A dropped ball can leave spectators asking why one team receives possession even though the other touched the ball last. The answer depends on the stoppage, the ball’s location and the possession the referee expects would have followed. This explanation uses the IFAB 2026/27 Laws, checked on 7 October 2026.
Identify why play stopped
A serious injury can lead the referee to stop play. Where no offence or other reason dictates a different restart, play resumes with a dropped ball. A slight injury ordinarily allows play to continue until the ball goes out. The reason for stopping matters: an injury caused by a penalised foul does not replace the appropriate free kick or penalty with a dropped ball. Read the rule: IFAB Law 5.
Decide who receives the ball
If the ball was inside the penalty area when play stopped, the defending goalkeeper receives the drop inside that area.
Outside the penalty area, the referee identifies the team that had possession or would have kept or gained it. If that cannot be determined, the team that last touched the ball receives it. The 2026/27 clarification includes possession from the restart that would have followed if the ball had gone out.
The usual location is where the ball was when play stopped. If it struck a match official or outside agent, use the contact or interference point instead. Read the rule: IFAB Law 8, IFAB 2026/27 law changes.
Know when everyone can play
Only the designated player is near the drop; everybody else must stay at least four metres away until the ball hits the ground. It then becomes live. The recipient may dribble, but opponents can also challenge once that distance restriction ends.
Repeat the drop if a player touches the ball before it lands, or if it leaves the field untouched after landing. A goal requires touches by two different players: otherwise, entry into the opponents’ goal means a goal kick; into the recipient’s team’s goal, a corner. Read the rule: IFAB Law 8.
Separate a referee deflection from ordinary play
Contact with an official does not automatically stop the match. A dropped ball follows when the ball remains on the field and that contact changes possession, starts a promising attack or sends the ball directly into a goal. Without those outcomes, play can continue. If the ball instead leaves the field, apply the appropriate out-of-play restart. Read the rule: IFAB Law 9.
Check the type of interruption
A ball becoming defective during ordinary play leads to a stoppage and dropped ball. A defect at a throw-in or another listed restart instead requires that restart again. A penalty also has a specific retake rule when the ball becomes defective while moving forward before touching a player, post or crossbar.
Outside interference also needs care. For example, a ball attendant catches a pass before it crosses the touchline. If the opponents would have received the throw, they receive the dropped ball instead, at the contact point. The attendant is an outside agent; interference by someone on a team list can require a different restart. Read the rule: IFAB Law 2, IFAB Law 3.
Read the decision in order
When reviewing an incident, ask three questions: why was play stopped, where was the ball, and who would reasonably have possessed it next? Then watch the referee’s chosen recipient and wait for ground contact. This sequence helps explain the decision without treating the last touch as the only relevant evidence.
Sources
To distinguish a dropped-ball decision from a normal boundary restart, read when the ball is out of play and our throw-in guide. A foul with an immediate benefit to the opponents raises a different question: whether the referee should apply advantage.