A guide to the essentials of soccer for casual viewers and the soccer curious. Two American fans, one of whom owns a soccer team, give you everything you need to join the excitement around the fastest growing sport in the US, just in time for the World Cup! In short, entertaining episodes, We cover the rules, strategy, leagues, and more, comparing soccer with the major American sports. We'll help you wrap your head around, and maybe even fall in love with, the beautiful game.
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The 2026 World Cup kicks off on June 11, and this episode of Soccer Explained walks through how the whole tournament works. It is bigger than ever: 48 teams instead of 32, three host countries instead of one, and a new round added to the knockout stage. So even if you have watched the World Cup before, this format will be unfamiliar. Below is a summary of what we covered. For the stories, banter, and our Pitch Side segment on two recent, legendary World Cup matches (highlights from one of them here), give the full episode a listen!
How Teams Qualify
Qualifying for this World Cup started back in September 2023 and only wrapped up in March 2026. It takes so long because national-team players are scattered across club teams all over the world, and national teams have other competitions, so qualifiers have to be slotted in around domestic league seasons and other tournaments.
FIFA divides the world into six regions, and each one gets a fixed number of slots. Europe gets 16, Africa 9, Asia 8, South America 6, CONCACAF 6, and Oceania 1. CONCACAF, in case you were wondering, is a Frankenstein word smashed together from the names of the smaller soccer organizations covering North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
That adds up to 46 teams. Then there’s an intercontinental playoff, where six teams from every region except Europe compete for the remaining two spots. This year, those went to Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Where the Games Are Played
The tournament runs from June 11 through the final on July 19. With three host countries spread across a huge stretch of the continent, FIFA grouped teams geographically so nobody has to fly from Mexico City to Vancouver between matches. Mexico will host games in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey. Canada will host in Toronto and Vancouver. The US will host in 11 cities: Boston, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Houston, and Dallas.
The big later-round games are spread out. The quarterfinals are in Boston, LA, Miami, and Kansas City. The semifinals are in Dallas and Atlanta. And the final will be played in New York/New Jersey (it’s MetLife Stadium, where the New York Jets and Giants play… in New Jersey).
The Group Stage
The tournament starts with a group stage, which is not a knockout bracket. There are 12 groups of four teams, labeled A through L. Each team plays the other three in its group once, so every team is guaranteed three matches no matter what. That is a big difference from tournaments like March Madness: you do not fly home after a single loss.
Standings work the same way as regular soccer leagues. Three points for a win, one for a draw, zero for a loss. The top two teams in each group automatically advance to the knockout round. The eight best third-place teams across the twelve groups also move on, which gets us up to 32 teams for the knockout stage. The third-place teams moving past the group stage are part of what is new this year.
If two teams end up tied on points, the tiebreakers run in this order: head-to-head result, goal differential, total goals scored, fair-play score based on yellow and red cards, and finally FIFA world rankings. If more than two teams end up tied, the tiebreakers are even more complicated and not worth going into here. We can all let the TV commentators sort it out for us.
One more group-stage detail worth knowing: the two matches in the final round of each group are played simultaneously. This keeps competition high because teams don’t know what the outcome of the other game will be.
The Knockout Stage
Once the group stage ends, the tournament becomes a single-elimination bracket, just like March Madness. There are five rounds: the round of 32, the round of 16, the quarterfinals, the semifinals, and the final. Additionally, the two semifinal losers play a third-place match before the final.
Starting in the round of 32, draws are not allowed. If a game is even after 90 minutes, it goes to extra time. If it is still tied after that, there is a penalty kick shootout.
Cards and Suspensions
The standard match rules still apply. Two yellow cards in a single game get a player sent off and suspended for the next match. One red card does the same, and FIFA can tack on extra games or even a fine if the red-card foul was particularly bad.
The wrinkle in tournament play is cumulative yellow cards. If a player picks up single yellows in each of the first two group-stage matches, they are suspended for the third. Ditto for single yellows in the rounds of 32 and 16: the player will be suspended for the quarterfinal. One new rule this year: players won’t be suspended from a semifinal or the final for cumulative yellow cards. For multiple reds, there is no cumulative rule or escalating punishment.
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Follow the show to hear one American fan who owns a soccer team and one who works for her explain the essentials of soccer in short, digestible episodes. We also tell stories and share our passion for the game so you can join the excitement around America’s fastest-growing sport.
