Soccer Restarts Explained: Every Way Play Starts Again

Every stoppage in a soccer match ends with one of seven restarts, and which one you get is decided by two questions in order: did the ball leave the field, and if so, where — and if it didn't, why did the referee stop play? Answer those two and you can call almost every restart on a youth field before the whistle tells you.

Soccer restarts are usually explained one at a time, which is useful only once you already know which one you're looking at. It's no help in the moment that actually confuses people on a Saturday morning — the ball squirts out, three parents shout three different things, and nobody is sure whether it's a corner, a goal kick or a throw.

This is the map: every way play starts again, what triggers it, who takes it, and the detail in each one that catches people out.

What are the seven soccer restarts?

Law 8 names them all. The kick-off "starts both halves of a match, both halves of extra time and restarts play after a goal." Free kicks, penalty kicks, throw-ins, goal kicks and corner kicks are the others — and "a dropped ball is the restart when the referee stops play and the Law does not require one of the above restarts."

Eight rows, seven restarts — direct and indirect free kicks are both Law 13, split only by whether the ball can go straight in.

How do you know which restart it is?

Work it in this order and you will almost never be wrong.

1. Did the whole ball leave the field? All of it, past all of the line, on the ground or in the air. A ball sitting on the line is still in play.
2. Over a touchline — throw-in to the team that did not touch it last.
3. Over a goal line without a goal — last touch decides. Attacker, and it's a goal kick. Defender, including an accidental deflection, and it's a corner.
4. Into the net — goal, then kick-off to the team that conceded.
5. Still on the field, but the referee stopped play — was there an offence? Then a free kick, or a penalty kick if it was a direct-free-kick offence inside the offender's own penalty area.
6. No offence, none of the above? Dropped ball.

Step five is where most of the disagreement lives. Step six is the one most people have never thought about at all.

What are the kick-off rules?

Law 8's procedure is short: every player except the kicker must be in their own half, opponents must be at least 9.15 m (10 yds) from the ball, the ball is stationary on the centre mark, the referee signals, and the ball is in play "when it is kicked and clearly moves."

Two things surprise people:

• You can score straight from a kick-off. Law 8 says so explicitly. If the ball somehow goes directly into the kicker's own goal, it's a corner to the opponents — not an own goal.
• Nothing in Law 8 requires the ball to go forward, and nothing requires two players. One player rolling it backwards is a legal kick-off. Law 8 also confirms the kicker may stand in the opponents' half before the kick: "This position is permitted for the kicker."

What are the throw-in rules?

A throw-in goes to the opponents of whoever touched the ball last before it crossed the touchline. The thrower must face the field, keep part of each foot on the touchline or outside it, and deliver the ball with both hands from behind and over the head, from the point where it went out. Opponents stand at least 2 m (2 yds) away.

You cannot score directly from a throw-in: into the opponents' goal it's a goal kick, into the thrower's own goal a corner.

The retake rule catches coaches out, because it turns on where the ball ended up. A bad throw that never enters the field is retaken by the same team. A bad throw that does enter the field goes to the opposition. That's the whole difference, and our guide to what makes a throw legal covers the rest.

There is now a clock on it, too. Under Law 15, a referee who judges a throw-in is being deliberately delayed whistles and counts down five seconds with a raised hand; if the ball isn't in play by zero, the throw-in is awarded to the other team.

Goal kick or corner kick: what decides it?

The last touch, and nothing else. An attacker touched it last and the defending team gets a goal kick from anywhere inside the goal area; a defender touched it last and the attacking team gets a corner.

Two details do most of the arguing on youth fields:

• The ball does not have to leave the penalty area on a goal kick. It's in play the moment it is kicked and clearly moves. A keeper rolling it two yards to a centre-back standing inside the six is legal and deliberate.
• A corner kick does not have to leave the corner arc, and the corner flagpost must not be moved — a real rule, not a formality.

Both restarts, plus the 2019 change behind the first one, are broken down in our full guide to goal kick and corner kick rules.

Worth knowing: a corner is no longer only a last-touch award. Law 17 now also lists it as the sanction when the referee penalises "the goalkeeper for controlling the ball with their hand(s)/arm(s) for more than eight seconds," and when a player delays a goal kick past the five-second countdown.

How do free kicks and penalty kicks restart play?

A free kick is taken from where the offence happened, the ball must be stationary, and it's in play when kicked and clearly moves. Opponents retreat 9.15 m (10 yds) unless they're on their own goal line between the posts.

