When watching a game of football, you might notice the ball go out of player behind either of the goals. If the ball was to go off a player who is attacking, then it would be deemed a ‘goal kick’; the defending team would take an uncontested kick from their goalkeeper.

However, if the ball was to go out of play and touch a defending player last then it would be ruled as a corner. The corner is the four small quarter-circle shapes in all four corners of the field. If the ball goes out of play behind the goal(s), then either a corner or a goal kick is given.

With a corner, an attacking player is given the chance to take a free pass or cross. This can either be put into the opposition box directly, or played shortly to a teammate. However, you can also shoot from a corner kick – should the ball go in the net directly, it will count as a goal. However, if you somehow managed to score an own goal from your own corner, then it would be awarded as a corner kick to the opposition team instead.

The ball must be taken from the corner area, and it must be stationary – it must also be kicked from a player in the attacking team. However, it does not have to leave the corner area; it must make a full rotation. So, you could simply roll the ball in a full rotation and allow a teammate to take the ball instead.

However, the kicker is unable to touch the ball again after initial contact until a teammate or opposition player then touches the ball. Once the ball is in play, all normal rules return to play apart from one thing: you cannot be offside from a corner on the initial play. Once the ball is touched by another player, though, offside rules return to normality.