On this episode of Soccer Explained, we tackled something every casual viewer needs: the words. If you’ve ever been confused by commentators throwing around terms like nutmeg, xG, or closing the angle, this post is a cheat sheet for the stats and gameplay terminology you’ll hear during broadcasts. For stories to illustrate these terms, some soccer history, and our answer to a listener question about why the US women’s national team is so dominant, listen to the full episode.
The Stats You’ll See on the Broadcast
Shots on target, also called shots on goal, are shots that would go in if nothing stopped them. When a keeper stops one, that’s a save. A block is different: that’s when an outfield player, meaning any player who isn’t the goalkeeper, interferes with a shot or pass.
An interception is when a defender cuts off a pass and takes possession, as opposed to a block, where they don’t take possession. A tackle is when a defender challenges a player with the ball and takes it away, like a steal in basketball. A tackle in soccer has nothing to do with tackling in football. Nobody is getting leveled (unless of course, someone commits a foul).
Goals and assists work the way you’d expect, with one wrinkle: own goals. An own goal is when a defender unintentionally puts the ball into their own net. But if an attacker takes a shot that was on target and the ball deflects off a defender into the goal, that’s still a regular goal for the shooter. The distinction is whether the shot was on target.
Assists go to the last player who passed to the goal scorer. Treencee’s favorite unofficial stat is the assist to the assist (officially, the “secondary assist”), the pass before the pass that led to the goal. That often comes from the real playmaker who saw the attack developing before it happened.
You’ll also see pass completion percentage, both for individuals and teams as a whole. And possession percentage, the share of time each team had the ball. On many professional broadcasts you’ll see expected goals, or xG, which uses historical data to estimate how many goals a team should have scored based on the quality of their shots. It’s soccer’s sabermetrics.
Terms for How Players Move the Ball
Terms for Strategic Moves and Fancy Footwork
Shape, Channels, and the Top of the Box
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S1E6 Refs and Discipline Explained: Yellow Cards, Red Cards, Free Kicks, Penalties, and More
Saison 1
jeudi 16 avril 2026 • Durée 31:18
If you’ve ever watched a soccer match and wondered why a referee whipped a brightly colored card out of their pocket, you’re not alone. On this episode of Soccer Explained, we break down sanctions (the official term for the discipline players receive for breaking rules) and the officials who keep the game running. This post covers the highlights, but the episode also has stories, tangents, and the origin story of perhaps Soccer’s greatest heel. Give it a listen!
Yellow Cards and Red Cards
Not every foul gets an official sanction. Sometimes the ref gives a verbal warning first, which is informal. It doesn’t have real consequences for discipline, unlike, say, a baseball ump signaling to the dugout. But when things escalate, out come the cards. Refs carry actual physical cards in their pockets that they flash at players to indicate they’re giving out a sanction. A yellow card is an official caution, also called a “booking” because the ref writes the player’s name and the details of their foul in a little notebook. Two yellows in one game and the player is sent off, meaning their team plays the rest of the match a player down. A red card is an immediate ejection with the same consequence.
How bad is playing down a player? Imagine a power play in hockey that lasts the entire game. It completely transforms the match.
Coaches and staff can get carded too, and a red card usually means sitting out the next game or more in that league or tournament, even if the suspension has to carry over to a future season or competition.
How Play Restarts After a Foul
When a foul happens, play usually stops, with one big exception: the advantage rule. If the fouled team actually benefits from play continuing, the ref lets it go. Think of it like declining a penalty in football, except the ref makes the call instead of the coaches. They signal it by extending their arms so everyone knows the foul was seen, and they wait for the next stoppage in play to hand out any sanctions.
The most common restart is an indirect free kick, where the fouled team gets to restart play with the ball where the foul happened, but can’t shoot directly at the goal. Two players on their team have to touch the ball before a shot. Defenders have to stand at least 10 yards away from the ball until play resumes, unless the kicking team opts for a quick restart and the defenders didn’t have time to take their position.
How Refs Choose Sanctions
Who Are All These Referees?
The Human Element
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S1E5 Soccer Rules Explained: Handballs, Offside, Diving, and More
Saison 1
jeudi 9 avril 2026 • Durée 33:22
In this episode of Soccer Explained, we walk through the basics of the rules you need to know to enjoy a game. This is part one of a two-parter. Next time we’ll get into the punishments for breaking these rules, plus the referees who enforce them. Listen to the whole episode for the laughs and stories, including one of the greatest goals in soccer history, and another that might be the most controversial, both by Argentinian legend Diego Maradona in a single World Cup match.
