Football Rules Explained: The Complete 2026/27 Beginner’s Guide

Football (soccer) is won by scoring more goals than your opponent, usually over 90 minutes, without handling the ball unless you are the goalkeeper in your own penalty area. Two teams of 11 play under 17 Laws of the Game written by the International Football Association Board (IFAB). This guide has the football rules explained in plain English, from offside and cards to VAR and the 2026/27 law changes.

Football rules explained: the objective

A goal counts when the whole of the ball crosses the goal line between the posts and under the crossbar. The team with more goals wins; equal goals means a draw, unless the competition needs a winner.

Outfield players can use any part of the body except the hands and arms. The goalkeeper may handle the ball only inside their own penalty area, and not from a deliberate kick or throw-in by a teammate.

The pitch, the ball and the team

Many guides with the football rules explained skip the pitch, but its markings decide offside, penalties and restarts.

• Pitch: 90-120 m long and 45-90 m wide (100-110 m by 64-75 m for internationals).
• Goals: 7.32 m wide and 2.44 m high (8 yards by 8 feet).
• Penalty area: 16.5 m (18 yards) deep, with the penalty mark 11 m (12 yards) from goal.
• Ball: size 5, with a circumference of 68-70 cm for senior football.

Each team starts with 11 players, one of them a goalkeeper. A match cannot start or continue if a team has fewer than seven players, which is why a flurry of red cards can lead to an abandoned game.

Match duration, extra time and penalties

Timing sounds simple, yet extra time and shoot-outs are the football rules explained wrongly most often.

Regular time

A match is two 45-minute halves with a half-time break of no more than 15 minutes. The referee adds time at the end of each half for substitutions, injuries, VAR checks, celebrations and time-wasting. The figure on the fourth official’s board is a minimum, not a maximum.

Extra time

In knockout matches that need a winner, a draw after 90 minutes usually leads to two 15-minute periods of extra time. Golden goal is long gone, so the full 30 minutes are played.

Penalty shoot-outs

If the scores are still level, each team takes five alternating kicks from the penalty mark. If it is still tied, it becomes sudden death until one team scores and the other misses.

• Only players on the pitch at the end of play (including any temporarily off injured) may take part.
• Every eligible player must take a kick before anyone takes a second.
• The goalkeeper must have part of one foot touching, or level with, the goal line when the ball is kicked.
• If the taker accidentally touches the ball twice and it goes in, the kick is retaken, a clarification now written into the 2026/27 Laws.

The 17 Laws of the Game at a glance

Every one of the football rules explained in this guide sits inside one of 17 Laws. You do not need to memorise them, but knowing what each covers makes refereeing decisions easier to follow.

The official wording is published free by the IFAB, and the Laws are updated every year, usually from 1 July.

Offside, explained clearly

If you want only one of the football rules explained properly, make it offside. Law 11 causes more arguments than any other rule, but it rests on two questions: was the attacker in an offside position, and did they then get involved in play?

When is a player in an offside position?

At the moment a teammate plays or touches the ball, a player is in an offside position if any part of their head, body or feet is in the opponents’ half (not on the halfway line) and nearer to the opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent. Hands and arms are ignored. Level is onside.

When does it become an offence?

Standing in an offside position is not an offence. The flag goes up only if the player becomes involved by:

• Interfering with play: touching the ball passed by a teammate.
• Interfering with an opponent: blocking the goalkeeper’s view or challenging for the ball.
• Gaining an advantage: playing a ball that rebounds off the woodwork, an official or an opponent, or comes from a deliberate save.

The sanction is an indirect free kick to the defending team.

Three quick examples

1. Through ball: a striker is half a yard beyond the last defender when the pass is played and runs onto it. Offside.
2. Bystander: a winger is offside on the far side while a teammate dribbles in and scores; the winger never moves towards the ball or blocks anyone. Goal stands.
3. Rebound: the goalkeeper saves a shot and an attacker who was offside when it was struck taps in the rebound. Offside, because they gained an advantage.

Note that if a defender deliberately plays the ball (not a save), an attacker who was previously offside is no longer penalised for receiving it. There is also no offside offence directly from a goal kick, throw-in or corner kick.

Fouls, misconduct and cards

Free kick offences

This is where football rules explained on paper meet split-second judgement. A direct free kick, or a penalty inside the offender’s own area, is given when a player kicks, trips, pushes, strikes, tackles, charges or jumps at an opponent carelessly, recklessly or with excessive force. Holding, biting, spitting and deliberate handball are also direct free kick offences.

An indirect free kick, which must touch a second player before a goal can count, is given for playing in a dangerous manner, impeding without contact and most technical goalkeeper offences.

Yellow cards

A yellow card is a caution, typically for unsporting behaviour (a reckless tackle or a dive), dissent, persistent fouling, delaying a restart or stopping a promising attack. Two yellows in one match equal a red.

Red cards

A red card means the player is sent off and cannot be replaced. Straight reds are given for serious foul play, violent conduct, biting or spitting, abusive language or gestures, and denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO) by a foul or deliberate handball.

