In football, 22 people chase a ball for 90 minutes. But it’s the football rules (17 of them to be precise) that turn it into an organised sport. Every football match played anywhere in the world runs on these 17 Laws of the Game. Be it a youth league match or the World Cup, every game must follow these rules.
These laws have been written and maintained by IFAB (the International Football Association since 1936. In this guide, we break down each rule.
What Are the 17 Football Laws?
These laws cover everything from the size of the pitch to what earns a red card. They tell you how a match starts, how a goal counts, when a player is offside, and what happens when someone breaks them.
These are actually called “laws” instead of “rules” for a reason. This is because there is no separate rulebook for separate countries. These laws are universal and govern the entire sport. These have been translated into dozens of languages as well.
The laws are updated annually and published as a new edition. The current version is the 2026/27 Laws of the Game, which came into force on 1 July 2026.
Here is every one of the 17 football game rules:
1. The Field of Play
Matches are played on natural grass, artificial turf, or an approved hybrid of the two, as long as the surface is green. The field should be a rectangle, marked with continuous lines.
For international matches it measures 100–110 metres long and 64–75 metres wide. The markings that matter most are the penalty area (16.5 metres out from the goal line), the goal area (5.5 metres), and the penalty spot, which is 11 metres from the centre of the goal. Goal posts must always be 7.32 metres wide and 2.44 metres high, and should be placed in the exact centre of the goal line.
2. The Ball
The ball must be spherical, made of suitable material, and measure around 68-70 cm. It weighs 410-450 g at kick-off and is inflated to 0.6-1.1 atmospheres. No form of commercial advertising is permitted on the ball, except the logo of the competition.
If a ball bursts or becomes unplayable, the referee stops play and restarts with a dropped ball where the fault occurred. Spare balls positioned around the pitch can be brought into play without stopping the match.
3. The Players
There are 11 on each side, including the goalkeeper. If a team drops below 7 players because of red cards or injuries with no substitutes left, the match is abandoned.
Substitutions vary by competition. Professional leagues allow five substitutions across three stoppages, plus half-time. A player being replaced has ten seconds to leave the pitch once the process starts. If he exceeds the time, the substitute has to wait until the first stoppage.
Any of the active players can trade places with the goalkeeper, provided the referee is told and the swap happens during a stoppage.
4. The Players’ Equipment
Players must wear shirts, shorts, socks, shin pads, and appropriate footwear. From 2026/27 accessories are permitted if they are not dangerous and are safely and securely covered.
Goalkeepers must wear colours that distinguish them from both outfield teams and the match officials.
5. The Referee
The referee enforces the official rules of football, controls the match (with the assistance of other officials, VAR, and body camera), and decides when play stops and restarts. Their decision on a point of fact is final.
6. The Other Match Officials
Two assistant referees run the touchlines. Their main job is to review the offside, but they also flag throw-ins, corners, goal kicks, and fouls the referee could not see. A fourth official manages substitutions and the technical areas.
Most professional competitions add a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) that reviews four categories of decision: goals, penalties, direct red cards, and mistaken identity. The 2026/27 laws widened that slightly as VAR can now correct a red card caused by a clearly wrong second yellow, and can fix cases where the wrong player was booked.
7. The Duration of the Match
The match is split into two halves of 45 minutes, with a 15-minute break. The referee adds stoppage time at the end of each half for substitutions, injuries, goal celebrations, and time-wasting.
If a knockout match ends in a tie, two more periods of 15 minutes are given as extra time. If the game still remains level after this, it goes to penalties.
8. The Start and Restart of Play
A coin toss decides which team picks an end, and the other team gets to kick off. Sides switch at half-time, and the team that did not kick off in the first half kicks off in the second.
Every player must be in their own half at kick-off, and opponents must stay 9.15 metres from the ball until it is in play. The ball is in play the moment it is kicked and clearly moves. It can be played in any direction, including backwards.
9. The Ball In and Out of Play
The ball is considered out of play when it fully crosses a touchline or goal line, on the ground or in the air, or when the referee stops play. Everything else is in play, even if the ball rebounds off a goalpost, crossbar, corner flag, or the referee, and stays on the pitch. As long as it is inside or on the line, it is still live.
10. Determining the Outcome of a Match
A goal is scored when the ball fully crosses the goal line between the posts and under the bar, provided the scoring team has not committed any offence.
The team scoring more goals wins. If neither does, the game ends in a draw, and the competition’s football rules and regulations decide what happens next.
11. Offside
This is one of the most argued-about laws in the sport, and the one most often misunderstood.
A player is in an offside position if they are in the opponents’ half and closer to the opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent. This is not a violation per se. It becomes one only when the player gets involved: playing or touching the ball, challenging an opponent for it, blocking the goalkeeper’s line of sight, or otherwise interfering. If they stay out of it, play continues.
For example, a striker is level with the last defender’s shoulder when the through-ball is played, sprints clear and strikes. That is a goal, because the position is judged at the moment the ball is played, not when the striker receives it. But if that same striker moves half a stride beyond the defender at the moment of the pass, it is considered offside.
12. Fouls and Misconduct
Fouls are committed by being careless (free kick), reckless (yellow card), or excessively forceful (red card). Holding, pushing, tripping, and handballing are also fouls.
Yellow cards are also given for dissent, persistent fouling, delaying the restart, and unsporting behaviour. Two yellows in a match lead to a red, and the offending player must leave the field.
This law also holds the goalkeeper’s eight-second rule, introduced for 2025/26. If the goalkeeper controls the ball with their hands for more than eight seconds, they concede a corner kick to the opposition.
13. Free Kicks
There are two free kicks: direct that can be struck straight into the goal, and indirect, which must be touched by two players.