Handballs
The basic rule is simple. Outfield players can’t touch the ball with their hands or arms below the armpit. Goalkeepers can use their hands, but only inside their own penalty area.
Of course, every soccer rule has exceptions. If a player’s arm is in a “natural position” and the ball happens to hit it, the ref will usually let it go. If the arm is in an “unnatural position,” it’s a handball even if the contact wasn’t on purpose. Refs use the natural versus unnatural position idea as a stand-in for intent, since they can’t read minds.
Two more wrinkles to know. First, if a player scores a goal immediately after the ball touched their arm, it’s a handball regardless of intent. Second, even goalkeepers inside the penalty area have limits. If a teammate deliberately passes the ball to the keeper, the keeper can’t pick it up. Once the keeper has handled the ball and let it go, they can’t pick it up again until another player touches it.
The Offside Rule
First, a public service announcement from us. It’s offside, not offsides. No “S.”
Here’s the setup. You’re in an offside position when four things are true at the same time. Your team has the ball, you’re on the opponent’s half of the field, you’re ahead of the ball, and you’re behind the second to last opponent. Why second to last? The rule is really trying to make sure you’re not just hanging out behind the last defender with only the keeper between you and the goal. But as long as any two opposing players are between you and the goal, you’re not offside.
Being in an offside position is not, by itself, illegal. The violation happens when a player in an offside position gets involved in the play. That means touching the ball, interfering with a defender, grabbing a rebound, or otherwise gaining an advantage for your team as they try to score.
Challenges and Fouls: Going for the Ball, Not the Person
Diving: Soccer’s Most Controversial Habit
Time Wasting
Substitutions: It’s Complicated, So Here’s the World Cup Version
Technical Area Rules
Dissent: Don’t Argue With the Ref
Excessive Celebration
Offensive Speech and Racism
That’s Part One
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S1E4 The Structure of a Soccer Match Explained: A Roadmap from Kickoff to the Final Whistle
Saison 1
jeudi 2 avril 2026 • Durée 21:03
On this episode of Soccer Explained, we break down the basics of how a soccer game proceeds, from the opening kickoff to the final whistle, extra time, and penalty shootouts. Below is a summary of what we covered, but as always, listen to the full episode for the stories, laughs, and passion that make the beautiful game so fun!
If you need a refresher on the different parts of a soccer pitch, check out the post and handy diagram from episode 2, The Soccer Pitch Explained!
The Basics: Kick the Ball, Don’t Use Your Hands
You probably know the big idea: soccer is the one where you try to kick the ball into the big goal, and you can’t use your hands. More precisely, you cannot intentionally touch the ball with your hands or arms. There are two exceptions: the goalkeeper can handle the ball inside the penalty area, and players throw the ball in when it goes out of bounds over the touchline. Otherwise, keep your mitts off the ball.
Soccer Rarely Stops for Weather
Soccer is played in just about any weather. Officials can stop games due to weather if the players are actually in danger, but that almost never happens. We talked about the 2025 Canadian Premier League championship game that was played in a blizzard, featuring an incredible bicycle kick goal that the press dubbed “the icicle kick.”
How the Game Is Structured
A soccer match is 90 minutes long, split into two 45-minute halves with about a 15 or 20-minute halftime. So the whole game takes roughly two hours. There’s a coin toss before the match. The winning captain chooses to either kick off or pick which goal to attack in the first half. The team that lost the coin toss does whichever option is not selected by the winner. Teams switch sides of the pitch at halftime, and whichever team didn’t kick off the first half gets to kick off the second.
When Does Gameplay Stop?
One thing that makes soccer unique: gameplay rarely stops, and when it does, it’s usually brief. Here are the main reasons play pauses:
The Clock and Stoppage Time
Extra Time (a.k.a. Overtime)
Penalty Kick Shootouts: The Most Nerve-Wracking Thing in Sports
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S1E3 Soccer Positions Explained: A Guide to Every Player on the Field
Saison 1
jeudi 26 mars 2026 • Durée 17:42
On this episode of Soccer Explained, we broke down the three main position groups on a soccer team, how formations work, and the numbering system people use to talk about players. This post gives you the information in the episode, but the episode itself has a lot more color, stories, and our Pitch Side segment where we share something that caught our eye in the soccer world recently. Give it a listen!