There are two softenings. If DOGSO happens inside the penalty area and the defender genuinely tried to play the ball, it drops to a yellow because a penalty is already given. And under the 2026/27 Laws, if the referee plays advantage after a DOGSO offence and a goal is scored, no card is shown.

Set pieces and restarts

Set pieces decide a huge share of matches, so they deserve a place in any set of football rules explained for beginners.

• Free kicks: opponents must be at least 9.15 m (10 yards) away; attackers must stay 1 m from a wall of three or more defenders.
• Penalty kick: taken from the penalty mark, with everyone else outside the area and behind the mark until the ball is kicked.
• Corner kick: awarded when the ball, last touched by a defender, crosses the goal line without a goal.
• Goal kick: awarded when an attacker last touched it. The ball is in play once kicked and clearly moving.
• Throw-in: both hands, from behind and over the head, with part of each foot on or behind the touchline.
• Dropped ball: used after a stoppage that is not an offence. From 2026/27 it goes to the team that would have kept or gained possession.

Two anti-time-wasting rules now sharpen restarts. A goalkeeper who holds the ball for more than eight seconds concedes a corner (added in 2025/26). And from 2026/27, if a throw-in or goal kick is deliberately delayed, the referee can start a five-second countdown; miss it, and the throw goes to the opponents while a goal kick becomes a corner for them.

How VAR works

Technology now shapes how the football rules explained here are applied at elite level. The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) reviews footage and advises the referee. VAR is a competition option, not used everywhere, and it only intervenes for a clear and obvious error or a serious missed incident involving:

• goals and offences in the build-up to a goal;
• penalty decisions;
• direct red cards;
• mistaken identity in a caution or sending-off.

For subjective calls the referee watches a pitchside monitor (an on-field review). Factual decisions, such as offside position, can be corrected directly. The 2026/27 Laws add three narrow extras: a red card from a clearly incorrect second yellow, cases where the wrong team is penalised and, if the competition opts in, a clearly wrongly awarded corner, as long as the check does not delay the restart.

Substitution rules in 2026/27

Substitutions are one area where football rules explained only a few years ago are already out of date. Limits come from Law 3 plus competition rules, so they vary by level. At the top level today:

• Competitive matches: up to five substitutes, in a maximum of three opportunities during play, plus half-time.
• Extra time: one additional substitute and one additional opportunity.
• Concussion: many competitions also allow additional permanent concussion substitutes.
• Senior international friendlies: up to eight substitutes, or 11 if both teams agree.

The 2026/27 Laws also target slow changes. A player being replaced must leave within 10 seconds; if not, their substitute cannot enter until the first stoppage after one minute of play. An outfield player whose treatment or assessment stops play must also stay off for one minute after the restart.

Frequently Asked Questions

These are the questions new fans ask most once they have the football rules explained.

How long is a football match?

A standard match is 90 minutes: two 45-minute halves with a break of up to 15 minutes. Added time is played at the end of each half to make up for stoppages. Knockout games may add 30 minutes of extra time, then a penalty shoot-out if the score is still level.

How many substitutes are allowed in football?

In top-level competitive matches, teams can use up to five substitutes in three opportunities plus half-time, with one more in extra time. Many competitions also allow permanent concussion substitutes. Senior international friendlies may use up to eight, or up to 11 if both teams agree.

Can you be offside from a throw-in?

No. There is no offside offence when a player receives the ball directly from a throw-in, a goal kick or a corner kick. You also cannot be offside in your own half. Once another player touches the ball after the restart, the normal offside rules apply again.

Is every handball a foul?

No. Accidental contact with an arm in a natural position is usually allowed. It is an offence to deliberately handle the ball, to make your body unnaturally bigger with your arm, or to score directly with your hand or arm, even accidentally. Only goalkeepers in their own penalty area are exempt.

What is the eight-second rule for goalkeepers?

Introduced in 2025/26, it stops goalkeepers holding the ball too long. Once the keeper controls it in their hands, they have eight seconds to release it, and the referee shows a visible five-second countdown. If the keeper still holds on, the opposing team is awarded a corner kick.

What happens after two yellow cards?

A second yellow in the same match becomes a red card, and the player is sent off without replacement, so the team plays on a player short. Under the 2026/27 Laws, VAR can now help overturn a red card that came from a clearly incorrect second yellow, a change fans had long requested.

Key takeaways

Here are the football rules explained in five lines:

• Football is 11 v 11 over 90 minutes, governed by the IFAB’s 17 Laws.
• Offside needs an offside position plus active involvement.
• Yellow cards caution; reds send a player off with no replacement.
• VAR only fixes clear errors in a short list of match-changing situations.
• The 2026/27 Laws focus on speed: restart countdowns, 10-second substitutions and a one-minute stay-off after treatment.

With the football rules explained, you are ready to watch with confidence. Plan ahead with our major sporting events calendar for 2027, compare codes with our guide to basketball rules, scoring and positions, or sharpen up with these speed and agility drills.