Football Rules Explained: A Beginner’s Guide to the Game

Football looks simple until someone shouts “offside” and half the stadium disagrees with the other half. Two teams, one ball, two goals. Underneath that simplicity sits a set of rules, officially called the Laws of the Game, that decide almost everything that happens on the pitch.

This guide walks through those laws the way a friend would explain them at the side of the pitch. No jargon left unexplained, no assumption that you already know what a “second phase” of an attack means. By the end, you should be able to watch a match involving the Super Eagles, the Harambee Stars or any club in the NPFL or Kenya’s SportPesa League and understand why the referee made the call they made.

The Quick Answer: Football’s Core Rules at a Glance

If you only have two minutes, here’s the shape of the game.

Rule Area	The Basics
Match length	90 minutes, split into two 45-minute halves
Team size	11 players per side, including a goalkeeper
Scoring	A goal counts when the whole ball crosses the goal line between the posts and under the crossbar
Offside	An attacker can’t be nearer the goal line than the ball and the second-last defender when a team-mate passes to them
Fouls	Careless or reckless contact or handball, gives the other team a free kick or penalty
Cards	Yellow is a caution; two yellows or one straight red sends a player off
Substitutions	Most top-level competitions allow up to five, made across three stoppages plus half-time
Extra time	Used in knockout matches still level after 90 minutes; if still level, it goes to a penalty shootout

Each of these is worth unpacking, because the details are where the confusion usually lives.

Who Makes the Rules

Football’s laws aren’t written by any single country or league. They’re set by the International Football Association Board, known as IFAB, which brings together FIFA and the football associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. IFAB reviews and updates the Laws of the Game every year, with changes typically taking effect around the middle of the year so leagues have time to prepare.

The current version, the Laws of the Game 2026/27, took effect on 1 July 2026. Competitions that start their season earlier, such as a World Cup, are allowed to apply the changes ahead of that date and competitions already underway can delay adoption until their next season begins.

This matters for a beginner because rules you read in an old book or an outdated website might already be behind what referees are actually applying today. The 2026/27 edition added a few notable changes on top of the previous season’s laws: a five-second countdown for delayed throw-ins and goal kicks, a ten-second limit for a substituted player to leave the pitch and a rule that a team responsible for a match being abandoned or unable to continue because it drops below seven players will, in principle, forfeit that match.

The 17 Laws of the Game

Everything in this guide sits inside a framework IFAB calls the 17 Laws of the Game. You don’t need to memorise the list, but knowing it exists helps explain why the rules feel organised rather than random once you’ve watched enough matches.

The laws cover, in order: the field of play, the ball, the players, the players’ equipment, the referee, the other match officials, the duration of the match, the start and restart of play, the ball in and out of play, determining the outcome of a match, offside, fouls and misconduct, free kicks, the penalty kick, the throw-in, the goal kick and the corner kick. This guide walks through most of them in plain language below, grouped by what a beginner actually needs to understand a match rather than in strict numerical order.

How a Match Works

A standard adult match runs for 90 minutes, broken into two halves of 45 minutes each, with a break of no more than 15 minutes at half-time. The referee adds extra minutes at the end of each half to make up for time lost to injuries, substitutions, goal celebrations and other stoppages. This is often called stoppage time or injury time and the amount is at the referee’s discretion, though the fourth official usually signals a minimum figure.

Each team fields 11 players, one of whom must be the goalkeeper. A match cannot start or continue, if a team drops below seven players. Before kickoff, a coin toss decides which team kicks off and which end each team defends in the first half and the teams switch ends for the second half.

The pitch itself is rectangular, with a goal at each end, a centre circle for kickoffs and a penalty area in front of each goal where different rules apply, particularly around fouls and handball. Beyond that, the specific dimensions of the pitch, the ball and the goal are allowed to vary within ranges set by IFAB, which is why a professional stadium and a school pitch can both host legal football matches.

Scoring a Goal

A goal is scored when the entire ball crosses the goal line, between the two posts and underneath the crossbar, provided no offence like a foul or offside happened in the buildup. It doesn’t matter which part of the body sends it in, except the goalkeeper’s hands or an outfield player’s hand or arm, which would instead be a handball offence.

