Match basics
Match basics
Before looking at fouls, offside or restarts in detail, it helps to understand the basic shape of a football match — how teams are set up, how long the game lasts, and what counts as a goal.
The two teams
Football is played between two teams, each with one player designated as goalkeeper.
Each team can have a maximum of eleven players on the pitch at any time, including the goalkeeper. A match cannot start or continue if either team has fewer than seven players. If a team drops below that number, the match cannot resume once play has stopped.
Teams also have substitutes named on the team sheet who can come on during the match. The number of substitutions allowed varies by competition, but a team cannot have more than eleven players on the pitch at once.
How long matches last
A standard match lasts 90 minutes, split into two halves.
First half
45 minutes, starting from kick-off in the centre of the pitch.
Half-time interval
A break of up to 15 minutes between the two halves.
Second half
45 minutes, starting with a kick-off taken by the team that did not start the first half.
Added time
Extra minutes added at the end of each half to make up for time lost to stoppages, injuries, substitutions and goal celebrations.
Stoppage time and extra time
Time can be added on for two different reasons, and the two are often confused.
Stoppage time, often called added time or injury time, is added at the end of each half to make up for time lost during play. It is decided and indicated by the referee, with a board showing the minimum number of additional minutes.
Extra time is different. In competitions that require a winner after a drawn knockout match, two further periods of up to 15 minutes may be played. If the scores are still level after extra time, the match is usually decided by a penalty shoot-out.
How matches start and restart
A kick-off is used at the start of each half and after a goal has been scored.
The kick-off is taken from the centre mark. All players, except the player taking the kick-off, must be in their own half, and opposition players must be at least 9.15 metres (10 yards) from the ball until it is in play. The ball is in play when it is kicked and clearly moves.
A goal can be scored directly from kick-off, although this almost never happens because the ball is usually played sideways or backwards to a teammate.
When the ball is in and out of play
The ball is not always live during a match. Knowing when it is in play and when it is out of play is one of the most important basics.
In play
The ball is in play whenever it has not fully crossed a boundary line and the referee has not stopped play. It usually remains in play if it rebounds off a goalpost, crossbar or corner flagpost, but special dropped-ball rules apply if it touches a match official and affects possession, an attack or a goal.
Out of play
The ball is out of play when the whole of it crosses a goal line or touchline, on the ground or in the air, and when play has been stopped by the referee — for example for a foul, an injury, or a goal.
What counts as a goal
A goal is the only way to score in football, and the rule is precise.
A goal is awarded when the entire ball crosses the goal line between the goalposts and beneath the crossbar, provided no offence has been committed by the attacking team in the build-up. Even a tiny part of the ball still touching the goal line means the whole ball has not crossed it, and no goal is given.
Goal-line technology is used in many top competitions to make this judgement instantly and reliably. The referee receives a signal as soon as the ball has crossed the line.
Match officials
A football match is controlled by a small team of officials, with the referee in overall charge.
Referee
Manages the match, applies the laws of the game, keeps the time, and has final say on all in-game decisions.
Assistant referees
Two assistants run along the touchlines, helping with offside, throw-ins and incidents the referee may have missed.
Fourth official
Manages the technical area, oversees substitutions and supports the on-pitch officials.
Video assistant referee
In competitions that use VAR, an off-field official checks limited match-changing incidents, such as goals, penalties, direct red cards and mistaken identity.
What to read next
Once you have a feel for how a match is structured, the next step is to look at how it actually flows from one moment to the next.