)- Comparison
![QUICKPLAY Kickster Elite Soccer Goal 12x6' | Ultra Portable Indoor & Outdoor Football Goal Features Weighted Base [Single Goal]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51CsYWwY4eL._SL160_.jpg)
Best Pop-Up Soccer Goals for Backyard – Comparison
Ok, let’s move to the review part now.
Top Portable Full Size Soccer Goals for Backyard – Detailed Review
1. QUICKPLAY Kickster Elite Portable Soccer Goal for Backyard Review
- Multiple sizes are readily available.
- It’s pretty straightforward and quick to set up and take down this goal.
- A perfect outdoor soccer goal to sustain all-weather conditions.
- I dig the net quality. It’s pretty intense.
- Heavy-duty and sturdy goal to handle blasting shots without any issue. The weighted bottom poles do the trick efficiently.
- Thick bars.
- Durable.
- The price is quite reasonable considering the performance.
- The customer support of the company is worth mentioning.
- The company needs to focus on improving the carrying bag quality.
Summary
QUICKPLAY Kickster Elite is a perfect portable soccer goal for both recreational gameplay and training sessions. An ideal choice for coaches and youngsters.
One of the most applauded aspects of this goal is its ability to stand firm against blasting shots. It makes it a versatile goal to serve all sorts of gameplay.
Assembling this net is an easy-peasy and quick task. It shouldn’t take more than one person to complete it within a minute or so. You don’t need any instruction manual as the poles are pre-attached with elastic. On top of that, the bungee support is pretty self-explanatory to attach to the net.
Yes, the carrying bag is not up to the mark, but you can buy some other quality bags and use them to carry this goal. You won’t want to move the goal too often, though. It’s because you can leave it outside throughout the year.
Overall, it’s a reasonably priced option. In my opinion, it’s the best portable soccer goal for the backyard, without any doubt.
2. GOLME PRO Frame-Based Soccer Goal for Backyard Review
- You have the liberty to choose between both youth and adult size goals. .
- Setting up and taking down this goal is a cakewalk that can be done in a quick time. Anyone can do it with a senior’s supervision.
- You can easily fold it and transport it effortlessly inside the bag (a duffle carry bag is included), and it’s lightweight.
- It’s an ideal portable soccer goal for regulation games, and practice, particularly in your backyard.
- It’s sturdy enough to withstand powerful shots.
- It seems to last long (a lot of other real users found it durable).
- Everything including the net, velcro, net stakes, carrying bag shine in quality. The stakes provide an excellent grip.
- You will get excellent visibility because of the color (orange) of the net.
- A mallet comes with the package to hammer the spikes.
- The poles are made from aircraft-grade aluminum. So, don’t expect it to be as super sturdy as some of those strong aluminum-based goals. However, still, it’s quite hefty to hold up all-powerful shots just fine.
Summary
So far, this has been one of the most praised soccer goals by the coaches and the players.
If you are craving for a full-size portable soccer goal for your backyard that will give you portability, strength, and durability, this particular goal from GOLME is my number one recommendation.
When it’s about using the same goal both for a regulation game, and practice, a goal like this will serve the purpose just fine. Two dedicated sizes for youth (18.5’x6.5’) and adults (24’x8’) are available for this goal.
Moreover, it takes about 5 minutes to set it up and take it down, and you don’t have to be a ninja to do things correctly. Any young player would do it effortlessly in a quick time.
If you are going to use it in a large backyard, it’s second to none.
You shouldn’t see any significant downsides except it shakes against powerful shots, which is quite usual. Good for us. It doesn’t get uprooted.
Regarding the price, it’s a bit on the higher side compared to the other models on my list. Nonetheless, this goal is quite cost-effective, considering portability and performance. Compared to other similar options, it’s relatively inexpensive.
3. Powernet 12×6’ Soccer Goal for Backyard Review
- It’s lightweight and effortless to transport. A handy carrying bag comes along with the goal too.
- Setting up this goal is a cakewalk in a quick time. You don’t need any extra hardware to set things up.
- A perfect goal for use both indoors and outdoors.
- It’s suitable for players of all ages.
- It’s quite sturdy for recreational play and practice.
- The package includes the necessary accessories like skates, bungee, etc.
- It gives a blend of strength and lightweightness because of the combination of a metal base frame and a fiberglass vertical pole.
- The price is quite reasonable, considering its usability.
- Its durability is questionable. I’m not sure about it, though. I’m telling it based on some other real user’s opinion.
Summary
To pass a quality time in the backyard, this soccer goal is one of the best bets that is quite affordable for what it offers.
This one is the 12’x6’ version of the Powernet soccer goal, which suits best for young players or someone under12. It’s quite ok for an adult’s practice too.
