A direct free kick can score at once; an indirect one needs another touch.

The ruleset used on this page

This page applies The International Football Association Board (IFAB) Laws of the Game 2026/27 for association football, principally Law 13, “Free Kicks,” with the offence categories in Law 12 and referee powers in Law 5. The edition took effect on 1 July 2026.

IFAB Circular no. 32 permits a competition that began before 1 July 2026 to implement the changes early or defer them until the start of its next competition. Check the appointed competition rules during that transition. This page does not cover futsal, beach soccer or a local small-sided code.

The original offence decides the type of kick

Law 13.1 provides direct and indirect free kicks to the opponents of a player, substitute, substituted or sent-off player, or team official who commits an offence. The referee does not choose “direct” because an offence looked serious or “indirect” because it looked minor: the relevant Law specifies the restart.

Under Law 12, physical fouls involving contact, handball, holding and impeding with contact are direct-free-kick offences. Playing dangerously without contact, impeding without contact, certain verbal offences, preventing a goalkeeper's release and specified goalkeeper-handling offences are indirect-free-kick offences. Offside under Law 11 also restarts with an indirect free kick.

The raised arm belongs only to the indirect kick

For an indirect free kick, Law 13.1 requires the referee to raise an arm above the head and keep it raised until the kick has been taken and the ball touches another player, goes out of play, or it is clear that a goal cannot be scored directly. There is no corresponding raised-arm signal for a direct free kick.

If the referee fails to give the indirect signal and the ball is kicked directly into goal, the kick is retaken. IFAB's official Law 13 FAQ also says that if the missing signal induced the goalkeeper to try a save and the goalkeeper touched the shot before it entered, fairness requires the goal to be disallowed and the indirect free kick retaken.

“Direct” describes what the kick itself may score

• Direct kick into the opponents' goal, untouched: goal.
• Indirect kick into the opponents' goal, untouched: goal kick.
• Direct or indirect kick into the kicker's own goal, untouched: corner kick to the opponents.
• Indirect kick touched by any other player before entering the opponents' goal: the indirect requirement has been satisfied, so a lawful goal can be awarded.
• Free kick touched by another player before entering the kicker's own goal: the special “directly into the own goal” protection no longer applies; if no other offence occurred, the goal counts.

A rebound from a goalpost or the crossbar is not a touch by another player.

Stationary first; kicked and clearly moving second

Under Law 13.2, the ball must be stationary. It enters play when it is kicked and clearly moves; it does not need to travel a full circumference or leave the penalty area. The kicker may lift it with one foot or both feet simultaneously, and may feint to confuse opponents.

The kicker may not play the ball again until another player has touched it. This restriction begins once the first kick has put the ball in play, so a post or crossbar rebound does not release the kicker.

Start at the offence spot, then check the exceptions

The usual position is where the offence occurred, but Law 13.2 identifies important exceptions:

• An attacking indirect free kick for an offence inside the opponents' goal area is moved to the nearest point on the goal-area line parallel to the goal line.
• A defending free kick awarded inside its own goal area may be taken anywhere in that area.
• For certain offences connected with entering, re-entering or leaving without permission, the kick is taken where the ball was when play stopped.
• An offence committed off the field as part of play is generally restarted from the nearest boundary-line point; if it is a direct-free-kick offence and that point is inside the offender's penalty area, the restart is a penalty kick.
• Laws 3, 11 and 12 designate other positions. For example, an offside free kick is taken where the offside offence occurred, which may differ from where the player first occupied an offside position.

Opponents retreat 9.15 metres; attackers stay off a three-player wall

Until the ball is in play, opponents must be at least 9.15 m (10 yds) away, unless they are on their own goal line between the posts. For a free kick taken by the defending team inside its penalty area, opponents must also be outside that penalty area, subject to the quick-restart exception below.

If three or more defenders form a wall, every attacking player must remain at least 1 m (1 yd) from that wall until the ball is kicked and clearly moves. Breach by an attacker produces an indirect free kick from the attacker's position. The special one-metre restriction does not apply to a wall of only one or two defenders.

Most free kicks do not wait for a second whistle

Most free kicks do not need a second whistle. A team may restart quickly if the ball is stationary, in the proper place and the referee has not instructed the players to wait. If a nearby opponent had no opportunity to retreat and merely intercepts a quick kick, Law 13.3 says play continues: the kicking team accepted that risk.

An opponent who deliberately prevents a quick kick must be cautioned for delaying the restart. By contrast, when the referee is managing the required distance or play has stopped for a card, injury or substitution, the IFAB match-official guidelines require a whistle to restart. If the referee clearly says to wait and the attacker kicks early, IFAB's official ruling is a retake and a caution to the kicker for unsporting behaviour.

A player who had no time to leave is not automatically an offence

If a defending team takes a free kick quickly inside its own penalty area while opponents are still leaving, Law 13.3 allows play to continue when those opponents genuinely had no time to get out. They may not touch or challenge for the ball before it is in play.

The exception does not reward an opponent who deliberately stays inside or enters early. IFAB's Law 13 FAQ rules that if such an opponent intercepts the kick and scores, the goal is disallowed and the free kick is retaken. The decisive issue is whether the opponent was caught by a legitimate quick restart or deliberately exploited an illegal position.

The restart type can change after the kick

If the kicker touches the live ball again before anyone else does, Law 13.3 awards the opponents an indirect free kick from the second-touch position. If that second touch is a handball offence, the normal outcome is a direct free kick, or a penalty kick when an outfield kicker handles inside that player's own penalty area. A goalkeeper committing that second-touch handball offence inside the goalkeeper's own penalty area instead concedes an indirect free kick.

