1 kick
You can score directly from a goal kick against the other team
6 min readLast updated
Photo: Emha · CC BY-SA 3.0
The short answer
A legal goal kick can score directly in the opponents’ goal. The permission is one-way: a goal kick entering the kicker’s own goal directly gives the opponents a corner.
Why it's true
A goal kick normally follows the whole ball crossing the goal line after an attacker’s last touch, without a goal having been scored. The name describes the restart, not the player who must take it. Any player of the defending team may take a legal goal kick.
The ball must be stationary and can be kicked from anywhere within the goal area. That small rectangle is not the larger penalty area. This gives the defending team a choice of restart position without permitting a kick from an arbitrary point elsewhere in its defensive third.
By the numbers
1
Direct opposing goal permitted
0
Requirement to leave the penalty area
Any player
Eligible defending-team kicker
How we know
IFAB Law 16 allows a goal to be scored directly from a goal kick, but only against the opposing team. A goal kick entering the kicker’s own goal directly produces a corner for the opponents. The permission is therefore not a blanket statement that every untouched goal-line crossing counts.
A goal kick is a particular restart following the whole ball crossing the goal line after an attacker’s last touch, when no goal has been scored. It is not a generic name for any long kick by a goalkeeper. A punt from the hands during open play belongs to a different legal sequence.
Worth remembering
- A direct goal can count against the opponents.
- Any defending player may take the restart.
- The ball need not leave the penalty area.
In context
Law 11 adds another useful feature: there is no offside offence from receiving a goal kick directly. A forward can therefore wait beyond the normal defensive line and receive the restart without that position alone producing an offence. Once a team-mate subsequently plays the ball, the ordinary assessment can apply again.
Do not confuse the goal area with the penalty area. The former is the smaller rectangle from which the stationary ball may be kicked; the latter is the larger area opponents must generally leave before the restart becomes live. These two rectangles have different jobs in the same procedure, which is why saying merely inside the box is often imprecise.
A closer look
From the small rectangle to the far goal
The ball must be stationary and may be kicked from any point within the goal area. Any player of the defending team can take it. A goalkeeper often does so for practical reasons, but the law does not reserve the restart to that position. A defender taking the kick has the same direct-scoring permission.
A legal kick that travels all the way into the opponents’ goal without another player touching it can count. The rarity of the distance does not change the rule. Wind, bounce and a goalkeeper caught forward may explain how such an event happens, but the entitlement comes from the restart law, not from how unusual the flight looks.
The opposite direction is treated differently. If the kick enters the defending team’s own goal directly, the referee awards a corner rather than an own goal. If the kicker touches the ball again before anyone else, the second-touch rules must also be considered; the simple direct-entry example assumes no such intervening action.
Why short goal kicks are already live
The ball is in play when it is kicked and clearly moves. It no longer has to leave the penalty area before another player can receive it. A short pass to a nearby defender inside the area can therefore begin normal play, allowing teams to build possession close to goal instead of automatically launching the ball downfield.
Opponents must be outside the penalty area until the ball is in play. The law recognises that opponents may sometimes remain because they had no time to leave; their presence does not automatically demand a retake. Touching or challenging before the ball is in play is a different matter. Timing, not just location in a frozen image, is crucial.
The kicker may not touch the ball again before another player does. A goalkeeper cannot tap the restart and then immediately handle it as though the first kick had no legal effect. The sanction depends on the nature of the second touch and the relevant goalkeeper provisions. A live ball is not an unrestricted invitation for the taker to start again.
Related facts
Compare the direct-goal permission with the different result for an untouched throw-in. A football throw-in cannot score a goal directly.
Football likewise separates a player’s position from the later action that creates an offence. Being in an offside position is not itself an offence.
For a different geometric distinction, examine the pitch and the larger field of play. A cricket pitch is 22 yards long, but the whole field is not.
Rugby’s try and conversion show why one attack can produce separate scoring events. A rugby union try and conversion are worth seven points together.
Key terms
- Goal kick
- Kick that may score directly in opponents’ goal.
- Direct own goal from goal kick
- Into own goal directly: opponents’ corner.
People also ask
Must the goalkeeper take it?
No. Any player of the defending team may take a goal kick. The player’s position does not change the rule permitting a direct goal against the opponents.
Must the ball leave the penalty area?
No. It becomes live when kicked and clearly moving. A team-mate may receive it inside the penalty area, subject to the other restart requirements.
Can it score an own goal directly?
No. A goal kick entering the kicker’s own goal directly gives the opponents a corner. An intervening touch can produce a different legal sequence.
Can an advanced forward receive it directly?
Yes. Receiving directly from a goal kick is an express offside exception. A subsequent team-mate touch can establish a new offside reference moment.
Where may the stationary ball be placed?
Anywhere within the goal area, the smaller rectangle in front of goal. It cannot simply be placed anywhere in the larger penalty area.
