A dropped ball is assigned, not contested.

The rule and version used here

This page applies The International Football Association Board (The IFAB) Laws of the Game 2026/27, principally Law 8.2, “Dropped ball,” with related provisions from Laws 2, 3, 5 and 9. It is the international baseline for association football, not a rule for futsal, American football or another code.

The 2026/27 Laws took effect on 1 July 2026. Under IFAB Circular no. 32, a competition that began before that date could adopt the changes early or delay them until no later than the start of its next competition. Check the appointed competition rules when a season spans that transition.

How to decide a dropped-ball restart

1. Was the ball in play? If it was already out, keep the throw-in, goal kick, corner, kick-off or other existing restart.
2. Why did the referee stop play? Apply any specific restart required for a foul, misconduct or interference before considering a dropped ball.
3. Where was the ball? Inside the penalty area means the defending goalkeeper receives it; outside means apply the possession test.
4. Who would have had the ball? Outside the area, decide which team would have retained or gained possession, including from an imminent out-of-play restart. Use last touch only if that cannot be determined.
5. Where did the interruption occur? The normal location is where the ball was when play stopped; match-official or outside-agent contact moves the drop to the contact point.
6. Complete the procedure. One player is designated, everyone else stays 4 m away, and the ball becomes live when it touches the ground.

Use it only when no specific restart applies

Law 8 describes the dropped ball as the restart when the referee stops play and the Laws do not require a kick-off, free kick, penalty kick, throw-in, goal kick or corner kick. Typical supported examples are a serious injury not caused by an offence, a ball that becomes defective during open play, an erroneous referee whistle, or genuine outside interference.

The reason for the whistle comes first. If the referee stops for a foul, the injury that follows does not convert the free kick or penalty into a dropped ball. If the ball had already crossed a boundary line, later misconduct normally does not replace the restart already created while the ball was out of play.

The defending goalkeeper receives it inside the area

Under IFAB Law 8.2, if the ball was inside the penalty area when play was stopped, the referee drops it for the defending team’s goalkeeper in that penalty area. Attacking possession, the last touch and the quality of the chance do not change that result.

This test concerns the ball’s position at the stoppage, not where the previous touch occurred. Once the dropped ball touches the ground, the goalkeeper may handle it inside their own penalty area.

Expected possession controls before last touch

Outside the penalty area, the referee first asks which team would have retained or gained possession if play had continued. The IFAB’s 2026/27 wording expressly includes possession from the restart that would have followed if the ball was clearly about to leave the field.

For example, if Blue last touched a ball that was plainly leaving over the touchline for Red’s throw-in when an outside agent stopped it, Red receives the dropped ball. “Last touch” is the fallback only when the referee cannot determine who would have kept or gained possession.

Ball position is the default; contact is the exception

The normal position is where the ball was when play stopped. If the stoppage resulted from the ball hitting a match official or an outside agent, the drop is instead made at the position of that interference or contact. The penalty-area goalkeeper rule still determines the recipient when the ball was inside the penalty area.

The 2026/27 change made the contact-location exception explicit. It matters when the ball travelled after a deflection or when an outside agent touched a ball close to a boundary line.

Four metres until the ball reaches the ground

The referee drops the ball for one designated player. Every other player from both teams must remain at least 4 m (4.5 yd) away until the ball touches the ground. A whistle is not normally required for the restart.

The ball is in play the instant it touches the ground. From then on, any player may challenge for or play it. An opponent who began at least 4 m away may reach the ball before the designated player without committing an offence. “Dropped for one player” sets the restart procedure; it does not guarantee that player the first touch.

Two events make the referee drop it again

Law 8.2 requires another drop if the ball touches a player before it touches the ground. It is also dropped again if, after touching the ground, it leaves the field of play without touching any player.

Once the ball has touched the ground and then a player, normal play applies. Fouls, handball, offside and the ordinary out-of-play restarts are judged in the usual way; the restart does not give the receiving player immunity from a challenge.

Two different players must touch it before a goal

If a dropped ball enters either goal without touching at least two players, no goal is awarded. If it enters the opponents’ goal after only one player has touched it, restart with a goal kick. If it enters that player’s own goal after only one player has touched it, award a corner kick to the opponents.

Repeated touches by the same player do not satisfy a rule that requires two players. A save or deflection by a goalkeeper does count as the second player’s touch, so a subsequent entry into goal can be awarded if no other offence occurred.

Most touches of a match official are play on

Law 9 stops play only when the ball touches a match official, remains on the field and one of three results follows: a team starts a promising attack, the ball goes directly into a goal, or possession changes team. The restart is a dropped ball under Law 8.

If none of those consequences occurs, play continues. If the ball hits the referee and then leaves the field, use the ordinary throw-in, goal kick or corner based on the touch before it went out; Law 9’s dropped-ball condition requires the ball to remain on the field.

Who interferes changes the restart

An outside agent is a person not named on either team list, and can also be an animal or object. Under Laws 3.7 and 5.3, a spectator’s whistle, extra ball, object or animal leads to a dropped ball only when it actually interferes and the referee stops play. If it does not interfere, play should continue and the item or animal is removed when possible.

