Overview

• Goalkeepers now face an eight-second possession limit enforced worldwide, with referees counting down the final five seconds and awarding a corner kick for breaches.
• Penalty rules have been refined so that unintentional double touches resulting in goals trigger retakes, while deliberate second contacts still earn defenders an indirect free kick.
• Dropped-ball procedures now return possession to the team that held or would have held the ball, replacing the old last-touch rule to promote fairness.
• Following mid-2025 trials at the Club World Cup and UEFA U21 Euros, all major competitions began applying these reforms on July 1 for the 2025/26 season.
• Early feedback from referees and coaches is mixed; officials believe stricter enforcement will quicken match tempo and curb time-wasting.