If you want to buy the full-size adult (18.5’x6.5’) version of this same goal, here is the link.
On the downside, The GOLME PRO that I reviewed is the better option for serious playing. If you are planning for regulation games frequently, I would suggest going for the GOLME PRO.
Overall, this portable goal has all the ability to help increase someone’s individual skills.
4. Franklin Sports Premier Steel Soccer Goal Review
- You can select from three different sizes and two different colors of soccer goals.
- The nylon net can handle all weather conditions.
- Putting the net on and off is a straightforward job. Even a nine-year kid would get the job done reading the instruction.
- It’s pretty lightweight and portable.
- The steel frame gives quite a fair amount of stability against powerful shots.
- A perfect option for team practice sessions and recreational play.
- No question about durability.
- You can store it with ease at any place inside your house during the winter.
- The steel used to make the frame is rust-free.
- The net is also capable of withstanding in all-weather conditions.
- It undoubtedly provides excellent value for the price.
- The company needs to concentrate on improving the quality of the velcros.
- This goal doesn’t provide enough depth inside. However, it’s not a significant issue at all for a practice session or recreational playing in the backyard.
Summary
This Franklin Sports steel soccer goal is one of the best choices for team practice or playing with family members in the backyard.
As it offers five variations of goals, a wide range of players would find it useful as individual soccer training equipment or team practice equipment.
You can go for any of the following sizes –
- 6’x4’ silver.
- 6’x4’ black.
- 10’x5’ silver.
- 10’x5’ black.
- 12’x6’ silver.
As a whole, this one is quite a sturdy portable soccer goal for the backyard that you can afford without breaking the bank. You might not want to miss the chance of giving it a try for sure at this price range.
All the young goalkeepers, get ready with your youth soccer goalie gloves. It’s time to block the ball from touching this net.
Best Pop-Up Soccer Goals for Backyard – Detailed Review
1. GOLME PRO Pop-up Soccer Goals for Backyard Review – Best Pop Up Soccer Goal
- You can choose from three different sizes of this pop-up goal.
- No wonder, like other pop-up goals, this one is super lightweight, easy to fold, twist flat, and carry (a carrying bag comes with the goal).
- It’s a one-piece goal. Meaning no assembling is required to set up the goal.
- The stakes come in real handy to anchor the goal in the backyard or park.
- It’s applicable for all ages of players, particularly the kids, and young players will enjoy most playing with this net.
- The package includes a set of two goals.
- A highly cost-effective soccer goal for playing in the backyard with family.
- As it’s a pop-up goal, it would not be a perfect choice for anything other than kids’ playing or youth’s individual practice.
- Without grass or soil, you won’t be able to anchor the system. That’s why it’s not a suitable option for indoors.
Summary
This portable goal from Golme Pro is one of the best pop-up soccer goals without any doubt.
If you don’t want to spend too much money and are looking for a portable soccer goal to spend quality time with family members, this goal is going to be the deal-breaker for sure.
Notably, the kids like the color and enjoy targeting this net that eventually helps to grow their interest in soccer.
You can choose from 2.5’, 4’, and 6’ of goals. The package includes two goals and a bag. Meaning you are getting an excellent value for the money.
The net is quite reflective, and the plastic stakes make our life easy to anchor the unit easily into the grass.
2. JOGENMAX Pop-Up Soccer Goal Review
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- Lightweight and effortless to carry.
- Easy to set up and take down.
- A perfect pop-up soccer goal for training comes with other training accessories like targets, cones, anchors, etc.
- The purchase includes a quality storage bag.
- You can use it in low-light conditions as it comes with an LED strip.
- This goal is durable as well as the target that comes with the purchase.
- Equally playable for outdoors, indoors, and on the sand.
- The price could have been better.
- Not too good for adult recreational games.
Summary
JOGENMAX pop-up portable soccer goal performs just right for the practice and fun play for the kids and young players.
It features a high-quality net that makes it durable enough. The 9-shaped fixed pile makes the goal stable too.
The price could have been better. But I believe the accessories that come with the purchase and two goals justify the bill pretty well.
Yes, the adults won’t find it an ideal solution for recreational games. It’s right for any pop-up goals. However, for practice, it gives enough stability for every level of players.
3. Hit Run Steal Portable Pop-Soccer Goal Review
- Different sizes are available to choose from.
- Easy to install and takedown. No assembly is required.
- Sturdy enough to consider it as a training soccer goal for all levels of players.
- Lightweight and effortless to carry anywhere you want.
- Easy to store.
- The price is quite reasonable.
- Not sturdy enough for adult recreational games.
- The company should concentrate on improving the net quality.
Summary
You have two goals in the set like the other quality portable soccer goals. It’s a one-piece goal to make your life easy in installing and taking down in a flash.