The Starting XI: 11 Players, Three Groups
Every soccer team puts 11 starting players on the field, called the “starting XI.” Yes, it’s always Roman numerals. One of those is the goalkeeper, whose job you can probably guess: keep the ball out of the net. The other 10 players are divided into three groups: defenders, midfielders, and forwards. How many players go in each group is entirely up to the coach. The only hard rule is there must be eleven players, one of whom is a keeper. Coaches get creative with the strategy of who goes in the starting XI and what role they play.
<h4>Defenders, a.k.a. “Backs”</h4>
You’ll basically always have at least a right back and a left back, with one or more center backs in between. Center backs are typically the big brick-wall types on the team, trying to menace the other team’s offense. Backs play closest to the goalkeeper, and the overwhelming majority of the time their job is exactly what you’d expect: defense. You might also hear the entire defensive group, minus the keeper, called the “back line.”
<h4>Midfielders, a.k.a. “Mids”</h4>
Midfielders play, predictably, in the middle of the field. And yes, you’ll hear people shorten “midfielder” to just “mid.” (Gen Z readers, this is not an insult). Midfielders have the most varied roles. Their job depends heavily on team strategy. A midfielder can be primarily defensive, primarily offensive, or a mix.
Center midfielders generally hold down the very center of play, flanked by right and left “wingers.” There can also be “defensive midfielders” playing slightly ahead of the backs, and “Attacking midfielders” who will often appear to be forwards. You will also hear the acronyms “CDM” and “CAM,” which stand for “central defensive midfielder” and “central attacking midfielder” respectively.
<h4>Forwards, a.k.a. "Strikers"</h4>
Forwards, or strikers, are your primary goal scorers, and they play closest to the opposing team’s goal. Along with attacking midfielders, they’re the ones putting the ball in the net or delivering assists (assists in soccer are the same as in basketball/hockey: passing to the player who scores). Because gameplay in soccer is so fluid, any player can score, but it’s usually the forwards and attacking midfielders who do.
Formations: What Those Three Numbers Mean
The Position Numbering System
The Romantic Number 10
The Numbers on Lineup Cards
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S1E2 The Soccer Pitch Explained: Understanding the Dimensions, Lines, and Key Areas
The soccer field, officially called a pitch, contains a lot of structure that helps organize and direct game play. In the first regular episode of our new soccer podcast, we help casual viewers and people curious about soccer understand the layout of the markings, areas, and equipment on the pitch to make watching soccer much easier and more enjoyable. This guide summarizes the points we talked about in the episode to explain the dimensions of a soccer pitch and its most important lines, boxes, and other features.
The Shape and Size of a Soccer Pitch
A soccer pitch is rectangular, but its exact size can vary widely depending on the league or competition. For international matches and Major League Soccer (the top soccer league in the US), the field has to be between 110 and 120 yards long and 70 to 80 yards wide. That makes it roughly the same length as an American football field including the end zones. But soccer pitches are noticeably wider; football fields are only about 53 yards across. A commonly recommended soccer pitch standard is 115 yards long and 74 yards wide (for a run of jokes about how soccer pitches change size, see this clip from Ted Lasso).
Boundary Lines and the Halfway Line
The long sides of the pitch are called touchlines, while the short ends are known as goal lines (often informally called end lines). Dividing the pitch into two equal halves is the halfway line. You may also hear it referred to as the midline or center line. Americans sometimes mistakenly call it the midfield line, or even the 50, like the equivalent line on a football field. Don’t do that!
The Center Circle and Kickoff Spot
In the middle of the pitch is the center circle, which has a diameter of 20 yards. At the exact center of that circle is the center spot (officially called the center mark, but you won’t hear that as often). The center spot is where kickoffs happen.
Goals and the Goal Frame
The Penalty Area and the Goal Area
The Penalty Spot and the ‘D’
Corner Flags and Corner Arcs
The Technical Area
Why Learning the Pitch Matters
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S1E1 Intro: The Fastest-Growing Sport in the US with the Deepest Talent Pool in the World
Saison 1
jeudi 19 mars 2026 • Durée 30:45
Welcome to Our New Show!
In our first episode, we introduce ourselves, explain how we got into soccer after growing up watching American sports, and tell you what’s coming in season one of this show, leading up to this summer’s World Cup and beyond. Then we talk about two ways soccer contrasts with the big four American sports: it’s global, and games can end without a winner and loser. We’ll tell you how both make the game fresh, fun, and fascinating for fans in the US. Plus, our regular segment where we each share a story or an aspect of soccer that explains why we’re passionate about the beautiful game.
