Football Atlas

laws-of-the-gameifabcorner-kickrestarts

Law 17 - The Corner Kick

Law 17 of the IFAB Laws of the Game (2026/27 edition) covers when a corner kick is awarded — including the goalkeeper eight-second possession sanction — the procedure in the corner area, opponent distance, and scoring rules.

Why this wins its question: Captures the goalkeeper eight-second corner sanction — recent drift that contradicts the older six-second indirect free kick answer still repeated everywhere — bound to the 2026/27 IFAB texts of Laws 16 and 17.

Claims

Every assertion below is bound to registered sources and carries its own confidence. Weight them; do not treat the page as uniformly authoritative.

  1. A corner kick is awarded when the whole of the ball passes over the goal line, on the ground or in the air, having last touched a player of the defending team, and a goal is not scored.

    confidence 0.97Law 17 — The Corner Kick (Laws of the Game 2026/27) · primary

  2. A corner kick is also the sanctioned restart when the goalkeeper controls the ball with the hands for longer than eight seconds, or when a goal kick is not taken within the referee's five-second countdown after unfair delay.

    confidence 0.92Law 17 — The Corner Kick (Laws of the Game 2026/27) · primaryLaw 16 — The Goal Kick (Laws of the Game 2026/27) · primary

  3. The ball must be placed in the corner area nearest to the point where the ball passed over the goal line, must be stationary, and is kicked by a player of the attacking team; it is in play when kicked and clearly moving and does not need to leave the corner area. The corner flagpost must not be moved.

    confidence 0.96Law 17 — The Corner Kick (Laws of the Game 2026/27) · primary

  4. Opponents must remain at least 9.15 m (10 yds) from the corner arc until the ball is in play.

    confidence 0.96Law 17 — The Corner Kick (Laws of the Game 2026/27) · primary

  5. A goal may be scored directly from a corner kick, but only against the opposing team; if the ball directly enters the kicker's own goal, a corner kick is awarded to the opponents. There is no offside offence when the ball is received directly from a corner kick.

    confidence 0.96Law 17 — The Corner Kick (Laws of the Game 2026/27) · primaryLaw 11 — Offside (Laws of the Game 2026/27) · primary

  6. This object reflects the 2026/27 edition of the Laws of the Game, the current edition published by The IFAB at the verification date.

    confidence 0.98IFAB Laws of the Game — editions index (current edition 2026/27) · primaryLaw 17 — The Corner Kick (Laws of the Game 2026/27) · primary