Basic Rules of Soccer

The basic rules of soccer are very simple. You have two teams of 11 players on each side of a field approximately 100 yards in length and 60-70 yards wide. At opposite sides of the field, lengthwise, is a goal, made of two upright posts joined at the top by a crossbar and rectangular in shape. Each team tries to get the ball into their opponents’ goal, using their feet or head. The team with most goals at the end of 90 minutes wins.

Soccer is the most popular game in the world, both for players and spectators. One of its attractions is that the rules are simple and few.

While only 11 players from each team are allowed on the field during play, a team’s squad can consist of more players, often up to 23. The coach can keep extra players on the bench and substitute up to three of them during the course of a game, or match, as it is popularly called in the British-influenced parts of the world.

Of the 11 players, one of them is the goalkeeper, who stands between the posts and tries to stop his team’s opponents from scoring. The goalkeeper is the only member of the team who is allowed to use his hands to stop the ball inside the playing field.

He can do this when making a save or carrying the ball before kicking or throwing it to his outfield players. However, the goalkeeper can only handle the ball inside the 18-yard box that extends from his goal line.

Outfield players are prohibited from using their hands to touch the ball except when the ball goes out from the field of play through the sidelines. In this case, they can put the ball back in play through a throw-in. For a throw-in, the player stands on the touchline, and with both feet planted on the ground, he throws the ball with two hands back into play. If he uses one hand or if one or both feet leave the ground, it is a foul throw.

A typical match consists of two halves, each half lasting 45 minutes. At half-time, the players change sides. During knockout tournaments, when there has to be a winner and ties, or draws, are not allowed, the match may be extended by an extra 30 minutes should the score remain equal (0-0, 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 etc) after 90 minutes.

If the scores are still level after 120 minute, including extra-time 30 minutes of two-15-minute halves, there are two possible solutions. Depending on the competition, sometimes the teams return another day for a replay. However, a more common decider is to have a penalty shootout, when five players from each team take turns trying to score from the penalty spot, which is 12 yards from the goal.

If the scores are still level after five penalties each, they continue in a “sudden death” format until one team misses.

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