Question Number: 28467

Law 10 - Method of Scoring 5/31/2014

RE: Select Under 13

Amy Hazzard of Hebron , Ky Us asks...

A player took a shot, it hit the top cross bar, fell directly down - is it a goal?

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

When the ball goes straight down, it is not a goal. A goal requires that all of the bar cross the goal line and the crossbar is directly over the goal line.

Of course, sometimes the ball goes down at a slight angle, and the ball does cross all of the goal line. It can be difficult to tell the difference from any distance. We will see at the next world cup if technology will make for better goal/no goal decisions.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Amy
The answer lies in whether all of the ball crossed all of the plane of the goal line.
That can be a difficult call to make at speed as we have seen situations where the ball came down at an angle crossing the line and have been missed.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Amy,

The ball needs to wholly cross the line in order to be a goal - same as it needs to wholly cross a sideline to be out. If the slightest sliver of the ball is still above the line, it's in - and you'd be very surprised at just how far 'out' a ball can look while it's actually still on the line.

If the ball bounces down from the crossbar then back out it usually won't have fully crossed the line - it would need to have a tremendous amount of spin (or perhaps hit a divot or bump) to be able to completely change direction back out of the goal. But, it definitely does happen. The vast majority of the time in these cases, the ball does not wholly cross the line.