The team with the most goals when the match ends wins. If both teams have scored the same number, the match is a draw, unless the competition’s rules require a winner, in which case extra time and a penalty shootout may follow.

Fouls and Misconduct

A foul happens when a player commits an offence against an opponent while the ball is in play, most commonly through careless, reckless or excessive-force contact. Common examples include kicking, tripping, pushing or charging an opponent. The severity of the contact decides the punishment: a careless foul earns a free kick, a reckless one can add a yellow card and using excessive force can mean a straight red card.

Handball is its own category and trips up a lot of new fans. It’s an offence when a player deliberately touches the ball with their hand or arm, when their hand or arm makes their body unnaturally bigger in a way that interferes with play or when a goal is scored directly off a player’s hand or arm, even if it wasn’t deliberate.

A ball that strikes an arm that’s tucked naturally against the body, in a normal playing position, is usually not penalised, which is why handball decisions can look inconsistent to a casual viewer even when they’re following the letter of the law.

Offside, Explained With an Example

Offside is the rule beginners struggle with most, so it helps to walk through it step by step rather than just reading the definition.

What Is an Offside Position?

A player is in an offside position if, at the moment a team-mate plays the ball to them, they are nearer to the opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent. In practice, the second-last opponent is usually the last outfield defender, since the goalkeeper is normally the last one. A player level with the second-last opponent, not ahead of them, is not in an offside position.

Being Offside Isn’t Always an Offence

Being in an offside position is not, by itself, an offence. A player is only penalised for offside if they become involved in active play from that position, by touching the ball, interfering with an opponent or gaining an advantage from being there. This is the part that trips people up: a player can be standing in an offside position and nothing happens, as long as they don’t touch the ball or affect the play while there.

A worked example makes it clearer. Imagine a striker standing level with the last defender when a team-mate passes the ball forward. If the striker is not ahead of that defender at the moment the pass is made, they’re not offside, even if they run ahead of the defender a second later to collect the ball. Offside is judged at the moment the ball is played, not at the moment it’s received.

When Is a Player Never Offside?

There are situations where offside never applies. A player cannot be offside if they receive the ball directly from a goal kick, a corner kick or a throw-in. And a player is never offside in their own half of the pitch, even if they’re the furthest forward player on the pitch at that moment.

Offside and Goalkeeper Throws

One clarification introduced in the 2025/26 laws and still in force under the current 2026/27 edition, affects goalkeepers specifically: when a goalkeeper throws the ball out to a team-mate, the last point of contact with the ball, rather than the moment the throw begins, is what’s used to judge whether that team-mate is offside.

How VAR Checks Offside

Where VAR is available, offside is one of the situations it can review after a goal is scored, using frame-by-frame video and, in top competitions, semi-automated offside technology that tracks player positions electronically. VAR only intervenes to correct a clear error in the original offside call; it doesn’t replace the assistant referee’s judgement on marginal, correctly-flagged decisions.

Penalties

A penalty kick is awarded when a defending player commits a foul or a handball offence inside their own penalty area. It’s taken from the penalty spot, 11 metres from the goal line, with only the goalkeeper allowed to defend it. Every other player must stay outside the penalty area and the penalty arc until the kick is taken.

Because a penalty is such a high-probability scoring chance, referees and video assistant referees, where available, tend to scrutinise penalty-area contact closely, which is part of why decisions inside the box often draw more debate than fouls elsewhere on the pitch.

Free Kicks: Direct and Indirect

There are two types of free kick and the difference matters because only one of them can result in a goal without the ball touching another player first.

A direct free kick can be shot straight at goal and counted if it goes in. It’s awarded for more serious fouls, such as kicking, tripping or handball. An indirect free kick, signalled by the referee raising an arm, must touch another player, from either team, before a goal can be given. It’s awarded for less serious offences, like dangerous play that doesn’t involve contact or a goalkeeper holding the ball for too long.

Opposing players must stay at least 9.15 metres, roughly 10 yards, from the ball until it’s kicked, unless they’re standing on their own goal line between the posts.