Kids and young players will find it an ideal soccer goal at an affordable price for having fun on the playground or backyard. It’s equally suitable for adults’ practice sessions, but it’s not too stable to handle some strong shots.
Overall, this Hit Run Steal, a soccer goal, is a quality option that you can buy without hurting your pocket and getting the desired outcome.
How to Buy Portable Soccer Goals for Backyard? – Buying Guide
If you’ve gone through the review part already, you know what are parameters you should consider to decide on one.
Nonetheless, let me give some insights on some of those key points separately here.
Portable Soccer Goal Types
Here I will be talking about the portable soccer goals only.
There are permanent and semi-permanent goals available out there, but they are not going to be the best choice for you as you are looking for something that can be used comfortably to play in your backyard.
So basically, you will find two types of portable goals.
- Pop-up soccer goals
- Frame-based goals.
What is Pop-up Soccer Goals?
Pop-up goals are the lightest among all kinds of soccer goals and mostly used in practice sessions where the kids are participating. But these are not something that are used only by the kids.
Adult players and even the professional players also use pop-up versions of the goal during their practice session. So, you can say these serve almost every level of players for their practice.
In terms of portability and storage convenience, these are the best options, but if you want to judge the sturdiness, then I must say these are not something you should go for.
In that case, you should consider the frame-based options if you want to shoot the soccer ball with power.
As the size of this type of portable soccer goals is small, these are the best choice for you or your kids to do the aim practice. On top of that, no matter how much space you have in your backyard, you can easily fit pop-up goals there.
In Summary
- Perfect choice for children as well as youth, good for adults as well for practicing purpose.
- Pop-up goals are the lightest ones among the other types.
- Very easy to carry and store.
- Versatile and affordable.
- Set up is very easy. You don’t have to do anything except twisting open for instant play and twisting flat to store it conveniently in the bag. You will find about three ground pins, just push those in the ground. That will make the goal sturdy.
- Not the best performer regarding sturdiness. But quite ok for your practice. Children will not face any problem whatsoever. Only if you are an adult and shoot the ball with extreme power, then the goal may displace a bit. Otherwise, good to go with usual power shots.
- Most of the reasonable pop-up goals range from 2.5 ft to 6 ft in size.
Standing Frame Based Goals
As the name suggests, this time, you are going to have a standing frame for your goals. The two main benefits you will get from this type of goals are
- The size of the goals are more significant than the pop-up options.
- These are more sturdy and can take extreme power shots, unlike the pop-up ones.
The material of the frame may vary from goal to goal. As I am talking about the goals that can be used for your backyard, so no matter what the material is, every one of them will be portable.
Some standing frame-based options are easily portable; even you can fold and put it in a carrying bag. On the other hand, some are difficult to move with. But with the help of someone else, you can move them quickly here and there. We call them semi-permanent goals.
In terms of weight, most of the portable frame-based goals are lightweight, and you can easily carry them in a bag. As you can put them in the bag, that means you can store them comfortably as well.
Assembling these types of goals is not hard, either. But obviously, they are not as easy as their pop-up counterparts. However, in most of the cases you need at most 15-20 minutes to assemble the goal.
The most crucial point is, you can use frame-based options for any purpose. Be it for practice, recreational or mini-tournament play, portable frame-based goals are something that can be your ultimate choice to play in your backyard.
No age restriction is applied here. Perfect for anyone’s playing.
In Summary
- A perfect type of portable soccer goals for your backyard.
- It can be used for any purpose like practice, recreational play, or mini-tournament.
- Suitable for any age group.
- Portable frame-based goals are lightweight, and you can carry or store them quite easily.
- Strong enough to receive extreme power shots, unlike the pop-up ones.
- Assembling is more time consuming than the pop-up ones, but most of the cases, it will not take more than 15-20 minutes if you take someone’s help.
Frame Materials
As I told earlier, the materials of the frame-based portable soccer goals for the backyard can be of different types. Here we are going to talk about the most used materials only.
Aluminum
Aluminum is the highest quality material, among other most used materials for a frame. This is rustproof and durable material, but costly. That is why aluminum is used to make the goals that are used for tournaments or league play.
When you are finding the best soccer goal for your backyard, probably you will not want to buy one that has a frame made of aluminum as the price is higher than other options in this case.
Steel
Steel is the most common material for the ones that are standing frame-based, portable, and used as backyard soccer goals—mostly used to make the goals that are four to six feet in height. Cheaper than aluminum, but the quality is quite ok. So, steel made frames can be a good choice for you.
PVC
If you don’t know yet, PVC stands for polyvinyl chloride, which is a thermoplastic material made by polymerizing vinyl chloride.
So, you now understand that the frame that is made from PVC is a plastic-based option. You will find both upsides and downsides for a PVC made frame.