Do not apply that result to everyone outside the starting eleven. Interference by a team official, substitute, substituted player or sent-off player normally restarts with a direct free kick or penalty kick under Law 3.7. The identity of the interferer is therefore decisive.

Law 9.2 contains a narrow exception: if a team official, substitute, substituted or sent-off player, or a player temporarily off the field, without intending to interfere unfairly, touches a ball that is still in play but clearly leaving the field, the result is an indirect free kick with no disciplinary sanction—not a dropped ball. There is also a goal exception for an extra ball, object or animal: if the match ball is entering the goal and the interference does not prevent a defender playing it, the goal may stand, unless the interference came from the attacking team.

The underlying reason still controls

Law 5 tells the referee to allow play to continue for a slight injury and to stop for a serious injury. If play was not stopped for another reason and the injury did not result from an offence, the restart is a dropped ball. The separate 2026/27 off-field treatment procedure can affect when an injured player may return, but it does not change who receives the dropped ball under Law 8.

Under Law 2.2, a ball that becomes defective during open play is replaced and play restarts with a dropped ball. If it becomes defective while a kick-off, goal kick, corner, free kick, penalty kick or throw-in is being taken, that restart is retaken instead.

A dropped ball does not erase an offence

There is no “advantage” to apply to a neutral interruption after the referee has stopped play. If an offence occurred first, however, the referee may apply advantage under Law 5 and use the restart required by that offence if play is brought back within the permitted time.

VAR is available only in authorised competitions and only for the protocol’s reviewable categories. A review can still affect the restart: the IFAB’s Law 8 FAQ says that when a penalty award is overturned, the restart is a dropped ball for the defending goalkeeper if the referee’s whistle came while the ball was still inside the penalty area, but an ordinary corner applies if the ball had already gone out. Whistle timing, not the fact of a review, decides which restart is available.

A promising attack follows a referee deflection

Situation: outside the penalty area, Blue passes toward a teammate. The ball hits the referee, stays on the field and instead reaches Red, who starts a promising attack.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: stop play and drop the ball at the point of referee contact for Blue if the referee judges Blue would have retained possession. The decisive facts are the match-official contact, the qualifying Law 9 outcome and the team that would otherwise have had the ball.

An attacker is injured without a foul

Situation: Blue controls the ball outside the penalty area when a nearby Blue teammate suffers a serious non-contact injury. The referee stops immediately.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: drop the ball for one Blue player where the ball was at the stoppage. Blue would have retained possession and no offence created another restart. If the ball had been inside Red’s penalty area, Red’s goalkeeper would receive it instead.

An opponent reaches the drop first

Situation: the ball is dropped for Blue outside the penalty area. Red begins 5 m away, waits until the ball touches the ground, then reaches it before Blue.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: play on. Red respected the 4 m restriction until the ball was in play. The designation of Blue did not reserve the first touch for Blue.

A one-player shot is saved into goal

Situation: after the ball touches the ground, Blue shoots from the dropped ball. Red’s goalkeeper gets a hand to it but the ball still enters Red’s goal.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: award the goal, provided no offence occurred. Blue and the goalkeeper are two different players who touched the ball. If the shot had entered untouched by the goalkeeper, the restart would have been a goal kick.

Why older clips show a different restart

The familiar contested bounce-up belongs to an older procedure. The IFAB introduced the one-player, 4 m system in the 2019/20 Laws, effective 1 June 2019. From 2025/26, the outside-penalty-area test moved away from automatic last touch and toward the team that had or would have gained possession. The 2026/27 wording clarifies that this includes possession from the restart when the ball was going out and states the contact-point location for match-official or outside-agent interference.

Five claims to avoid

• “Both teams must contest it.” Outdated since the 2019/20 procedure change.
• “The named player is guaranteed the first touch.” No. Other players may challenge once the ball touches the ground.
• “Last touch always decides who receives it.” Outside the penalty area it is now a fallback when expected possession cannot be determined.
• “Every referee touch stops play.” Law 9 lists three consequences, and the ball must remain on the field.
• “Any non-player interference means a dropped ball.” Team personnel and genuine outside agents have different restart rules.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 8.2: Dropped ball
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 9: The Ball in and out of Play
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 5.3: injuries and outside interference
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 3.7: extra persons on the field
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 2.2: replacement of a defective ball
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Guidelines for Match Officials: whistle use
• The IFAB — Changes to the Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 8
• The IFAB — Circular no. 32, 31 March 2026: effective date and implementation window
• The IFAB — 2025/26 Law 8.2 possession amendment, effective 1 July 2025
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2019/20 implementation notice, effective 1 June 2019

Checked against The IFAB’s live 2026/27 Laws, current FAQs, 2026/27 Law-change material and Circular no. 32. The live Law 8 page says “has or would have retained or gained possession,” while the 2026/27 change text presents the principle as the team that “would have retained or gained possession”; the IFAB explanation and FAQs apply the same practical expected-possession test used above. Competition regulations may control the permitted transition date and whether VAR is used, but do not create a general right to contest the dropped ball.