The ball is out only after the whole ball crosses a boundary or play is stopped.

The rule and version used here

This page applies The IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, effective from 1 July 2026, for association football. Its controlling provisions are Law 9.1, “Ball out of play,” and Law 9.2, “Ball in play,” read with Laws 1, 2, 5, 8 and 10.

It does not combine association football with futsal, beach soccer or another football code. A competition's regulations may determine which authorised review technology is available, but that does not replace Law 9's boundary test. The 2026/27 change most relevant to this topic is in Law 8.2: a dropped ball outside the penalty area now goes to the team that would have retained or gained possession, including from the restart that would have followed had the ball gone out.

Four questions decide almost every incident

1. Did the whole ball cross? Judge the entire ball against the touchline or goal line, on the ground or in the air.
2. Did the referee stop play first? If so, the ball is out from that stoppage and the reason for stopping determines the restart.
3. Did it touch a match official and remain on the field? If yes, test for a promising attack, a direct entry into the goal or a change in the team in possession.
4. If none applies, is it still live? Yes. A rebound from a post, crossbar, corner flagpost or match official is not automatically a stoppage.

The boundary is a vertical plane, not just paint on the grass

Law 9.1 says the ball must have wholly passed over the touchline or goal line, on the ground or in the air. Law 1.2 says each line belongs to the area it bounds. Therefore a ball touching the paint, or airborne with any part still above the line, remains in play.

The test is not whether the ball's centre has crossed, whether most of it is outside or whether a player's foot can reach it. Imagine a vertical plane rising from the outside edge of the boundary line: the entire ball must be beyond that plane. Once it has wholly crossed, it is out immediately; a ball that then curves or blows back onto the field does not become live again without the required restart.

Where it crosses and who touched last determine the restart

After the whole ball crosses a touchline, Law 15 gives a throw-in to the opponents of the player who last touched it. After it crosses a goal line without a goal, Law 16 gives a goal kick when an attacker touched it last, while Law 17 gives a corner kick when a defender touched it last, subject to the other Laws.

Law 10.1 uses the same whole-ball test for a goal: the whole ball must pass over the goal line between the posts and under the crossbar, with no offence by the scoring team. A ball can therefore cross the goal line and be out without being a goal; the location of the crossing matters.

The reason for the stop controls what happens next

Law 9.1 also makes the ball out when the referee stops play, even though it remains physically inside the field. If the stop is for a foul, offside or another offence, apply the restart required by that Law. If the referee stops for a serious injury, outside interference or a reason for which no other restart is prescribed, Law 8 normally supplies a dropped ball. If a live ball becomes defective, Law 2.2 requires play to stop and restart with a dropped ball.

Advantage must be considered before the referee stops play. Once play has been stopped, a shot taken afterwards cannot produce a goal. An offence or misconduct after the ball is already out may still bring a disciplinary sanction, but Law 8 says it does not change the restart already due.

Contact alone does not make the ball dead

Under Law 9.1, contact with the referee, an assistant referee or another match official stops play only when the ball remains on the field and one of these results follows:

• A team starts a promising attack.
• The ball goes directly into a goal.
• The team in possession changes.

All three are outcome tests, not a blanket “hit the referee” rule. “Promising attack” is a match-official judgment; Law 9 gives no distance or number-of-passes formula. When one test is met, play is restarted with a dropped ball. If no test is met, Law 9.2 keeps the ball in play.

If official contact is followed by the ball going out, use the ordinary restart

The special dropped-ball rule requires the ball to remain on the field. If a pass strikes the referee and then wholly crosses a touchline or goal line without another player touching it, award the normal throw-in, goal kick or corner kick according to the player who touched the ball before it hit the official. The match official is not treated as a player who supplied a new “last touch.”

The same distinction explains why a harmless referee deflection can stay live, while a deflection that leaves the original team in possession but immediately creates a promising attack must be stopped.

The 2026/27 recipient rule restores the likely possession

Law 8.2 sets the procedure after a Law 9 match-official stoppage. If the ball was inside a penalty area when play stopped, it is dropped for the defending goalkeeper in that penalty area. If it was outside, the referee drops it for one player of the team that would have retained or gained possession—including from the likely throw-in, goal kick or corner—if that can be determined. Otherwise, it goes to one player of the team that last touched the ball.

Outside the penalty area, a match-official contact drop is taken where the contact occurred. Every other player must remain at least 4 m (4.5 yds) away until the ball touches the ground and becomes in play. There is no Law 9 advantage option after one of the three official-contact outcomes has been established: the prescribed restart is a dropped ball.

A goal cannot be scored through the referee

If the ball touches a match official, remains on the field and goes directly into either goal, Law 9 requires a stoppage and dropped ball; the goal is not awarded. If the official contact occurred inside a penalty area, Law 8.2 makes the drop for the goalkeeper of the team defending that penalty area.

This is different from a ball rebounding from a goalpost or crossbar and then entering the goal: the goal frame is part of normal play, so the goal can count if the whole ball crosses and no other offence occurred.

