High feet are judged by danger, not height alone.

The ruleset used on this page

This page applies the International Football Association Board (The IFAB) Laws of the Game 2026/27, effective from 1 July 2026, for association football. The controlling provisions are Law 12.1 (direct free kicks), Law 12.2 (indirect free kicks and playing in a dangerous manner), Law 12.4 (discipline), and Law 13. It does not describe futsal, beach soccer or a league's later suspension process.

The 2026/27 change package did not replace Law 12's playing-in-a-dangerous-manner test. Competition rules still matter for whether VAR is used and whether an authorised youth trial or other permitted modification applies.

What “playing in a dangerous manner” means

Law 12.2 defines it as an action which, while trying to play the ball, threatens injury to someone—including the player themself. It expressly includes preventing a nearby opponent from playing the ball because that opponent fears injury.

That produces three practical questions: was the action an attempt to play the ball, who faced a genuine injury threat, and, when relevant, did a nearby opponent lose a safe opportunity to play? There is no fixed waist, chest or head-height line and no stated minimum distance. The referee judges the whole action: boot and studs, speed, force, control, the players' directions, the opponent's proximity and what safe options remained.

A raised boot can be entirely legal

A player may trap a high ball, volley it or clear it with a raised leg when the space is safe. The IFAB also expressly permits a scissors or bicycle kick provided it is not dangerous to an opponent. A boot above shoulder or head level is therefore evidence to assess, not an offence by itself.

Conversely, the boot does not have to reach head height. A forceful kick through a crowded space can threaten a leg or body, and playing with the head unusually low can itself create danger. The referee must identify which player's action created the unsafe situation rather than automatically blaming the higher foot.

No contact does not always mean an indirect free kick

If a player is trying to play the ball and the threat makes a nearby opponent hold back, Law 12.2 normally gives an indirect free kick for playing in a dangerous manner. The IFAB's current FAQ uses that result when a defender plays the ball with a boot narrowly missing an opponent's head.

But Law 12.1 separately lists kicking or attempting to kick an opponent and tackling or challenging an opponent when done carelessly, recklessly or with excessive force. An attempted kick can therefore be a direct-free-kick offence without contact. “No contact” is a useful clue; it is not a complete restart rule.

When the high foot hits an opponent

If the player who raised the foot makes illegal contact with an opponent, Law 12.1 requires a direct free kick. It becomes a penalty kick when the defending player commits that offence inside their own penalty area while the ball is in play. Contact outside the penalty area remains a direct free kick even if the fouled player then falls into the area.

The referee must still decide that the high-foot player committed the offence. Contact caused because another player created the dangerous situation does not mechanically transfer blame. Nor does touching the ball first erase a careless, reckless or excessively forceful follow-through.

The restart and the sanction are separate decisions

• Ordinary dangerous play: no card is automatic.
• Careless direct-free-kick foul: free kick or penalty, with no disciplinary sanction required.
• Reckless action: caution (yellow card). The IFAB's high-boot FAQ also requires a caution when a no-contact dangerous challenge is reckless.
• Stops a promising attack: normally a caution, subject to Law 12's penalty-kick and advantage exceptions.
• Endangers an opponent's safety or uses excessive force: sending-off (red card); a challenge for the ball is serious foul play.
• Denies a goal or obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO): a sending-off can apply even to no-contact dangerous play. If a challenge for the ball results in a penalty kick, Law 12's reduced DOGSO sanction can make it a caution, but serious foul play still requires a red card.

Where the free kick is taken

An indirect free kick for dangerous play is normally taken where the offence occurred. If the attacking team is awarded one for an offence inside the opponents' goal area, Law 13.2 moves it to the nearest point on the goal-area line parallel to the goal line. A defending team may take its free kick from anywhere in its own goal area.

The referee raises an arm to show that the kick is indirect. A goal cannot be scored directly from it: if the ball enters the opponents' goal without touching another player, the restart is a goal kick. A direct free kick may enter the opponents' goal directly.

A ball in the goalkeeper's hands cannot be kicked

Law 12 says an opponent may not challenge a goalkeeper who controls the ball with the hands or arms. Control includes holding it between a hand and the ground or in an outstretched open hand. Attempting to kick that ball with no contact brings an indirect free kick; contact with the goalkeeper brings a direct free kick. The card then depends on recklessness, excessive force, a promising attack or another applicable disciplinary ground.

This is distinct from a loose ball after a save: if the goalkeeper is not controlling it with the hands, an opponent may challenge fairly.

The ball must be in play

Direct and indirect free kicks under Law 12 can be awarded only for offences committed while the ball is in play. If a dangerous high kick occurs after the ball has gone out, the referee can still caution or send off the player, but the original restart—such as a throw-in or goal kick—does not become a free kick or penalty.

The referee may apply advantage when the non-offending team has a better immediate outcome. Law 12 says advantage should not be used for serious foul play, violent conduct or a second cautionable offence unless there is a clear opportunity to score. If advantage is used for serious foul play, the player is sent off at the next stoppage; if that player becomes involved before then, the referee stops play under Law 12's special procedure.