Follow the show to hear two American fans who work for a soccer team explain the essentials of soccer in short, digestible episodes. We also tell stories and share our love for the game so you can join the excitement around America’s fastest-growing sport.
Possession percentage and team total shots on goal are often used to tell a more accurate story about a game when the scoreboard doesn’t reflect the run of play. For instance, when one team has had overwhelming possession and many more shots on goal, but hasn’t managed to score, and they’re losing 1-0. The possession and shots on goal give you a clearer picture of how the gameplay is really going.
Commentators have a lot of words for how you can kick a ball. A header is shooting or passing with your head. A volley is striking the ball while it’s in the air; a half volley is striking it right as it bounces. Both can be verbs or nouns: you can “volley” the ball, or take a shot “on the volley.”
A cross is a lateral pass, usually in front of the goal, meant to set up a teammate’s shot. A cutback is when a player takes the ball to the goal line and passes it backwards to a teammate. A through ball is a pass threaded between defenders to a teammate running behind the defense. A chip is a short, high-arcing kick meant to loop over someone’s head. A ball over the top is a longer lofted pass over the defense. Clearing is just what it sounds like: getting the ball far away from your own goal.
A give and go is when you pass to a teammate and keep running so they can pass it right back. It’s a simple way to get around a defender. Playing out of the back is when the keeper passes to defenders, who pass to midfielders, building possession up the field instead of booting it long straight to the offense.
A nutmeg is kicking the ball through a defender’s legs. A feint, often called a juke by Americans, is faking going one direction and pivoting sharply a different way to throw a defender off. A step over is skilled footwork: a player fakes like they’re going to kick the ball one way, but step over it instead, kick it a different direction, and dart after it. When any of these makes a defender stumble or fall, that’s called breaking the defender’s ankles. Nobody is actually injured. It’s just embarrassing for the defender, and great highlight reel fodder.
Shape is a team’s formation as it attacks and defends. When a team gets “stretched,” the gap between the forwards and defenders has grown too wide. A channel is a conceptual term for paths through the field of play. It could be an open passing lane through the defense that an attacking team wants to exploit. Or it can be a path away from the goal into which the defenders are trying to force the offense.
When a keeper charges out toward a shooter, they’re “closing the angle.” The closer the keeper gets, the smaller the window to take a shot becomes. It’s a risk because it leaves the goal exposed, but you’ll see it when a player gets one-on-one with the keeper on a breakaway.
One last term that trips up new fans: the top of the box. That phrase means the spot just inside the penalty area, directly across from the goal. It’s not the far edge of the box that literally appears as the top edge of the penalty box if you’re watching on TV. If a commentator yells that a player is at the top of the box, something dangerous is about to happen.
Follow the show to hear one American fan who owns a soccer team, and one who works for her, explain the essentials of soccer in short, digestible episodes. We also tell stories and share our passion for the game so you can join the excitement around America’s fastest-growing sport.
A direct free kick is the same, but you can shoot right away. Near the penalty area, these become dangerous scoring chances. When defenders line up to block the shot, that’s called a “wall,” and players on the offensive team have to be a yard away from the wall before the kick happens.
If a foul that would require a direct free kick happens inside the penalty area, the result is a penalty kick: a shot from 12 yards out with only the keeper in the way. The keeper has to have one foot on or behind the goal line until the kicker strikes the ball. The odds heavily favor the kicker, making it one of the most serious consequences in the game.
Refs often have a lot of discretion in deciding which sanctions to give out. Overall, the harshest sanctions go to fouls that are intentional, repeated, dangerous to player safety, or that constitute the “denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity” (abbreviated DOGSO, pronounced “dog-zo”).
The Referee is the official title for the main authority on the field, calling fouls, issuing sanctions, keeping time, deciding whether goals count, and more. You’ll also hear them called “head referee” “center ref,” or other variations. Two Assistant Referees (Ars, or “linesmen”) run the touchlines throwing flags to signal they think the referee should make offside, out-of-bounds, or other calls. The fourth official stands near the benches, managing substitutions and other administrative tasks, and holding up the board showing the minimum stoppage time the center ref has decided to add.