These are lightweight options so that you can carry them easily. The price is lower than steel frames. So, I must say these are not a wrong choice at all for playing in your backyard.
Assembling is very easy in this case, and you can carry and store the goals effortlessly as well.
Although plastic made frames are affordable, they are less durable than aluminum or steel. This is obvious. It is always what you pay is what you get.
Fiberglass
Fiberglass is another beneficial material if you consider the lightweightness.
The full-size soccer goals that are made from fiberglass are sturdy as well. Most of the pop-up goal’s frame is made from fiberglass. Not only pop-up ones but also the standing frame ones are also made from this material.
This offers you the fastest setup among all other options.
Portable Soccer Goals Shape
As the purpose can be different, so you will find some variations in shape, particularly in case of standing frame-based goals.
Let’s discuss some of the familiar shapes of portable soccer goals.
Without Depth
Yes, without depth.
That means the net of the goal hangs down from the top bar to the ground directly, creating a 45-degree angle.
Meaning the net will be attached to the front top bar, down sidebars, and down back bar only.
There will be no top sidebar. Here you can attach the net with the down back bar or anchor directly in the ground.
These are mostly the lighter option than the one that has depth, and also easier to carry obviously.
The downside of this type is the space inside the goal is limited. Although this should not be any problem, the goalie will not have enough room to save from inside the goal.
It’s the right choice for practice and recreational play. Well, you can arrange a mini tournament with this as well.
With Depth
The design is more complicated than the goals that do not have any depth. But don’t think this is something rocket science. Here the only difference is there is depth inside the goal.
That means here you will find a top sidebar that is a 90-degree angle with the crossbar. This top sidebar extends a few feet, and the net continues to this bar before descending at a 45-degree angle to another bar on the ground.
So, pretty simple, right?
What is the benefit? Usually, these frames are made from high-quality material; overall, the quality of the net is higher than the ones that do not have any depth. So overall, these are some reliable goals without any doubt that have more room inside the target, which makes this option more stable.
What is the downside? Less portable and costs are more than their depthless counterparts.
Box Shape
Don’t think box shape is only applicable to the professional match goals. In reality, the portable full-size soccer goals can have the box shape as well.
It does not have to be full size either. Small-sized portable soccer goals also can have the box shape. But generally, these are something that are made from heavy metal.
As you can understand from the name, the goal forms a rectangular shape. The net extends straight back from the top front bar, and the crossbar, and drops straight down to the ground.
You will find sufficient space in the goal. These are the most stable versions among the three shapes as the net gets multiple bars to hang on.
Soccer Goal Sizes
Depending on the age group and field size, the size of the goal varies. But this is not anything that must be followed by you.
Particularly, when you are choosing the best soccer goal for the backyard, you don’t have to keep these measurements in mind.
Just choose the goal as per your requirement and choice—no need to be worried about the size. But still, if you want to know the official size that comes from FIFA, here is the table for you.
| Age | Goal Size (in feet) | Field Size (in yards) |
| Adults, ages 12+ | 24W x 8H | min. 50W x 100L |
| U12 | 18W x 6H | min. 45W x 70L |
| U10 | 18W x 6H | min. 35W x 45L |
| U8 | 9 to 18W x 4.5 to 6H | min. 20W x 25L |
| U6 | 6 to 9W x 4 to 4.5H | min. 15W x 20L |
Soccer Goal Nets
In this article, we are not reviewing any particular net. But Just in case you are interested to know about different nets, you can read on. Otherwise, skip this section.
Materials
The soccer nets are mostly made from a synthetic material that helps the net to remain in good condition for a more extended period of time.
But there are some variations in synthetic material as well. Here I will only discuss the most common three types that are used to make the nets.
High Tenacity Polypropylene (HTPP)
HTPP is used to make heavy-duty nets. That means these nets last longer than any other nets and withstand harsh weather conditions.
Polyethylene (PE)
This is one of the common materials that is used to make nets. Not better than HTTP nets but better than nylon nets.
Nylon
Nylon is used to make most of the soccer goals. This material is available in the USA, and the best choice to create custom nets. The quality of this type of soccer net is not bad at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best portable soccer goal?
When it’s about choosing the frame-based portable soccer ball, we recommend GOLME PRO Frame-based Training soccer goal. Similarly, when it’s about a pop-up soccer goal, we recommend the GOLME PRO pop-up soccer goal.
Bottom Line
Let’s sum up!
In this article on best soccer goals for the backyard, I listed down 7 top portable soccer goals that you can go for depending on the budget and requirement.
I’ve also written a thorough buying guide that should help you to know all the details on the soccer goals buying factors.
Now it’s your turn.
Comment below if you have anything more to know.
