Football Rules: A Beginner's Guide
Published on 29 October 2026
Football looks simple until the referee blows the whistle and half the crowd disagrees with the decision. The good news is that the whole sport runs on just seventeen Laws, written by the International Football Association Board, known as IFAB, and applied the same way from a World Cup final to a village pitch. This beginner's guide explains the football rules that actually matter when you watch a match: how long it lasts, what offside really means, what earns a card, how VAR works, and how penalties and substitutions work.
The basics: players, time and the objective
A match is played between two teams of eleven players each, including one goalkeeper per team. A team must have at least seven players on the pitch for a match to start or continue; drop below seven and the match is abandoned. The objective is simple: score more goals than the opposition by getting the whole ball over the opponent's goal line, between the posts and under the crossbar, without breaking the Laws in the process.
A standard match lasts 90 minutes, split into two halves of 45 minutes with a half-time interval of up to 15 minutes. The clock does not stop, so the referee adds stoppage time at the end of each half for time lost to injuries, substitutions, time-wasting and VAR checks. That is why you see a fourth official holding up a board showing two, four or six extra minutes: those minutes are added, not extra. Knockout matches that need a winner go to extra time, two periods of 15 minutes, and then to a penalty shootout if still level. There is no golden goal: both periods of extra time are always played in full.
Offside: the rule everyone argues about
Offside is the most misunderstood rule in football, but its core is simple. A player is in an offside position if, when the ball is played to them by a teammate, they are nearer to the opponent's goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent. The second-last opponent is usually the last outfield defender, because the goalkeeper is normally the last opponent. Being in an offside position is not itself an offence: the player must also be involved in active play, by touching the ball, interfering with an opponent, or gaining an advantage from the position.
Three exceptions matter. There is no offside offence directly from a goal kick, a throw-in or a corner kick, which is why attackers crowd the box at corners without worrying about the line. A player in their own half cannot be offside. And a player level with the second-last opponent is onside, not offside: level is not off. The assistant referee, the official running the touchline with a flag, judges offside, and in top competitions semi-automated offside technology now helps make those calls faster and more accurate. The purpose of the rule is to stop goal-hanging: without it, attackers would simply stand by the opponent's goal waiting for a long ball.
Fouls, free kicks and cards
A foul is an unfair challenge or act against an opponent, and the referee punishes it with a free kick to the other team. Direct free kicks, from which a goal can be scored directly, are given for the serious offences: kicking, tripping, pushing, holding, jumping at an opponent, or handling the ball deliberately. Indirect free kicks, from which the ball must touch another player before a goal counts, are given for less serious offences, like dangerous play, impeding an opponent without contact, or the goalkeeper holding the ball too long.
Misconduct is punished with cards. A yellow card is a caution: a formal warning recorded against the player. Two yellow cards in one match equal a red card, and the player is sent off. A straight red card is shown for serious foul play, violent conduct, denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by a foul, or offensive language or gestures. A sent-off player cannot be replaced, so their team plays the rest of the match with ten players. Players who are sent off are usually suspended for at least the next match, with longer bans for serious offences.
Two details confuse newcomers. First, not every foul is a card: referees judge whether a foul was careless, reckless or made with excessive force, and only reckless and dangerous challenges earn cautions. Second, the referee can play advantage: if the fouled team still has a good attacking chance, the referee lets play continue and can caution the offender at the next stoppage. Stopping every foul would punish the team that was fouled.
Penalties, handball and set pieces
A penalty kick is awarded when a direct free-kick offence is committed by a defender inside their own penalty area. The kick is taken from the penalty spot, twelve yards from goal, with only the goalkeeper to beat, and all other players must stay outside the area and behind the ball until it is kicked. Penalty shootouts, used to decide knockout ties, are different: five kicks each, alternating, then sudden death if still level. Goals in a shootout do not count toward the match score or a player's season tally; they exist only to decide who advances.
Handball is the rule that causes the most arguments, because it has changed several times in recent years. In simple terms, a player is penalised for deliberately handling the ball, or for making their body unnaturally bigger to block it, including scoring a goal directly with the hand or arm. Accidental contact, especially when the arm is in a natural position close to the body, is usually not penalised. The exact interpretation varies slightly by competition, which is why similar incidents sometimes produce different decisions.
