What the keeper has to do

When a penalty is taken, the goalkeeper must:

• Remain on the goal line
• Face the kicker
• Be between the posts
• Have at least part of one foot on or in line with the goal line at the moment the ball is kicked
• Not touch the goalposts, crossbar, or net before the ball is kicked

Once the ball is struck, the keeper is free to dive, jump, or move forward.

Sideways movement is allowed

The keeper is not frozen in place. They can:

• Shuffle along the goal line
• Wave their arms
• Jump in place
• Bend their knees to set up

What is forbidden is forward movement that takes them off the goal line before contact. The "one foot on the line" rule was added to soften an earlier strict version that punished any movement at all.

Why VAR matters here

Before VAR, only the referee or assistant could spot encroachment. With keepers diving and the action happening in a fraction of a second, plenty of movement went unseen. VAR can review missed and saved penalties for keeper encroachment and recommend a retake.

The standard applied is whether the keeper moved significantly off the line before contact. Minor shuffling is generally ignored. The bar is: was the keeper clearly off the line at the moment the ball was kicked?

The consequences

Goalkeeper encroachment outcomes:

| Penalty outcome | Result | |---|---| | Goal scored | Goal stands, no retake | | Saved or missed | Retake + caution to keeper |

The caution is automatic on a retake. A second yellow for repeat encroachment can lead to a sending-off.

Why keepers move anyway

Pushing the line is a known goalkeeping tactic. A keeper who closes a metre of distance before the kick has a much higher chance of saving the shot. The math says: even with retake risk, moving off the line is often net-positive for the goalkeeper.

This is why VAR enforcement reshaped penalty-taking at top tournaments. Keepers know the technology can catch them, so the move-early bias has lessened — but not vanished.

Different competitions, different enforcement

Without VAR, only obvious movement is called. Lower-tier matches see far fewer encroachment penalties because there is no replay to review missed ones.

This creates a tension: the law is the same everywhere, but enforcement scales with technology. A keeper who routinely encroaches in a regional cup match would be flagged at the World Cup.

What the keeper can still do

Modern keepers focus on:

• Reading the kicker before the run-up to anticipate direction
• Sideways setup to make themselves big without leaving the line
• Late movement in the tiny window between the kicker's contact and the ball reaching the line

These tactics stay within the law and do not trigger VAR review.