Simply the Becks: Beckham's goal put England through
The Manchester United and England midfielder's free kick against Greece in the last minutes of extra time came top in a telephone poll held by the BBC.
Veteran chat show host Michael Parkinson hosted the awards ceremony for 2001 TV Moments at BBC Television Centre, in London.
Beckham's goal had already been voted best sporting moment from last year by a panel of television industry insiders.
It triumphed over the winners in five other categories, also selected by the panel, to take the top honour at the ceremony.
Beckham was not among the throng of celebrities who attended the awards show on Saturday evening.
But he commented: "I'd just like to say thank you - it was my best sporting moment of my career.
"It's a very special thing because it's voted for by the public."
EastEnders actor Steve McFadden won the soap category, for the storyline that saw his character, Phil Mitchell, shot.
Vanessa Feltz picked up the award for best entertainment moment after breaking down and sharing her feelings with comedian Jack Dee in Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother.
Earlier this month, Parkinson labelled the Comic Relief charity special a "freak show" and said there was no way he would take part in such an event.
People who agreed to go on such programmes "deserve everything they get", Parkinson told What's On TV magazine.
The award for best factual TV moment went to burger van chef Ed Devlin.
In Channel 4's Faking It documentary, Devlin battled to convince three judges he was a professional chef.
BBC Two's The Office won the comedy award, and ITV1's Cold Feet picked up the best dramatic moment.
A number of the winners attended the ceremony to collect their honours, including Feltz and the creator of The Office, Ricky Gervais.
Speaking about the event, Michael Parkinson said: "It's about time TV celebrated itself in this way."
"The programme was a nice idea as it didn't take itself too seriously - it had an irreverent feel to it."