The restarts you see most often are throw-ins, goal kicks and corner kicks. A throw-in restarts play when the ball crosses the touchline, taken by the team that did not touch it last, with both feet on the ground and the ball thrown from behind the head with both hands. A goal kick is taken by the defending team when the ball crosses the goal line last touched by an attacker. A corner kick is taken by the attacking team when the ball crosses the goal line last touched by a defender. These restarts are simple, but they produce a large share of goals, which is why teams practise set pieces so carefully.
Substitutions: five changes, limited windows
Teams may now use five substitutes in a match, a rule made permanent after its introduction during the pandemic. The catch is that the five changes must be made in a maximum of three substitution opportunities during play, plus half-time, so a coach cannot stop the game five separate times. A sixth substitute is allowed in extra time in competitions that adopt the rule. Substituted players cannot return in senior professional football, although some youth and grassroots competitions allow return substitutions.
This matters tactically. Coaches use substitutions to add fresh legs against tired defenders, to change shape, to protect a lead with a defensive player, or to chase a goal with an extra attacker. A team that uses all its windows early has no way to respond to an injury or a tactical change late in the game, which is why coaches often keep one change in reserve. Concussion substitutes, an additional permanent change for a player with a suspected head injury, are also available in competitions that have adopted IFAB's protocol.
VAR: what it can and cannot do
The video assistant referee, or VAR, reviews four types of incident: goals, penalty decisions, direct red card decisions, and cases of mistaken identity. The VAR watches replays and tells the referee if there is a clear and obvious error or a serious missed incident. The referee can accept the advice, watch the pitch-side monitor, or stick with the original decision. VAR does not re-referee the whole match: it intervenes only on those four categories, and only when the error is clear, not when a decision is merely debatable.
That limit explains most VAR frustration. A soft foul in midfield cannot be reviewed. A yellow card cannot be reviewed unless it should have been a red. And because offside is a factual call, not a judgement call, VAR checks every goal for offside, even marginal ones, which is why goals are sometimes disallowed for a toe being ahead of the last defender. In some competitions, referees now announce the outcome of a VAR review to the stadium, a change IFAB has allowed competitions to adopt.
Recent changes worth knowing
The Laws change slightly almost every year, and the 2025/26 edition brought two changes fans notice. Goalkeepers who hold the ball for more than eight seconds are now penalised with a corner kick to the opposition, with the referee counting down the final five seconds, replacing the old indirect free-kick punishment that referees almost never applied. And the "only the captain" guideline, under which only the team captain may approach the referee to discuss a decision, has been strengthened, with IFAB announcing it will become a compulsory protocol for all competitions from 1 July 2027. Both changes aim at the same thing: less time-wasting and more respect for officials. If you want the vocabulary that goes with these rules, our football terms glossary explains every word commentators use, and our football formations explained guide shows how coaches organise within them. For how results turn into tables, see our football scores explained guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is a football match?
Ninety minutes, split into two halves of 45 minutes, plus stoppage time added by the referee for delays. Knockout matches that need a winner go to extra time and then penalties.
What is offside in simple terms?
A player is offside if they are nearer the opponent's goal than both the ball and the second-last opponent when a teammate plays the ball to them, and they are involved in active play. There is no offside from a goal kick, throw-in or corner.
What does a red card mean?
A red card sends a player off, and their team plays the rest of the match with one fewer player. It follows a straight red for a serious offence, or two yellow cards in the same match.
How many substitutes can a team use?
Five substitutes, made in a maximum of three opportunities during play plus half-time, with a sixth allowed in extra time in competitions that adopt the rule.
What can VAR review?
Only four things: goals, penalty decisions, direct red card decisions, and mistaken identity. It intervenes only for a clear and obvious error, not for debatable judgement calls.
What happens if a goalkeeper holds the ball too long?
Under the 2025/26 Laws, a goalkeeper who controls the ball with their hands for more than eight seconds concedes a corner kick to the opposition.