The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is a more recent addition. Sitting in a video room off the field, the VAR can recommend that the center ref review a play on a pitch-side monitor. Players and coaches cannot challenge calls. Reviews are limited to offenses in the moments leading up to goals, whether goals count, penalty kick decisions, red cards (not two yellows, just reds), and questions of whether fouls were given to the wrong player.
Not every professional league has VAR, but the World Cup and MLS both do. For leagues that don’t, there are Additional Assistant Referees, called AARs or goal line refs, who stand near the goals to monitor what VARs cover.
One thing we emphasized on the show is how much subjectivity is built into soccer officiating. Some calls are fairly black-and-white, like offside or handball. But for many fouls, the ref has enormous discretion. What fans and commentators usually care most about is consistency. In the early minutes of a match, the referee sets the tone for how strict or lenient they’ll be, and the players adjust. It’s a constant negotiation in a way that can feel different from many American sports.
Follow the show to hear one American fan who owns a soccer team, and one who works for her, explain the essentials of soccer in short, digestible episodes. We also tell stories and share our passion for the game so you can join the excitement around America’s fastest-growing sport.
The most common scenario when these violations occur is a teammate passing the ball to a player who is in an offside position. In this case, the key question is where the receiver was at the moment the pass was kicked, not where they first touched the ball.
Two more things worth remembering. Offside doesn’t apply on throw-ins, corner kicks, or goal kicks. And the rule isn’t there to punish fast players. If you’re level with the second-to-last defender when the pass is made and you simply outrun them to the ball, that’s great soccer, not a violation.
A challenge is when one player goes after another to win the ball, block a pass, or force them to change direction. A fair challenge is aimed at the ball and doesn’t involve careless or reckless contact with the other player. An unfair one involves things like tripping, kicking, pushing, grabbing, or going in with excessive force, even if the contact wasn’t fully intended.
Diving, officially called simulation, is when a player tries to trick the ref into thinking they were fouled when they weren’t, or they exaggerate the severity of a foul. It’s against the rules. It also happens constantly, and there’s a never-ending argument in the soccer world about whether it’s a betrayal of the spirit of the game or just smart strategy.
You can’t deliberately drag your feet to restart play. Strolling to the ball for a throw-in or a corner, kicking the ball far away after the ref blows the whistle, keepers holding the ball for too long—these are all against the rules. Fouls for wasting time exist to stop a team who is ahead from doing things solely to run down the clock. There’s no taking a knee in soccer.
If you’re winning and you want to kill time during open play, you can pass the ball around or dribble into the corner, and the ref will usually treat that as acceptable game management. It’s the other team’s job to come take it from you and make something happen.
Substitution rules vary a lot from competition to competition, but they all share the same shape. You have a starting XI, a bench full of players, and a limited number of subs you’re allowed to put in during certain moments in the match.
Here’s how it works at the World Cup. You get twelve players on the bench, but only five of them can enter the match. There are four opportunities to put those five subs in: halftime, plus three “substitution windows” during play. The team chooses when those windows will be, but they have to happen during a stoppage in play like a throw-in, corner kick, or injury.
If the match goes to extra time, you get one more substitution and one more window, and any unused subs or windows from regulation carry over.
The technical area is the marked zone where the substitutes, coaches, and other staff hang out during the match. Only one person at a time is allowed to stand and give instructions. Whoever is giving instructions can’t be disruptive, and players and staff are supposed to stay in the area except for specific moments like injuries or substitutions.
Dissent is the official soccer term for arguing with the referee, and the rule is basically: don’t. You can’t verbally argue a call, you can’t make clearly dissenting gestures, and you can’t crowd the ref with multiple players. Many competitions now have a rule that only the team captain is allowed to approach the referee.
Goal celebrations are a huge part of soccer culture. Players choreograph them, write messages on undershirts, and put real creativity into the moment. But they can go too far. If a celebration drags on, threatens security, lacks decorum, involves taking off your shirt, gets lewd or offensive, provokes opposing fans, or sends a player into the crowd, it can be flagged as unsporting conduct.
Racist, homophobic, and other offensive speech is against the rules. Racism can even be disciplined when it comes from the crowd. This is in response to a long-standing problem in soccer fan culture. Refs now follow a three-step process. First, they stop play and a warning is given over the loudspeaker. If the racism continues, they suspend the match for several minutes and warn that the next step is calling the game off entirely. If it still continues, they end the match.
