# In soccer, what happens if a defender is fouled in his own goal area?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157
**Category:** The Game Room
**Tags:** football-soccer-fifa
**Created:** [November 26, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157 "2025-11-26T17:50:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/1 "2025-11-26T17:50:13Z")
Let’s say that Smith, attacking for the Reds, has the ball in the Blues’ goal/penalty area. The Blues’ defender, Jones, gets fouled by Smith - red card-worthy- in the Blues’ penalty area. Does Jones now get an unobstructed kick towards the Reds’ goal, some hundred meters away?
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2025, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/2 "2025-11-26T17:54:20Z")
It would just like a foul on any other part of the field, other than in usual foul-inside-the-box PK. I’m not sure I understand your question, I guess. There’s nothing special about committing a foul on a defending player in that defending player’s penalty area.
There wouldn’t be an unobstructed shot – the opposing team just has to be 10 meters away (or whatever the right distance is).
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### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2025, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/3 "2025-11-26T18:17:46Z")
No, you understood it , and answered as asked. Thank you.
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2025, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/4 "2025-11-26T19:30:24Z")
Sure! Someday, I’ll understand the reason for relegation, too. 🙂
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2025, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/5 "2025-11-27T18:48:05Z")
> [@RitterSport](#):
>
> Someday, I’ll understand the reason for relegation, too
Promotion and relegation add considerable excitement.
Small teams can get promoted (see Wrexham [Welcome to Wrexham | Disney+](https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/browse/entity-c6906d50-d06c-40d1-a57c-1885d9dc2fef)) and previously top teams can slide downwards.
It means every match counts and can lead to huge crowds, especially near the end of the season.
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### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2025, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/6 "2025-11-27T21:29:10Z")
> [@glee](#):
>
> Promotion and relegation add considerable excitement.
> Small teams can get promoted (see Wrexham [Welcome to Wrexham | Disney+](https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/browse/entity-c6906d50-d06c-40d1-a57c-1885d9dc2fef)) and previously top teams can slide downwards.
>
> It means every match counts and can lead to huge crowds, especially near the end of the season.
This has been discussed _ad mortem_ on these boards, but this particular American soccer fan could get behind pro-rel in MLS. It would take a few years to disentagle and re-shuffle all of the money and contracts and business relationships and what have you. And it would probably take another (spitballing here) 40-50 years before smaller teams got enough support that they could compete in the same league as the Big Boys (by American standards, that is). As I’ve said a thousand times before, the US is about 100 years behind Europe when it comes to developing our soccer culture.
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### Author:  [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2025, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/7 "2025-11-27T21:36:43Z")
> [@RitterSport](#):
>
> There wouldn’t be an unobstructed shot – the opposing team just has to be 10 meters away (or whatever the right distance is).
It’s 10 yards. Not sure on the precise metric equivalent (9 metres give or take I guess).
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### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2025, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/8 "2025-11-27T21:49:20Z")
Wait wait wait. They calculate distance in yards, not meters, in soccer?
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/9 "2025-11-27T21:50:07Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#):
>
> It’s 10 yards. Not sure on the precise metric equivalent (9 metres give or take I guess).
Without looking up yards-meters, what I usually hear around here (Germany) is that the distance is 9.15 m. The refs have quite a good grasp of the distance, they usually take nine big steps to measure it.
As for the OP: yeah, doesn’t matter where the foul happens (other than to the attacking team in the box), it’s a direct free kick. You can theoretically score a direct goal from it.
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/10 "2025-11-27T21:50:51Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> Wait wait wait. They calculate distance in yards, not meters, in soccer?
Eh, football was invented in England, you know?
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### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2025, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/11 "2025-11-27T21:51:43Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#):
>
> Eh, football was invented in England, you know?
Yes, and don’t they use the Metric System there?
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2025, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/12 "2025-11-27T21:52:27Z")
Not completely today, and surely not when the sport developed and the rules were established in the 19th century.
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### Author:  [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2025, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/13 "2025-11-28T02:48:08Z")
The field markings in the official rules are measured in yards. If you don’t need round numbers, of course you can use any system.
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### Author:  [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2025, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/14 "2025-11-28T06:34:00Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> Yes, and don’t they use the Metric System there?
Everyday use of length and weight measurements is a complete mishmash here. We freely switch between metric and imperial depending on the context.
As to football, as mentioned above, the main laws were set during the 1800s and (possible citation required!) the metric system would’ve still been seen as either exotic (charitably) or foreign - the _French_ use it, for heaven’s sake - and unreliable etc (more likely).
So the distance an opposition player needs to be away from a free kick/penalty/corner/kick off = 10 yards (hence centre circle is 10 yards in diameter, the ‘D’ on the edge of the area the same)
Penalty area is also known as the 18 yard box.
Penalty spot is 12 yards from the goal.
Goals are 8 feet tall and 8 yards wide.
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### Author:  [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2025, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/15 "2025-11-28T06:36:54Z")
Dr Paprika put it far more succinctly!
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### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2025, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/16 "2025-11-28T13:24:59Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#):
>
> Everyday use of length and weight measurements is a complete mishmash here.
Same here in the States. We use metric for things like medicine (so many milligrams in your pill) or liquor (750 ml bottles of wine), and other applications, and imperial for most of the rest.
[Obligatory SNL sketch link](https://youtu.be/JYqfVE-fykk?si=z7F9GjtxiBcHdGeE).
[Obligatory other SNL sketch about the same thing link](https://youtu.be/VJ62EfUKI3w?si=X1pJisAc12QBBwob).
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### Author:  [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2025, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/17 "2025-11-28T13:40:09Z")
If a team cannot compete in the better category they go down to a lesser one, there’s no mystery.
The mystery is in sports without relegation, why do bad teams continue to play in the better category while presumptively better teams cannot play because there are no more places?
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### Author:  [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2025, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/18 "2025-11-28T15:27:14Z")
Maybe, but there was also less information.
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2025, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/19 "2025-11-28T15:40:27Z")
Sorry, my comment was a joke reference to another thread from this OP and a thread I spun off from that. I should have put some links in or something. I’m shocked everyone doesn’t read the same exact threads I do and can get the jokes in my brain!
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### Author:  [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-soccer-what-happens-if-a-defender-is-fouled-in-his-own-goal-area/1025157/20 "2025-11-28T15:44:41Z")
No worries, I should’ve realized it was a joke and not taken it seriously.
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