The wall rule is the one people miss: where three or more defenders form a wall, attacking players must stay at least 1 m (1 yd) away from it, and an attacker who doesn't concedes an indirect free kick. Whether a kick is direct or indirect also decides what a goal is worth — an indirect free kick straight into the opponents' net is a goal kick, not a goal — and our explainer on direct vs indirect free kicks covers which offences produce which.

A penalty kick follows a direct-free-kick offence inside the offender's own penalty area. Everyone except the kicker and the goalkeeper stands at least 10 yards from the penalty mark, behind it, inside the field and outside the penalty area. When the ball is kicked the goalkeeper must have "at least part of one foot touching, in line with, or behind, the goal line" — not both feet planted, which is the version most people still quote.

One more thing separates these from the restarts above: a player can be offside from a free kick. Law 11 exempts only goal kicks, throw-ins and corners.

What is a dropped ball, and who gets it?

The restart nobody can name, and the one that changed most.

A dropped ball is what happens when the referee stops play and no other restart fits: a serious injury with no foul, a burst ball, an object thrown onto the field, or the ball hitting the referee in a way that changes possession.

Who gets it is no longer a contest:

• Ball inside the penalty area when play stopped — the referee drops it for the defending goalkeeper.
• Ball outside the penalty area — it's dropped for one player of the team that "has or would have retained or gained possession," and if the referee can't determine that, the team that last touched it.
• Everyone else, both teams, stays at least 4 m (4.5 yds) away until the ball is in play, which happens the moment it touches the ground.

The contested two-player drop, where a striker and a defender squared up over a bouncing ball, no longer exists — and neither does the old convention of politely kicking it back to the other team. The Law now hands possession to the right side automatically.

Two quirks follow from the wording. A goal cannot be scored from a dropped ball unless at least two players touch it first; if it goes straight in, it's a goal kick or a corner depending on which net. And once the ball touches the ground it is simply in play, so an opponent who respected the 4-yard distance is entitled to run in and win it. The player it was dropped for has no protected first touch.

What changes on a youth field?

The restarts themselves don't change. The space around them does.

At U9 and U10 in US Soccer's 7v7 standards, a build-out line is marked across each half, and on a goal kick or whenever the goalkeeper has the ball in hand, the opposing team retreats behind that line rather than just outside the penalty area. Punts and drop kicks are removed at the same time. The keeper doesn't have to wait for the retreat to finish — the ball is live as soon as it's kicked and clearly moves.

The countdowns are the other practical difference. A referee working a U10 game is managing throw-in technique, not time-wasting, so you'll meet the five-second count at high school level long before you meet it at U10.

What this looks like from the sideline

Three things to take to Saturday:

1. Last touch decides everything at the goal line. A shot that clips your own defender on the way wide is a corner, however unlucky it looks.
2. A short goal kick played inside the box is legal. It has been since 2019, and it's why young teams are coached to play out from the back.
3. If play stops for an injury, the ball comes back to whoever was going to have it anyway. Nobody needs to arrange a sporting kick-back.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the seven soccer restarts?

Kick-off, throw-in, goal kick, corner kick, free kick (direct or indirect), penalty kick, and dropped ball. Law 8 of the Laws of the Game lists them, and defines the dropped ball as the restart used whenever the referee stops play and none of the others is required.

Can you score directly from a kick-off?

Yes. Law 8 states that a goal may be scored directly against the opponents from the kick-off. If the ball goes directly into the kicker's own goal instead, no own goal is given — the opposing team is awarded a corner kick.

What is a dropped ball in soccer and who gets it?

A dropped ball restarts play when the referee has stopped it and no other restart applies, such as a serious injury with no foul. If the ball was in the penalty area, it is dropped for the defending goalkeeper. Otherwise it is dropped for one player of the team that would have kept or gained possession. All other players must stay 4 m (4.5 yds) away until the ball touches the ground.

Can you be offside from a throw-in or a corner kick?

No. Law 11 says there is no offside offence if a player receives the ball directly from a goal kick, a throw-in, or a corner kick. Those three are the only exemptions — a player can be offside from a free kick or from a dropped ball.

What happens if a team takes too long on a throw-in or a goal kick?

The referee whistles and counts down five seconds with a raised hand. If the ball is not in play by the end of it, a delayed throw-in is awarded to the opposing team from the same spot, and a delayed goal kick becomes a corner kick for the opposing team. A yellow card follows only if the same team then delays the opposition's restart too.