Why Was That Goal Disallowed?

A goal can be disallowed for several reasons: the most common are offside, a foul in the build-up that VAR spotted, handball by an attacker, or encroachment at a penalty kick. Less common reasons include a goalkeeper leaving the line early or a double touch on a free kick.

The most common reasons

1. Offside

The single biggest cause of disallowed goals. If any part of the scorer's body that can legally play the ball is past the second-last defender at the moment a teammate plays the ball forward, it is offside. With semi-automated tracking, even a few centimetres now counts. A teammate in an offside position who interferes with play — touching the ball, blocking the goalkeeper, or making a clear movement towards it — also triggers the call.

Read more in the offside rule and active vs inactive offside.

2. Foul in the build-up (VAR review)

VAR can review the attacking phase of play that led directly to the goal. If a foul by the scoring team — a push on a defender, a high boot, a shirt pull — happened in the immediate build-up, the goal is chalked off. The review is limited to the phase: a foul thirty seconds and three passes earlier won't count, but a shove on the defender just before the cross will.

See how VAR works and what VAR can review.

3. Handball by an attacker

Since 2021, any touch of the ball by an attacker's hand or arm immediately before scoring disallows the goal — even if it is accidental. The rule applies to the scorer and to teammates who set up the goal in the same phase. A defender's accidental handball does not disallow the goal; only attacking-team handball does.

See the handball law and handball edge cases.

4. Encroachment on a penalty kick

If the scoring team encroaches into the penalty area before the kick is taken and the penalty is scored, the goal can stand and play continues. But if the goalkeeper has both feet off the line before the kick and the penalty is missed or saved, the kick is retaken. If a defender encroaches and the kick is saved, it is retaken too.

See penalty encroachment and the goalkeeper at penalties.

5. Goalkeeper double touch or violation

A goal can be ruled out if the build-up involves a goalkeeper handling the ball illegally — picking up a deliberate back-pass from a teammate's foot, holding the ball longer than the eight-second limit, or touching the ball twice from a goal kick before another player. Any of these stops play before the goal can count.

See the back-pass rule and the goalkeeper eight-second rule.

How VAR decides whether to disallow a goal

VAR is not a re-referee. It only intervenes when the on-field decision is a clear and obvious error. For factual calls like offside, the bar is lower — the position is either past the line or it isn't. For subjective calls like fouls and handball, VAR has to be confident the original decision was plainly wrong, not just close.

Read more in the clear and obvious error standard.