Opponents must retreat 9.15 metres from the player taking the free kick. If an attacking team forms a wall of three or more players, defenders must stay a metre away from it. For example, a midfielder is tripped 25 metres from goal. That is a direct free kick. However, if a defender plays the ball deliberately back to his goalkeeper, who picks it up, that is an indirect free kick inside the penalty area. The player cannot score directly, so it has to be rolled to a teammate first.
14. The Penalty Kick
A penalty is awarded when a defender commits a direct free kick offence inside their own penalty area, like tripping, pushing, kicking the opponent. The ball is placed on the spot, 11 metres out, and every other player must be outside the area, behind the ball (at least 9.15 metres away.)
The goalkeeper must keep at least part of one foot on or in line with the goal line until the ball is kicked. They can move along the line, but not off it.
For example, a defender slides in, misses the ball entirely, and hits the attacker’s standing leg inside the box. That’s a penalty, regardless of intent. If the same happens outside the line, it becomes a direct free kick instead.
15. The Throw-In
If a player kicks the ball out of the touchline (boundary) the opposition team gets the ball to restart play. They must kick it from the exact spot where the ball crossed the line, with their feet on or behind the touchline.
Players cannot score directly from a throw-in, and the thrower cannot touch the ball again until someone else does. Since 2026/27, referees use a 5-second countdown for players dawdling over a throw. If they exceed the time, the throw goes to the other team.
16. The Goal Kick
It is awarded when an attacker puts the ball over the goal line without scoring. The defender (or the goalkeeper) can place it anywhere in the goal area (the six yard box). The ball is in play as soon as it is kicked.
Opponents must stay outside the penalty area until the kick is taken. The same five-second countdown for time-wasting applies, and here the punishment is a corner to the opposition.
17. The Corner Kick
This is awarded when a defender puts the ball over their own goal line without scoring. The ball is placed inside the corner arc nearest to where it went out. Opponents must stay 9.15 metres from the arc until then, and the kicker cannot touch it twice before another player hits the ball.
For example, a defender under pressure stretches to clear a cross and slices it behind his own goal line. This gives a corner to the attacking team. And yes, players can score directly from one. It is quite rare though, which is why a goal from a corner kick is called the Olympic goal.
Football Rules and Regulations
The 17 Laws are the constitution. IFAB writes and publishes the football rules annually. National associations, confederations, and individual leagues then adopt them.
Some competitions may choose to add local by-laws that sit on top of them, as the Laws grant a limited set of permitted variations. For example, competitions can decide how many substitutes are allowed, whether VAR is used, how long extra time lasts, and whether ties are settled by replays or penalties. Smaller associations like youth, veterans, disability, football get even more lax football rules and regulations on the size of the pitch, or rolling substitutions.
What competitions cannot do is invent their own offside rule or redefine handball. However, the referees get some leeway to apply the “spirit of the game” clause in Law 5. This allows them to depart from the letter of the law if sticking to it would be plainly unfair. It is used sparingly though.
Why are there exactly 17 Football Rules?
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) was formed in 1886 by four British football associations: England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. It was done to settle disagreements over how the game should be played.
FIFA joined in 1913 and the football rules and regulations were created in 1938. The content inside them has changed enormously, like the back-pass rule, red and yellow cards, VAR, and offside. But the number has remained at 17 since its inception.
FIFA holds four of the eight votes; the four British associations hold one each. Changing a law requires six votes, meaning neither FIFA nor the British associations can push a change through alone.
New provisions get folded into an existing law rather than creating another.
Common Football Rule Violations
- Offside: Attackers are constantly timing runs against a defensive line, which is why they run offside frequently. Top competitions use stadium cameras, VAR, ball sensors and semi-automated offside technology in the top competitions.
- Handball: If a player touches the ball with hand or arm deliberately, or if the arm is in an unnaturally raised position that makes the body bigger, it becomes a handball offense. The player may be given a yellow or red card or a two minute suspension.
- Dangerous play: This is an action that’s deliberately done to injure a player, like a high boot near an opponent’s head, or ducking into a swinging leg. When this happens the opposition is awarded an indirect free kick.
- Reckless tackles: If a player challenges the attack without regard for the opponent’s safety, they are given a yellow card. If the tackle endangers the opponent, that is serious foul play and a straight red.
- Dissent: Only the captain is allowed to argue with the referee, or approach him about a major decision. A player who leaves the pitch in protest at a decision is sent off.
FAQs
What are the official football rules?
The official football rules cover the pitch, the ball, the players and their equipment, the officials, the duration of a match, offside, fouls, and every method of restarting play. The current edition is the 2026/27 Laws, published by IFAB, and in force since 1st July 2026.
How many football rules are there?
There are 17 football rules. The number has been fixed since 1938, when the rulebook was first created. New provisions are added inside the existing laws rather than creating new ones.
Who creates the official rules of football?
IFAB or the International Football Association Board creates these rules. It has eight votes: four held by FIFA and one each by the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish football associations. Six votes are needed to change a law, and proposals are reviewed annually.
What is the offside rule?
An attacker is considered offside if they enter in the opponents’ half of the field, crossing even the last defender or the ball. Note that just standing offside is not an offense. It becomes a violation if they become involved in active play like touching the ball, challenging for it, or obstructing the goalkeeper.
What is the handball rule?
Handball is deliberately touching the ball with your hand or arm. If a ball deflects onto a hand while it’s being held naturally against the body, that is not an offence.
How long do football matches last?
Football matches are spread over two halves of 45 minutes, plus stoppage time added by the referee at the end of each. The half-time break is 15 minutes. Knockout matches that finish in a tie go to two extra periods of 15 minutes, followed by penalties.
What is the size of a football pitch?
For international matches, football pitches are 100-110 metres long and 64-75 metres wide. Goals are 7.32 metres wide and 2.44 metres high.
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