Soccer Rules

Start with the most common questions

• Soccer game length — regulation time, half-time, added time, extra time and competition differences.
• What Does a Red Card Mean? — sending-off offences, DOGSO, second caution and what happens next.
• Throw-in rules — legal technique, opponent distance, second touch and the 2026/27 delay countdown.
• Indirect Free Kicks — raised-arm signal, common offences and direct-vs-indirect difference.
• Assistant Referee Signals — throw-in, goal kick, corner, offside and substitution signals.
• What Is a Soccer Pitch? — field dimensions, markings and surfaces.
• Offside Rule in Soccer — offside position, active involvement, second-last opponent and common myths.
• Obstruction / Impeding — legal shielding vs impeding an opponent.
• U11 Soccer Rules — U.S. 9v9 development framework and local-rule caveats.

How we handle rule differences

IFAB is the primary source for the global Laws of the Game. Youth, high-school, college and competition-specific rules can differ, so those pages identify the governing ruleset rather than treating one format as universal.

Four rule groups to understand first

Match structure

Start with player numbers, match duration, field markings and the ball entering or leaving play. These rules describe the environment before they describe an offence. Competition rules may set substitution procedures, extra time and age-specific match lengths within the permitted framework.

Use the game-length guide for regulation time, added time and extra time. Use the pitch guide for touchlines, goal lines, penalty areas and permitted dimensions.

Restarts

A restart depends on why and where play stopped and which team last touched the ball. Throw-ins, goal kicks, corner kicks, kick-offs, dropped balls, free kicks and penalty kicks each have their own location and procedure.

Two questions prevent many misunderstandings:

1. Can a goal be scored directly from this restart?
2. When is the ball in play?

The throw-in and indirect-free-kick guides work through those details with practical examples.

Fouls, misconduct and discipline

A foul and a card are related but not identical decisions. A referee may award a direct or indirect free kick for an offence without showing a card. A caution records misconduct; a sending-off removes the player or team official for the remainder of the match.

Read what a red card means for the sending-off categories and red-card match procedure for what happens after the decision. Competition organizers, not the match referee alone, determine later suspensions under their regulations.

Offside

Offside is judged in two stages: position when a teammate plays or touches the ball, then involvement in active play. Being in an offside position is not an offence by itself. The offside guide explains interfering with play, interfering with an opponent, gaining an advantage and the second-last-opponent reference.

Official law or competition rule?

The IFAB Laws provide the global foundation. A competition can still define matters such as permitted substitutions, whether a tied match uses extra time, disciplinary consequences after the match and certain youth modifications.

For U.S. youth soccer, state associations and leagues may implement small-sided standards differently. For college soccer, NCAA rules are a separate ruleset. For high-school soccer in the United States, the applicable school-sport rules also differ from IFAB in places. When preparing for a match, use the handbook named by the competition.

How to check a disputed decision

1. Identify the exact moment and restart.
2. Separate the referee's factual judgment from the written rule.
3. Find the governing ruleset for that competition.
4. Read the whole relevant provision, including definitions and exceptions.
5. Check whether the law changed for the current season.

A short video clip can show what happened, but it does not always reveal the referee's angle, communication or all surrounding players. Use it to frame the question, not to invent certainty that the available evidence cannot support.

Current source

The primary reference for the global game is the IFAB Laws of the Game documents. Each detailed rule page links to the relevant law or competition material where a changing fact requires it.