SportRules.org
Football decisions, broken down step by step

Football rules under pressure.

This section is for the moments that make people stop and argue: offside goals, handball shouts, penalties, red cards, and VAR checks. Each topic is set up to show what the referee looks for first, what matters next, and which details usually change the decision.

Browse football topics See major flashpoints
Five-minute guide

Football rules in five minutes

Rules baseline: The IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27. Competition rules may modify permitted items such as match length, substitutions, video review, and return substitutes.

  1. Objective: score more goals than the opposition by getting the whole ball over the goal line, between the posts and under the crossbar, without an attacking offence.
  2. Players, field, and equipment: each team may start with up to 11 players, including a goalkeeper, on a marked rectangular field; players need a shirt, shorts, socks, shinguards, and footwear.
  3. How play begins: a kick-off starts each half and restarts after a goal; opponents remain in their own half and outside the centre circle until the ball is in play.
  4. Possession: there is no turn limit—teams keep the ball through legal passes, dribbles, and challenges until it goes out, a foul stops play, or the opponents win it.
  5. Scoring: each valid goal counts once; offside, handball, a foul, or the ball leaving play earlier can prevent or cancel a goal.
  6. Length and winner: the standard adult match is two 45-minute halves plus allowance for time lost; competition rules decide whether a draw stands or extra time and penalties find a winner.
  7. Main offences: offside, deliberate or otherwise punishable handball, careless or reckless challenges, serious foul play, dissent, and delaying restarts lead to free kicks and possible cards.
  8. Restarts and penalties: play resumes with a kick-off, throw-in, goal kick, corner kick, dropped ball, free kick, or penalty kick according to why and where it stopped.
  9. Competition differences: substitution numbers, VAR use, concussion protocols, sin bins, extra time, shootouts, and some field or match-duration limits come from the competition, not a universal match format.
  10. Go deeper: read offside, handball, fouls and cards, restarts, and all football explainers.
Rules library

Browse Football / Soccer rules by topic

27 plain-English explainers, grouped by the kind of decision you need to settle.

Essentials and setup

Players, playing areas, equipment, positions, and the basic structure of the sport.

Football Field Dimensions and Markings Rules

IFAB 2026/27 football pitch dimensions and markings: permitted field sizes, line measurements, goal and penalty areas, corner arcs and goals.

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Football Player Equipment and Jewellery Rules

IFAB 2026/27 Law 4 explained: required kit, jewellery and accessories, shinguards, colours, protective gear, electronics and sanctions.

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Scoring and match formats

How points, goals, results, tied contests, and competition formats are decided.

Extra Time, Added Time and Penalty Shoot-Outs

IFAB 2026/27 football rules for added time, extra time and penalty shoot-outs, including clock expiry, eligibility, substitutions and edge cases.

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Football Goal Line and Goal Scoring Rules Explained

IFAB 2026/27 football goal rules: the whole-ball test, offences, direct-scoring limits, referee decisions, GLT, VAR and worked goal-line cases.

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Football Penalty Shootout Rules: IFAB 2026/27

IFAB 2026/27 football penalty shootout rules: five kicks, sudden death, eligible players, goalkeeper offences, retakes and double touches.

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Fouls, penalties, and conduct

Illegal contact, violations, cards, discipline, and how sanctions are applied.

Football Dangerous Play and High Foot Rules

IFAB 2026/27 dangerous-play and high-foot rules: the indirect-versus-direct free-kick test, contact, cards, penalties, VAR and worked cases.

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Football Dissent and Unsporting Behaviour Rules

IFAB 2026/27 football dissent and unsporting-behaviour rules: yellow-card tests, restarts, escalation, captains, VAR and competition options.

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Football Impeding and Obstruction Rules Explained

IFAB 2026/27 football impeding rules: legal shielding, playing distance, contact, indirect and direct free kicks, penalties, cards and VAR.

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Football Penalty Kick and Goalkeeper Rules

IFAB 2026/27 penalty-kick rules: awards, goalkeeper movement, encroachment, retakes, rebounds, feints, double touches, added time and VAR.

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Football Team Officials and Technical Area Rules

IFAB 2026/27 rules for football technical areas: who may occupy the bench, coaching limits, warnings, cards, field interference and restarts.

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Fouls and Cards

Football fouls and cards under IFAB's 2026/27 Laws: careless, reckless, excessive force, SPA, DOGSO, advantage, restarts and VAR.

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Timing, restarts, and reviews

Clocks, substitutions, restarts, replay systems, reviews, and official procedure.

Direct and Indirect Free Kicks

IFAB 2026/27 rules for direct and indirect football free kicks: signals, scoring, kick location, quick restarts, walls and second touches.

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Football Dropped-Ball Rules Explained

The IFAB 2026/27 dropped-ball rule: when it applies, who receives it, the 4 m distance, referee contact, outside interference and goal outcomes.

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Football Kick-Off Rules Explained

IFAB 2026/27 football kick-off rules: player positions, coin tosses, when the ball is in play, direct goals, second touches, retakes and advantage.

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Football Match Length, Half-Time, and Substitutions

IFAB 2026/27 football rules for 90-minute matches, half-time, added and extra time, substitution limits, the 10-second exit rule and exceptions.

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Football Referee Signals and Assistant Referee Flags

Understand football referee signals and assistant referee flags under IFAB 2026/27, including advantage, free kicks, offside, cards and VAR.