Corners and Throw-Ins

A corner kick is awarded to the attacking team when the ball goes out over the goal line, having last touched a defending player, without a goal being scored. It’s taken from the corner arc nearest to where the ball went out and a goal can be scored directly from it.

A throw-in is awarded when the ball crosses either touchline, the side boundary of the pitch and goes to the team that didn’t touch it last. The thrower must keep both feet on or behind the touchline and use both hands, releasing the ball from behind and over the head. Unlike a corner, a goal cannot be scored directly from a throw-in; the ball must touch another player first.

Cards: Yellow and Red

Cards are how referees record and escalate discipline during a match. A yellow card is a caution, shown for offences like reckless fouls, persistent minor infringements, dissent or unsporting behaviour such as excessive celebration. A player who receives two yellow cards in the same match is shown a second yellow followed immediately by a red card and is sent off.

A red card can also be shown directly, without a prior yellow, for serious offences such as violent conduct, denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity through a foul or serious foul play. A sent-off player takes no further part in the match and their team continues with one fewer player, since substitutes cannot replace a red-carded player.

Substitutions

For most of football’s modern history, teams were limited to three substitutions per match. That changed in May 2020, when IFAB introduced five substitutions on a temporary basis to protect player welfare during the fixture congestion caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The change proved popular enough that IFAB made it a permanent option in the Laws of the Game from the 2022/23 season onward.

It’s worth being precise here: the Laws of the Game permit competitions to allow up to five substitutes in senior football, but they don’t force every competition to use that number. The actual limit is set by whichever body organises the competition, whether that’s FIFA, a confederation like CAF or a national federation such as the NPFL board or the Football Kenya Federation.

Where a competition does allow five substitutes, each team gets a maximum of three substitution windows during normal time, plus a separate opportunity at half-time that doesn’t count against that limit. Making several changes during the same stoppage still only uses up one window.

Once a player is substituted off in senior football, they cannot return to the pitch later in the same match; return substitutions are only permitted in youth, veterans, disability and grassroots football where the relevant association allows it. Under the 2026/27 laws, a substituted player also has ten seconds to leave the field once the substitution process starts; if they take longer, their replacement has to wait until the next stoppage after a further minute has passed, a change aimed at cutting down time-wasting.

Since March 2024, competitions can also opt into an additional, permanent concussion substitution and this remains in place under the current laws. If a player has an actual or suspected concussion, they can be replaced without it counting against the team’s normal substitute allowance, reflecting football’s growing focus on player safety.

Not every competition uses the maximum. Some leagues and grassroots competitions still choose to allow only three substitutes. There’s also a narrow exception for senior international friendlies: under the 2026/27 laws, those matches can use up to eight substitutes or as many as eleven if both teams agree in advance, though the three-window structure still applies.

Extra Time and Penalty Shootouts

Extra time only applies in knockout competitions, such as cup finals or tournament knockout rounds, where a winner must be found on the day. If the score is level after 90 minutes, two additional periods of 15 minutes are played. If the teams are still level after extra time, the match moves to a penalty shootout.

In a shootout, each team takes five kicks initially, alternating, with the goalkeeper as the only defender. If the score is still tied after five kicks each, it moves to sudden death, where each team takes one kick at a time until one team has scored more than the other after an equal number of kicks.

League matches that end level, by contrast, are simply recorded as a draw. There’s no extra time or shootout in normal league play, since a draw is a valid result there.

The Referee and VAR

The referee is the final authority on the pitch, supported by assistant referees who help judge offside and out-of-bounds decisions along the touchlines. In many professional competitions, referees are also supported by the video assistant referee or VAR, a system that reviews certain decisions using camera footage.

VAR is typically used only for four categories: goals and whether there was an offence in the buildup, penalty decisions, direct red card incidents and cases of mistaken identity when a card is shown to the wrong player. It’s designed to correct clear and obvious errors rather than replace the referee’s judgement on marginal calls, which is why VAR reviews don’t happen on every disputed decision.

Common Misconceptions Beginners Have

A few misunderstandings come up again and again with new fans.

Offside is not about being ahead of the ball when your team-mate has it; it’s about your position at the exact moment the ball is passed. A player can also be in an offside position without committing an offside offence, as long as they don’t get involved in play from there.

