Football rules for beginners: offside, fouls, cards and restarts

Football is the easiest sport to start: a ball and some space are enough, and Kota’s school grounds, colony parks and turf venues are full of games every evening. But once you join a school team, a league or a tournament, the rules suddenly matter, and offside in particular confuses many new players and parents. This guide explains the football rules for beginners: the basics of a match, offside step by step, fouls and handball, free kicks and penalties, cards and restarts. It is based on the Laws of the Game written by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which the All India Football Federation and FIFA competitions follow. Local events sometimes adapt the Laws, especially for younger players and small-sided turf games.

For where to play and train in the city, see our guide to football in Kota.

The basics of a match

• Teams: 11 players each, one of them the goalkeeper. A match cannot start or continue if a team has fewer than seven players.
• Duration: two halves of 45 minutes, plus time added by the referee for stoppages. Youth matches are usually shorter.
• Substitutes: the number allowed is set by the competition. Many senior competitions allow up to five; local leagues and school events vary.
• The ball is out of play only when the whole ball has crossed the touchline or goal line, on the ground or in the air. A ball on the line is still in play.
• A goal is scored when the whole ball crosses the goal line between the posts and under the crossbar.
• Kick-off: starts each half and restarts play after a goal. The ball may be kicked in any direction, and a goal can be scored directly from it against the opponents.

Children play with smaller balls on smaller pitches; our guide to football size by age explains which ball to buy.

Offside explained step by step

Offside is Law 11. It has two parts: being in an offside position, and committing an offside offence.

Step 1: Are you in an offside position?

At the moment a teammate plays or touches the ball, you are in an offside position if all three of these are true:

1. You are in the opponents’ half of the pitch (the halfway line itself counts as your own half).
2. Some part of your head, body or feet is nearer to the opponents’ goal line than the ball.
3. That part is also nearer to the goal line than the second-last opponent. Usually the goalkeeper is the last opponent and the deepest outfield defender is the second-last.

Your hands and arms do not count. If you are level with the second-last opponent, or level with the ball, you are onside.

Step 2: Is it an offence?

Being in an offside position is not an offence by itself. You are penalised only if you then become involved in active play, for example by:

• playing or touching the ball passed by your teammate;
• interfering with an opponent, such as blocking the goalkeeper’s line of sight or challenging for the ball;
• gaining an advantage, for example by playing a ball that rebounds to you off the post, the crossbar, an opponent or the goalkeeper.

Step 3: The exceptions

There is no offside offence if you receive the ball directly from a goal kick, a corner kick or a throw-in. It is also not offside if the ball comes to you from an opponent who deliberately played it, except when that opponent was making a save.

The penalty for offside is an indirect free kick to the defending team from where the offence happened.

A simple habit for attackers

When your teammate is about to pass, glance across the pitch at the deepest defenders. Stay level or behind until the ball is played, then run. Coaches call this “timing your run”.

Fouls and handball

A direct free kick is given when a player, in a way the referee judges careless, reckless or with excessive force, kicks, trips, pushes, charges, strikes, jumps at or tackles an opponent. It is also given for holding an opponent, impeding with contact, spitting at someone, and deliberate handball.

Handball is an offence when a player:

• deliberately touches the ball with the hand or arm;
• makes their body unnaturally bigger with the hand or arm, for example arms raised away from the body as the ball is struck;
• scores in the opponents’ goal directly from their own hand or arm, even accidentally.

The goalkeeper may handle the ball inside their own penalty area, but not when a teammate deliberately kicks it back to them or throws it to them directly from a throw-in.

An indirect free kick is given for technical offences such as offside, playing in a dangerous manner without contact (for example a high kick near an opponent’s head), impeding without contact, and some goalkeeper offences, such as handling a deliberate back-pass from a teammate’s foot. The Laws also limit how long a goalkeeper may hold the ball; IFAB reviews details like this every year, so check the current edition of the Laws.

Free kicks and penalties

• At any free kick, opponents must stand at least 9.15 metres (10 yards) from the ball until it is in play.
• A goal can be scored directly from a direct free kick. From an indirect free kick, the ball must touch another player first; the referee signals an indirect free kick by raising an arm.
• If a direct free kick offence is committed by a defender inside their own penalty area, the attackers get a penalty kick from the penalty mark, 11 metres (12 yards) from the goal.
• At a penalty, all other players stay outside the penalty area and arc, and the goalkeeper must have at least part of one foot on or in line with the goal line when the kick is taken.

The referee may also play advantage: if stopping play would punish the team that was fouled, play continues and the referee can still caution the offender later.

Cards

• Yellow card (caution): for unsporting behaviour, dissent, persistent fouls, delaying the restart, not respecting the free-kick distance, and similar offences.
• Red card (sending-off): for serious foul play, violent conduct, spitting, denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by handball, offensive language, and for a second yellow card in the same match.

A player who is sent off cannot be replaced.

Restarts when the ball goes out

• Throw-in: when the ball crosses the touchline. The thrower faces the field, keeps part of each foot on or behind the line, and throws with both hands from behind and over the head.
• Goal kick: when the attackers last touched the ball before it crossed the goal line. It is taken from anywhere in the goal area.
• Corner kick: when the defenders last touched it before it crossed their goal line. A goal can be scored directly from a corner.

Small-sided and turf football

Five-a-side and seven-a-side turf games in Kota often use house rules: no offside, kick-ins instead of throw-ins, rolling substitutions and a smaller goal area. Agree these before you start. Wear the right shoes for the surface; our guide to football boots for turf explains the differences.

Rules beginners often get wrong

• “You are offside in your own half.” You cannot be.
• “Level is offside.” Level is onside.
• “Any ball touching a hand is handball.” Only deliberate or unnaturally positioned handling, with a few exceptions.
• “The ball on the line is out.” It is in until the whole ball crosses.

Learning the rules in practice

Ask your coach to stop small-sided games and explain offside decisions as they happen. Build match fitness with our guide on how to improve stamina for sports, and warm up properly to protect hamstrings and groins with our warm-up exercises before sports. Parents choosing a first club can read our guide to the best age to start sports for kids, and players looking for events should see sports tournaments in Kota.

For other sports and venues, browse all our Kota sports guides.