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Football Time-Wasting Rules

IFAB 2026/27 football time-wasting rules: added time, yellow cards, quick free kicks, restart countdowns, substitutions and goalkeeper delays.

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Throw-ins, Corners, and Goal Kicks

IFAB 2026/27 rules for football throw-ins, goal kicks and corners: awards, procedure, ball in play, direct goals, offside, delays and edge cases.

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VAR Checks

IFAB 2026/27 football VAR checks explained: the five reviewable categories, clear-and-obvious threshold, review cut-off, second-yellow limit and optional corner reviews.

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Play and decisions

The live-play rulings, sequences, and judgment calls that decide what happens next.

DOGSO and SPA under IFAB Law 12

DOGSO and stopping a promising attack under IFAB's 2026/27 Laws: the four DOGSO considerations, penalty-area exceptions, advantage and VAR.

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Football Advantage Rule Explained

IFAB's 2026/27 football advantage rule: when play continues, when a foul comes back, and the exact DOGSO, SPA, red-card and VAR consequences.

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Football Back-Pass Rule Explained

IFAB 2026/27 back-pass rule: when a goalkeeper may handle a team-mate's kick or throw-in, the clearance exception, deliberate tricks and the restart.

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Football Ball In and Out of Play: IFAB Law 9

IFAB 2026/27 Law 9 explained: the whole-ball test, referee contact, boundary restarts, dropped balls, whistles, technology and worked cases.

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Football Handball Rule Explained

The IFAB 2026/27 football handball rule: deliberate handling, unnatural arm position, accidental attacking contact, restarts, cards and VAR.

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Football Minimum Players and Abandoned Match Rules

IFAB 2026/27 rules on football's seven-player minimum, temporary exceptions, walk-offs, abandonment, forfeiture and penalty shoot-outs.

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Goalkeeper 8-Second Rule

IFAB's 2026/27 goalkeeper eight-second rule: when control begins, the raised-hand countdown, release, opponent interference, the corner-kick sanction, cards and VAR.

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Offside

Football offside under IFAB Law 11 for 2026/27: position, involvement, deliberate play, goalkeeper interference, exceptions, restarts and VAR.

Read explainer
Major flashpoints

Where football rulings get messy

  1. Goalkeeper interference: an attacker can be offside without touching the ball if they block the keeper or stop the keeper seeing the shot clearly.
  2. DOGSO or yellow card: stopping a big chance can mean a red card, but the punishment can change if the defender genuinely tried to play the ball.
  3. Handball after a deflection: a deflection matters, but it does not automatically excuse arm contact if the arm was already making the body bigger.
  4. Contact before a goal: sometimes fans focus on the touch itself, but referees also ask whether it actually caused the goal or took away a fair challenge.
  5. High-foot confusion: the height of the boot is not the whole test; danger to a nearby opponent, fear of injury, and contact decide the restart and possible card.
  6. Obstruction confusion: legal shielding is allowed when the ball is within playing distance, but moving across an opponent away from playing distance can become impeding.
  7. Advantage confusion: playing on does not erase the foul, and the referee can still return to the original offence if the expected benefit fails quickly.
  8. Restart mistakes: a throw-in, goal kick, or corner can look harmless until the ball placement, second touch, or direct-goal rule changes the restart.
  9. Dropped-ball confusion: a dropped ball is not a contested bounce-up; it is given to one player, and penalty-area stoppages restart with the defending goalkeeper.
  10. Free-kick confusion: a raised arm means an indirect free kick, so a goal cannot be scored unless another player touches the ball.
  11. Keeper time-wasting: the eight-second goalkeeper control rule now creates a corner kick, not the old indirect-free-kick sanction.
  12. Restart delay: a yellow card usually punishes misconduct without changing the restart, but delayed throw-ins and goal kicks can now be transferred after a countdown.
  13. Back-pass arguments: the offence is about a goalkeeper handling a deliberate kick from a team-mate, not simply about the ball travelling backward.
  14. Jewellery confusion: jewellery must be removed rather than taped, while other accessories are judged by whether they are safe and securely covered.
  15. Stoppage time confusion: the displayed added time is only a minimum, and extra time is a separate competition procedure rather than ordinary stoppage time.
  16. Minimum-player confusion: seven players is the standard 11-a-side minimum per team, but the competition decides what result follows if a match is abandoned.
  17. Dissent confusion: asking a respectful question is not the same as public, persistent, or confrontational disagreement with the referee.
How pages should read

Built for fast answers

  • Start with the answer people want most: what the decision is.
  • Walk through the referee's checks in the same order they happen.
  • Point out the detail fans often miss.
  • Connect the ruling to similar match situations.
Quick ruling The short version: the call, the reason, and the key detail that decided it.
Full explanation The longer version: the full rule, the decision path, and the exceptions that can flip the outcome.
Teach football

Use the printable decision labs

Move from recognising a disputed call to applying the Law in order. Each free lab includes a 40-minute teaching sequence, an eight-situation learner sheet, and a reasoned answer key.

Offside decision lab Freeze the pass, judge active involvement, and separate deliberate play from a deflection or save. Handball decision lab Test deliberate action, an unnaturally bigger body, the scorer exception, and the correct restart.

Browse all teaching materials →

Official references

Where these rulings come from

Sport Rules should match the official football rule-makers and refereeing bodies. These sources are the right place to check the full wording and current guidance.