A deliberate second touch may also bring a caution if it stops a promising attack or a sending-off if it denies an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. The card addresses the tactical effect; the restart follows the second-touch provision.

Not every goalkeeper restriction now gives an indirect kick

Law 12.2 still awards an indirect free kick when a goalkeeper inside the penalty area handles after releasing the ball and before another player touches it, or handles a ball received directly from a teammate's deliberate kick or throw-in, subject to the Law's detailed wording.

However, since 2025/26, a goalkeeper controlling the ball with the hands or arms for more than eight seconds is dealt with under Law 12.3 by a corner kick, after the referee's visual five-second countdown. It is not an indirect free kick. This distinction remains in the 2026/27 Laws.

A flawed restart does not always force an immediate retake

Law 13.3 already permits advantage when an opponent is too close. In addition, the amended Law 5.3 for 2026/27 confirms that the referee may allow play to continue when a restart is incorrectly taken, the ball is in play and the opposing team benefits; if the expected benefit does not arise immediately or within a few seconds, the referee orders the appropriate retake. IFAB gives a moving-ball free kick intercepted by the opponents as an example.

VAR does not create a general appeal for every free-kick decision. In a competition using VAR, the protocol can bring an incident into review only through its defined match-changing categories, such as goal/no goal, penalty/no penalty or a red-card incident. An ordinary free-kick classification or placement error is not independently reviewable merely because video exists.

A free-kick type does not tell you whether a card follows

For the contact fouls in Law 12.1, a careless offence needs no card, a reckless offence is cautioned and an offence using excessive force is punished by a sending-off. Yet all three produce the same direct-free-kick category outside the offender's penalty area. Conversely, an indirect-free-kick offence can involve misconduct and a card.

Direct and indirect free kicks, and penalty kicks, can be awarded only for offences committed while the ball is in play. Misconduct while the ball is already out may still be punished, but it does not replace the restart that was already due.

An indirect shot brushes the goalkeeper

Situation: under IFAB 2026/27, an indirect free kick is shot toward goal. The goalkeeper gets fingertips to it and the ball enters.

Ruling: goal, provided the referee gave the required indirect signal and no other offence occurred. The decisive fact is that a player other than the kicker touched the ball; the second player does not have to be a teammate.

A direct free kick is passed into the kicker's own goal

Situation: a defender takes a direct free kick backward. No player touches it before it crosses that defender's own goal line between the posts.

Ruling: corner kick to the opponents, not an own goal. If the goalkeeper had touched the ball before it crossed the line, the touch would end the “directly from the restart” exception and the goal could count.

The kicker collects a crossbar rebound

Situation: a direct free kick hits the crossbar and rebounds to the original kicker, who plays it again before anyone else touches it.

Ruling: indirect free kick to the opponents from the second-touch position. A goalpost or crossbar is not “another player,” so the kicker had not regained the right to play the ball.

A close defender intercepts a quick kick

Situation: the referee has not required a whistle. The attack takes a stationary free kick immediately and a defender who had no time to retreat from six metres away intercepts it.

Ruling: play on under IFAB 2026/27. If the defender had moved deliberately to block or prevent the kick, the referee would instead deal with delaying the restart and caution the defender.

How to judge any free-kick replay

1. Name the code and edition. This page uses IFAB association-football Laws 2026/27.
2. Identify the original offence. The relevant Law assigns a direct kick, indirect kick or—inside the defender's penalty area for a direct-kick offence—a penalty kick.
3. Check the signal and position. For an indirect kick, look for the raised arm; then apply the offence spot or a stated location exception.
4. Check the setup. The ball must be stationary; measure opponent distance, penalty-area position and the one-metre attacking-wall rule.
5. Find when play began. The ball is live when kicked and clearly moving.
6. Track touches and the goal. Ask whether another player touched it, whether the kicker touched twice and which goal the ball entered.
7. Apply advantage, retake and discipline separately. A valid tactical benefit may avoid a retake, while a caution or sending-off depends on the conduct and its effect.

Six claims that are too broad

• “Indirect means a teammate must tap it.” Any other player's touch is enough.
• “The referee's arm means offside.” Offside is one of several indirect-free-kick offences.
• “Direct means a card.” Restart and discipline are separate decisions.
• “The defence must always get ten yards before the kick.” A lawful quick kick may catch a player who had no time to retreat.
• “Two defenders form a Law 13 wall.” The one-metre restriction on attackers begins only with three or more defenders.
• “Every goalkeeper handling restriction is indirect.” More than eight seconds of hand/arm control now produces a corner kick.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27 (effective 1 July 2026), Laws 5, 11–14 and VAR protocol
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 13: Free Kicks (including official FAQs)
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 12.1–12.3: direct, indirect and goalkeeper-control outcomes
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 5.3: advantage after an incorrectly taken restart
• The IFAB — 2026/27 Guidelines for Match Officials: whistle requirements for free-kick restarts
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, VAR protocol: reviewable decisions and incidents
• The IFAB — Circular no. 32, 31 March 2026: 2026/27 decisions, effective date and competition transition

Checked against IFAB Law 13 and its official FAQs, the complete 2026/27 law book, the 2026/27 Law 5 change and Circular no. 32. The baseline is effective from 1 July 2026; a competition already under way before that date may use its permitted transition date, and competition rules determine whether VAR is used.