That’s the basic rules tour. Next episode we’ll get into what happens when these rules are broken: yellow cards, red cards, free kicks, penalties, and the referees who hand them all out. Listen to the full episode for the rules in our own words plus the stories, jokes, and tangents that are honestly the best part of the show.
Follow the show to hear one American fan who owns a soccer team, and one who works for her, explain the essentials of soccer in short, digestible episodes. We also tell stories and share our passion for the game so you can join the excitement around America’s fastest-growing sport.
Throw-ins: When the ball crosses the touchline, whichever team did not touch the ball last throws it back in. You’ve probably noticed that specific two-handed, over-the-head throwing style soccer players use. They have to throw it that way; it’s the rule.
Goal kicks: If the attacking team is the last to touch the ball before it crosses the goal line, the defending team restarts play with a kick from their goal area. The opposing team has to be outside the penalty box until the kick happens.
Corner kicks: If the defending team touches it last before it goes over the goal line, the attacking team gets a corner kick. The ball is placed in the corner arc, and the defending team has to stand at least 10 yards away until the ball is kicked back into play. This is a tense moment because a lot of goals come off corner kicks. So you’ll see nearly every player on the field crowd around the goal to try and either score or defend.
Play also stops for injuries, fouls, goal celebrations, and a few other moments that are also typically brief.
Unlike football, basketball, or hockey, the clock in soccer only stops in extremely rare circumstances; certainly not for any of the gameplay stops listed above. Instead, the officials add “stoppage time,” also called “added time” or, informally, “injury time,” at the end of each half to make up for the time when gameplay stopped. Just after the 45 or 90 minute goes by, the officials announce the minimum amount of stoppage time that will be played, and the game usually runs a bit longer than that. The ref decides when to blow the final whistle and end the half. Waiting for the final whistle at the end of the match is incredibly tense if the game is tied or a team is up by only one goal.
One quirky detail about the clock: during first-half stoppage time, it keeps counting past 45. But when the second half starts, it resets to 45:00. In writing, you might see first-half stoppage time noted as “45+1” instead of 46, or “45+3” instead of 48, to distinguish it from the early minutes of the second half. Second-half stoppage time just keeps going past 90:00 into the 91st minute, the 92nd, and so on.
Here’s a pro tip to immediately make you sound like you watch soccer: the minute of the game is the number to the left of the colon on the clock plus one. So if the clock reads 15:37, you’re in the 16th minute, not the 15th. Getting this wrong is the soccer equivalent of calling a run in baseball a “point.” It lets soccer fans know right away that you’re not one of them.
In tournaments like the World Cup or in playoff matches, games can’t end in a draw. Someone has to win. If the score is tied after 90 minutes (plus stoppage time), the game goes to “extra time,” which is soccer’s version of overtime. Extra time consists of two 15-minute halves, so the maximum total minutes of play in the game is 120 plus stoppage time. The clock resets to 90:00 for the start of extra time. Refs can add stoppage time to extra time, but they usually don’t because everyone is running on fumes by that point.
If the game is still tied after extra time, it comes down to a penalty kick shootout, which might be the single most stressful thing in any sport.
What is a penalty kick (PK)? One player places the ball on the penalty spot and takes a shot at the goal with only the goalkeeper in front of them. The keeper has to keep at least one foot on or behind the goal line until the ball is kicked. The odds heavily favor the shooter, but it’s far from a guaranteed goal.
What is a PK Shootout? Each team takes five penalty kicks, alternating turns. If one team is mathematically eliminated before all five rounds are done, the shootout is over. For example, if Team A makes their first three kicks and Team B misses all three, the shootout is over because Team B can’t catch up.
If it’s still tied after five rounds, the shootout continues one round at a time until there’s a round where one team scores and the other does not. Think about it like extra innings in baseball.
Teams choose the order of their shooters, but every player who was on the field at the end of the game has to take a shot before anyone goes twice. So if it goes long enough, you can see goalkeepers stepping up to the penalty spot, which is always entertaining.
Follow the show to hear one American fan who owns a soccer team, and one who works for her, explain the essentials of soccer in short, digestible episodes. We also tell stories and share our passion for the game so you can join the excitement around America’s fastest-growing sport.
When you hear a commentator or read that a team is playing a “4-4-2,” that’s called a formation. The three numbers tell you how the ten outfield players (everyone but the keeper) are arranged: defense, midfield, and forwards. So 4-4-2 means four defenders, four midfielders, and two forwards. A 3-5-2 formation means three defenders, five midfielders, and two forwards. The numbers always add up to 10 because the goalkeeper is assumed and not included in the formation.
