Corner kick

A corner kick is a method of restarting play in a game of association football (soccer).

Award

A corner kick is awarded to the attacking team when the ball leaves the field of play by wholly crossing the goal line (either on the ground or in the air) without a goal having been scored, having been last touched by a defending player. A corner kick is also awarded if an indirect free kick or a throw-in goes directly in the kicker's/thrower's own goal.

Procedure

The ball is initially placed wholly within the corner arc closest to where the ball went out of play. The corner arc is located at the intersection of the goal line and touch line, and has a radius of 1 yard. All defending players must be at least 10 yards (9.15m) from the ball until the ball is in play.

The ball becomes in play as soon as it is kicked and moves.

A goal may be scored directly from a corner kick, but only against the opposing side (i.e. an own goal may not be scored). A player may not be penalised for being in an offside position direct from a corner kick.

Infringements

Opposing players must retire the required distance as stated above. Failure to do so may constitute misconduct and be punished by a caution (yellow card).

It is an offence for the kicker to touch the ball a second time until it has been touched by another player; this is punishable by an indirect free kick to the defending team from where the offence occurred, unless the second touch was also a more serious handling offence, in which case it is punishable by a direct free kick or penalty kick, as appropriate.

Strategy

A corner kick may result in a good scoring opportunity, either directly (rarely), or through getting the ball to teamates in front of the net, known as a cross, where the ball is often played by a "header". An alternative strategy is to play a short corner, in which the ball is kicked to a player located closer to the kicker, between the corner and the goal area. This is usually used to move to ball away from the goal-line in order to create a better angle on the goal.

The defenders may elect to form a "wall" to attempt to force the ball to be kicked to an area they deem to be readily defencible, however must remain at least 10 yards from the ball until it is in play.

Alternative as a tie-breaker

The number of corner kicks awarded to each team has been suggested as an alternative method of tie-breaking to the current penalty shootout method. The theory behind this suggestion is that the team which during the course of play has been awarded the most corner kicks is likely to have dominated play, forcing their opponents to make more high-risk tackles and their goalkeeper to make more saves in which he was not able to gain possession of the ball but rather merely deflect it across the line outside of the goal or over the crossbar. The use of corner-kick counts as a tie-breaker has not been approved by the International Football Association Board, and as such is not used in any high-level competition.

Football (soccer) laws

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Award

Procedure

Infringements

Strategy

Alternative as a tie-breaker