Boot near a standing opponent's face

Situation: a defender raises a leg above head level, clears the ball and narrowly misses an attacker who pulls out of a header. There is no contact.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: indirect free kick for playing in a dangerous manner. The decisive facts are the credible injury threat and the nearby opponent being prevented from playing safely. Depending on the severity and effect, the same no-contact offence can also produce a yellow card, or a red card for endangering safety, excessive force or DOGSO.

High foot catches the opponent's face

Situation: while challenging for the ball in midfield, a player misses it and the raised boot strikes the opponent's face.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: direct free kick. The IFAB's matching FAQ directs a caution if the challenge was reckless and a sending-off if it endangered the opponent's safety or used excessive force. The decisive change from case 1 is illegal contact with the opponent.

Overhead kick with clear space

Situation: an attacker attempts a bicycle kick while the nearest defender is far enough away to challenge neither the ball nor the kicking motion.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: play on, assuming no other offence. The Laws specifically permit a scissors or bicycle kick when it is not dangerous to an opponent; the acrobatic technique alone is not the foul.

A player stoops into a normal kicking lane

Situation: a player suddenly lowers their head towards a low ball as an opponent makes a controlled, otherwise normal attempt to kick it.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: there is no automatic offence by the player whose foot is higher. Because Law 12 includes an action that threatens injury to the player themself, the referee must decide who created the danger and whether the opponent's kick was still careless, reckless or excessively forceful. The available space, timing and control decide whether the result is play on or a free kick against either player.

Late wild swing that misses the opponent

Situation: after losing the ball, a player swings a boot at the opponent rather than at the ball; the opponent evades it.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: do not default to the indirect-free-kick dangerous-play offence. Attempting to kick an opponent is listed in Law 12.1 and can bring a direct free kick without contact. If the act used or attempted excessive force or brutality while not challenging for the ball, it can be violent conduct and a red card.

How to analyse a high-foot replay

1. Confirm the ball was in play. This determines whether a free kick or penalty is available.
2. Identify the action. Was the player trying to play the ball, challenging an opponent, or attempting to kick the opponent?
3. Identify who created the danger. Do not use boot height alone.
4. Assess the threat and effect. Could someone be injured, and did a nearby opponent pull out for fear of injury?
5. Check contact. Illegal contact points to a direct-free-kick offence, but no contact does not exclude an attempted-kick offence.
6. Locate the offence. This selects indirect free kick, direct free kick, penalty kick and any goal-area adjustment.
7. Grade discipline separately. No card, caution, serious foul play, violent conduct, SPA or DOGSO.
8. Consider advantage and any authorised review. Player safety and Law 12's serious-offence limits still control.

Video review depends on the competition and category

VAR does not create a separate high-foot standard. In a match using VAR under the 2026/27 protocol, an incident may be checked when it relates to goal/no goal, penalty/no penalty, a potential red card, or another listed review category. A routine possible yellow card in midfield is not reviewable merely because replay exists. The 2026/27 protocol allows correction of a clearly incorrect second caution that produced a red card, but it does not allow VAR to intervene for a missed second-yellow offence.

The referee remains the final decision-maker and judges factual contact, the nature of the challenge and its intensity under the Laws.

Standard Laws, authorised trials and youth rules

The core ruling above is the IFAB association-football baseline. Competition identity does not by itself create a different boot-height test, but match organisers can differ in using VAR and national associations can run authorised modifications or trials.

One relevant example is The IFAB's ongoing deliberate-heading trial for approved grassroots competitions at U-12 and below. In those matches a deliberate header is itself punished by an indirect free kick under the trial protocol. That separate rule does not make a raised boot safe: the referee must still apply Law 12 to any dangerous kick. Check the appointed competition rules rather than transferring an adult professional ruling—or a youth heading restriction—between competitions.

Claims the Laws do not support

• “Any foot above the waist is a foul.” IFAB states no fixed height.
• “No contact means play on.” Playing in a dangerous manner exists precisely without the usual contact foul, and an attempted kick can be direct.
• “No contact means no card.” The IFAB's own high-foot FAQ allows yellow or red sanctions without contact.
• “Contact automatically means a yellow card.” A careless direct-free-kick offence needs no card; reckless means yellow, while excessive force or endangered safety means red.
• “Winning the ball makes the follow-through legal.” The manner and consequences of the challenge still matter.
• “Every high foot is checked by VAR.” Only a reviewable category in a competition using VAR can trigger intervention.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 12.1–12.4: Fouls and Misconduct (including official high-foot FAQs)
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 13.1–13.2: Free Kicks
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27: Video Assistant Referee protocol, sections 1–2
• The IFAB — Changes to the Laws of the Game 2026/27 and implementation notes
• The IFAB — Deliberate heading trial protocol, approved U-12-and-below scope

Checked against The IFAB's live 2026/27 Law 12 and Law 13 text, official FAQs, current VAR protocol and 2026/27 change material. The edition took effect on 1 July 2026; competitions which began before that date could adopt the changes earlier. Competition regulations may supplement the baseline only where The IFAB permits.