Formations describe a team’s general strategy and where players start on the field, but there’s a lot of movement. Players don’t rigidly stick to their spots. As we put it on the show: imagine how fluid positions are in basketball or hockey, then multiply it by a playing field four times the size with double the number of players. That gives you a sense of the fluidity of soccer positions.
If you follow baseball, you’re familiar with a system of numbering the players’ positions. Soccer has its own version of this, but with important caveats. Each position is traditionally assigned a number from 1 to 11, and commentators or analysts refer to them all the time. The catch is these numbers are based on formations that were popular in old-school British football, so they don’t necessarily match what’s happening on the field today. But they’re still how people reference positions, so knowing them helps you follow along.
Here’s the traditional breakdown:
#1 – Goalkeeper
#2 & #3 – Right Back & Left Back
#4 & #5 – Center Backs
#6 – Defensive Midfielder
#7 – Right Winger
#8 – Center Midfielder
#9 – Striker
#10 – Attacking Midfielder
#11 – Left Winger
A team’s number 1 is always their goal keeper, even today. And numbers 2 and 3 are always the right and left back. But things can get muddled from there. And you may have noticed 7, 8, and 11 are the three players traditionally across the center of the midfield. It doesn’t make sequential sense, but that’s tradition for you.
The number 10 holds a special place in soccer culture. Number 10s are the creative playmakers. The ones who score goals, rack up assists, and make something out of nothing. Many of the most legendary players in history played in that role, and number 10s tend to get the most attention and recognition. So it’s often the position kids in soccer dream of playing.
When coaches submit their starting XI to the refs, they still assign these traditional numbers, always moving from back to front, starting with the keeper. Lower numbers near their own goal, and higher numbers near the opponent’s. But whether a player’s assigned number on the lineup card actually matches the traditional position number is less guaranteed these days. The important thing is that when a commentator refers to “a number 6,” they’re talking about someone playing a defensive midfield role, regardless of their number in the starting XI.
Follow the show to hear one American fan who owns a soccer team, and one who works for her, explain the essentials of soccer in short, digestible episodes. We also tell stories and share our passion for the game so you can join the excitement around America’s fastest-growing sport.
At each end of the pitch sits the goal. It’s 8 feet high and 24 feet wide. The vertical sides of the frame are called posts, and the horizontal bar connecting them is the crossbar. The posts and crossbar sit directly on the goal line, so if a shot misses the frame, the ball is almost always out of bounds. Together, the posts and crossbar are sometimes referred to as the “woodwork,” a relic from the time when goals were actually made of wood (now they’re metal). You will often hear commentators talk about “front” and “back” posts. These are relative terms referring to their distance from the player in possession of the ball. The post nearer to the ball is the “front” post, and the far post is “back.”
In front of each goal is a large rectangle called the penalty area. There are many alternative names for this area: the 18‑yard box, the penalty box, or simply “the area” or “the box.” It extends 18 yards from the goal line and spans 44 yards across. Inside it is a smaller rectangle called the goal area, or six‑yard box, which is 6 yards deep and 20 yards wide.
Twelve yards from the goal line and centered between the posts is the penalty spot, often simply called “the spot.” Like the center spot, its technical name is the penalty mark, but you won’t hear that very often. This is where penalty kicks are taken after certain fouls. Just outside the penalty area is a curved marking called the penalty arc, often nicknamed the “D.” Its purpose is to ensure that players remain at least ten yards away from the spot when a penalty kick is taken, similar to the function of the free throw lines in basketball.
Each corner of the pitch has a flag and a small arc drawn one yard from the flag, connecting the touchline and goal line to form a quarter circle. This arc marks the area where the ball must be placed for a corner kick.
Outside the field of play are two technical areas. These contain the benches where coaches, substitute players, and staff sit during the match. The area must be positioned at least one yard away from the touchline, but it’s typically much farther back.
Once you understand the layout of a soccer pitch, commentary and game strategy become much easier to follow. For new fans, learning pitch structure will make you feel more confident watching the beautiful game. Our upcoming episodes will build on this knowledge to explain positions, game play, fouls, and much more!
Follow the show to hear two American fans who work for a soccer team explain the essentials of soccer in short, digestible episodes. We also tell stories and share our passion for the game so you can join the excitement around America’s fastest-growing sport.
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