Penalty Kick Rules Explained: Encroachment, Retakes and the Keeper's Line

A penalty should be the simplest moment in football: one player, one goalkeeper, one ball, 12 yards. Yet penalties cause more arguments than almost anything else in the game. A keeper saves it and has to face it again. A striker scores and the goal is wiped off. Players crowd the edge of the box and nobody seems sure who stepped in too early.

Nearly all of that comes down to a handful of rules in Law 14 of the Laws of the Game, the rulebook written by football's lawmakers, the IFAB. This guide goes through them in the order a penalty actually happens: setting up the kick, what the goalkeeper and taker are allowed to do, encroachment, and the situations that lead to a retake.

Setting up the kick

Before the referee blows the whistle, four things must be in place under Law 14:

1. The ball is still and on the spot. It must be stationary, with at least part of it touching or overhanging the centre of the penalty mark.
2. The taker is clearly identified. The referee needs to know who is taking it. If a different team-mate suddenly runs up and takes it instead, the kick does not count, the defending team gets an indirect free kick, and the player who took it is booked.
3. The goalkeeper is on the line. More on this below.
4. Everyone else is out of the way. All other players must be on the pitch, outside the penalty area, behind the penalty mark, and at least 9.15 metres (10 yards) from the spot.

That last rule is why the semicircle on the edge of the box, the penalty arc, exists. It marks the 9.15-metre distance from the spot, so nobody can stand inside it.

The ball is in play once it is kicked and clearly moves. It must go forward, although a backheel is allowed as long as the ball travels forward.

What the goalkeeper can and cannot do

The goalkeeper has the toughest job and the strictest rules. Until the ball is kicked, he must stay on the goal line, between the posts, facing the taker.

He is allowed to move along the line, wave his arms and bounce on his toes. What matters is the moment of the kick. At that instant, at least part of one foot must be touching the goal line, in line with it, or behind it. Both feet do not need to be on the line, and the keeper does not need to stand still. A keeper who has both feet clearly off his line when the ball is struck has committed an offence.

He also cannot unfairly put the taker off, for example by delaying the kick or touching the posts, crossbar or net.

What happens next depends on how the kick turns out:

• The penalty goes in anyway: the goal stands. The keeper's offence made no difference.
• The keeper saves it: the kick is retaken, because his offence helped stop a goal.
• The taker misses, or hits the post or bar: it is retaken only if the keeper's offence clearly affected the taker. If it made no clear difference, the miss stands.

A keeper is warned the first time he offends at a penalty in a match, and shown a yellow card for any repeat.

What the penalty taker can and cannot do

The taker has more freedom than the keeper, but not unlimited freedom.

Feinting in the run-up is allowed. Stutter steps, a slowed run, a sudden pause: all legal while the taker is still running up. Faking the kick once the run-up is complete is not. If a taker stops at the ball and pretends to shoot to send the keeper the wrong way, the referee gives an indirect free kick to the defending team, even if the ball goes in, and books the taker.

The ball must go forward. Kicking it backwards to a team-mate is an offence, and so is a team-mate taking the kick instead of the identified taker. Both end with an indirect free kick to the defence.

No second touch. After the kick, the taker cannot play the ball again until another player has touched it. If the keeper saves and the ball comes back to the taker, he can score from the rebound. If it comes back off the post or crossbar, he cannot touch it until someone else has. A deliberate second touch gives the defending team an indirect free kick, or a direct free kick if it is a handball.

Slips count too. If the taker accidentally kicks the ball with both feet, or it hits his standing leg straight after the kick, the outcome depends on the result. If it goes in, the kick is retaken. If it does not, the defence gets an indirect free kick.

Encroachment: who stepped in too early?

Encroachment means a player entering the penalty area, or getting closer than 9.15 metres to the spot, before the ball is kicked. It is common at penalties, which is why the Laws only punish it when it actually matters.

Under the current Law 14, encroachment is only penalised if:

• an attacker who encroached clearly affected the goalkeeper, or played or challenged for the ball and then scored, shot or created a chance; or
• a defender who encroached clearly affected the taker, or played or challenged for the ball and stopped the attackers scoring, shooting or creating a chance.

When encroachment does count, the referee looks at who did it and whether the penalty went in:

The logic is simple: the team that broke the rule should never gain from it. An attacker who encroaches cannot keep a goal. A defender who encroaches cannot keep a miss.

When is a penalty retaken?

Put everything above together and a penalty is retaken in these situations:

1. An attacker encroaches in a way that matters, and the penalty is scored.
2. A defender encroaches in a way that matters, and the penalty is not scored.
3. Players from both teams encroach, whatever the result.
4. The goalkeeper's offence stops a goal, or clearly affects a taker who then misses.
5. The taker accidentally touches the ball twice, or it hits his standing leg, and it goes in.
6. Something from outside the game, like a second ball or a spectator, touches the ball as it moves forward. The exception: if the ball was going in anyway and the interference did not stop the keeper or a defender from playing it, the goal stands, unless the attacking team caused the interference.

A retake does not have to be taken by the same player. Any team-mate can take it, as long as the referee knows who it is.

Four penalty myths

• "The keeper must keep both feet on the line." No. Part of one foot touching, in line with, or behind the line is enough.
• "Takers can't stop in their run-up." They can. What they cannot do is fake the kick once the run-up is finished.
• "Any encroachment means a retake." Only encroachment that clearly affects the kick or the play that follows is punished.
• "A retake must be taken by the same player." It can be taken by any clearly identified team-mate.

The short version

The ball sits still on the spot, everyone else stays out of the box and behind the ball, and the keeper keeps part of one foot on his line until it is struck. The taker can be as clever as he likes in the run-up, but not once he has reached the ball. And whenever someone breaks a rule, the referee asks one question: did the team that broke it benefit? If they did, the kick is taken again or given the other way.

For more plain-English explainers on the laws of the game, from offside to VAR, visit the Kheloexch football rules section.

Source: IFAB, Law 14: The Penalty Kick, Laws of the Game.