Handball isn’t automatic just because the ball touches a hand or arm. Deliberate contact or an unnaturally larger body shape, is what typically matters, not accidental contact with an arm held close to the body.

A draw is not always followed by extra time. It only happens in knockout matches where a winner is required; in league football, the match simply ends as a draw.

Football in Nigeria and Kenya

Both countries have deep footballing cultures that make these rules matter beyond the stadium. Nigeria’s men’s national team, the Super Eagles and Kenya’s Harambee Stars are followed closely at home and by large diaspora audiences and both countries compete in tournaments organised by the Confederation of African Football or CAF, including the Africa Cup of Nations and CAF’s continental club competitions.

Domestically, Nigeria’s top division is the Nigeria Premier Football League, commonly abbreviated NPFL. Kenya’s top division was long known as the Kenyan Premier League and is now named the SportPesa League under a new sponsorship agreement, though it remains organised by the Football Kenya Federation or FKF. Understanding the Laws of the Game the same way FIFA and CAF apply them means a fan can follow an NPFL match, a Harambee Stars qualifier or a Champions League fixture involving a Super Eagles player and interpret the same offside call or red card the same way in every case.

Official Sources

This guide is built directly on the Laws of the Game as published by football’s law-making body, along with the domestic and continental organisations mentioned throughout:

• IFAB, the International Football Association Board, for the Laws of the Game 2026/27 and its official law-change summaries
• FIFA, for how the laws are applied in international competition
• CAF, the Confederation of African Football, for continental competition rules
• The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) board, for Nigeria’s domestic top flight
• The Football Kenya Federation (FKF), for Kenya’s domestic top flight

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 17 Laws of Football? They’re the framework IFAB uses to organise the entire rulebook, covering everything from the field of play and the ball to offside, fouls and the corner kick. This guide explains most of them in plain language, grouped by what a beginner needs rather than in strict numerical order.

What is offside in football, in one sentence? A player is offside if they’re nearer to the opponents’ goal line than the ball and the second-last defender when a team-mate passes to them and they then get involved in the play from that position.

How many players are on a football team? Eleven per side are on the pitch at once, including the goalkeeper, though squads include substitutes who can be brought on during the match.

What is a handball in football? It’s when a player touches the ball with their hand or arm deliberately or makes their body unnaturally bigger with their hand or arm in a way that affects play or scores directly off their hand or arm, even by accident.

What’s the difference between a foul and misconduct? A foul is a specific offence against an opponent, like a trip or a push, that happens while the ball is in play. Misconduct is broader and covers things like dissent, unsporting behaviour or violent conduct, which can be punished with a card independently of or alongside, a foul.

Can a goalkeeper score a goal? Yes. There’s no rule stopping a goalkeeper from scoring, including from open play, free kicks or penalties, though it’s rare because of their defensive role.

Can a player be offside from a goal kick? No. A player cannot be penalised for offside if they receive the ball directly from a goal kick, in the same way they can’t from a corner kick or a throw-in.

How long is a football match? A standard match is 90 minutes, played in two 45-minute halves, plus any stoppage time the referee adds for delays during play.

What happens if the score is level at full time? In league matches, it stays a draw. In knockout matches that require a winner, the teams play extra time and, if still level, a penalty shootout.

Can you score directly from a corner kick? Yes. A goal scored directly from a corner kick counts.

Can you score directly from a throw-in? No. The ball must touch another player before a goal can be scored from a throw-in.

What’s the difference between a direct and an indirect free kick? A direct free kick can be shot straight into the goal. An indirect free kick must touch another player before a goal is valid.

How many substitutes are allowed in a match? It depends on the competition. Many top-level leagues and international competitions allow up to five, used across three stoppages plus half-time, though some competitions still cap it at three.

Does a player sent off get replaced? No. A red-carded player leaves the match and cannot be replaced, so their team plays the rest of the match with one fewer player.

What is VAR and does every match use it? VAR is the video assistant referee system used to review goals, penalties, direct red cards and mistaken identity. Not every competition uses it, since it requires camera infrastructure and officials trained to operate it.