Goal-frame and corner-flag rebounds stay live

Law 9.2 expressly keeps the ball in play when it rebounds from a goalpost, crossbar or corner flagpost and remains on the field. A shot off the post can be played by either team. A clearance that strikes an upright corner flag and comes back onto the field is not a throw-in or corner kick.

The phrase “remains on the field” still matters. If the rebound wholly carries the ball across the line, use the appropriate boundary restart.

“It was going out anyway” is a narrow exception

Law 9.2 covers a team official, substitute, substituted or sent-off player, or a player temporarily off the field who touches a live ball that is clearly leaving the field. An indirect free kick to the opposing team from the touch point (subject to Law 13's restart-position rules), with no disciplinary sanction, applies only when that person did not intend to interfere with play unfairly.

Both conditions matter: the ball must clearly be leaving and the touch must lack unfair intent. Intentional or more consequential interference is governed by the relevant player, team-official and misconduct provisions and may produce a different restart or sanction. The narrow Law 9 exception should not be used as general permission to stop a ball before it crosses.

Each restart has its own in-play moment

“Out of play” lasts until the next restart satisfies its own Law. A dropped ball is live when it touches the ground. A throw-in is live when it enters the field. A kick-off, free kick, goal kick and corner kick are live when the ball is kicked and clearly moves; a penalty kick must be kicked and clearly move forward.

These moments matter for encroachment, second touches and whether a later offence happened while the ball was live. They do not alter the original Law 9 decision about why play stopped.

Competitions vary in review tools, not in the whole-ball standard

Law 5.2 permits competitions to use authorised technology for ball-in/out decisions. Under Law 1.11, goal-line technology is a competition choice and applies only to the goal line to determine whether a goal was scored; it does not decide throw-ins or corners.

VAR availability also depends on the competition. Goal/no-goal is reviewable in an authorised VAR competition. For 2026/27, competitions may additionally permit the VAR to correct a clearly wrong corner award only when that can be done immediately without delaying the restart. Without the relevant technology or protocol, the on-field match officials decide the incident through the normal process. Once play has restarted, Law 5 generally prevents the referee from changing the restart decision. The geometry of Law 9 is the same in every case.

The ball curls out and back in

Situation: a winger bends the ball around a defender near the touchline. Replay shows the entire ball passed beyond the outside edge of the line in the air before curling back onto the field.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: throw-in from where it crossed. The decisive fact is the earlier complete crossing; returning over the line cannot revive a ball that was already out under Law 9.1.

A referee deflection rescues a pass that was going out

Situation: Blue's pass is heading out for a Red throw-in. It strikes an assistant referee on the touchline, stays on the field and Blue immediately begins a promising attack.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: stop play and drop the ball at the contact point for Red. Law 9's promising-attack test is met, and under the amended Law 8.2 Red is the team that would have gained possession from the throw-in.

The ball hits the referee and then goes straight out

Situation: Blue plays the ball, it clips the referee and crosses the touchline without another player touching it.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: throw-in to Red, not a dropped ball. The decisive fact is that the ball did not remain on the field after official contact; Blue remains the last player to have touched it.

The whistle comes before the ball enters the goal

Situation: an attacker shoots, a defender commits a foul inside the penalty area and the referee stops play before the moving ball crosses the goal line.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: no goal; award the penalty kick and any appropriate disciplinary sanction for the foul. The referee could have waited briefly to assess advantage, but after stopping play the ball was out before it entered the goal.

A late challenge happens after the ball crosses

Situation: an attacker last touches the ball over the goal line outside the goal, and a defender then makes a reckless challenge.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: goal kick, plus the appropriate disciplinary action. The challenge occurred after the ball was out, so it cannot create a penalty kick or free kick and does not replace the boundary restart.

Six claims the Laws do not support

• “Most of the ball was out.” The whole ball must pass over the whole boundary line.
• “The line is out.” Law 1 says the line belongs to the area it bounds.
• “It hit the referee, so it is always a drop.” The ball must remain on the field and meet one of three outcome tests.
• “The post made it dead.” A rebound from the frame or corner flag remains live if it stays on the field.
• “The foul after the ball went out changes the restart.” Discipline may follow, but the existing restart remains.
• “VAR checks every close touchline decision.” Review powers and technology are limited by the authorised protocol and competition rules.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, effective 1 July 2026 (official English edition)
• The IFAB — Law 9: The Ball in and out of Play, sections 9.1–9.2 and official FAQs (2026/27)
• The IFAB — Law 8: The Start and Restart of Play, section 8.2 Dropped ball (2026/27)
• The IFAB — Law 1: Field markings and Goal Line Technology, sections 1.2 and 1.11 (2026/27)
• The IFAB — Law 5: Referee decisions, technology and advantage, sections 5.2–5.4 (2026/27)
• The IFAB — Law 10: Determining the Outcome of a Match, section 10.1 Goal scored (2026/27)
• The IFAB — Changes to the Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 8 dropped-ball clarification and VAR competition option

Checked against The IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27 and the published 2026/27 law changes, effective 1 July 2026. The page uses the international association-football baseline; appointed competition regulations may supplement it with authorised technology and review procedures.