Pitch Dimensions and Markings Interpreter

Is an association football pitch a legal field of play? Law 1 of the IFAB Laws of the Game sets a permitted range rather than a size, with a narrower range for internationals — so there is no standard pitch to check against.

Last updated 12 Oct 2026

A pitch against Law 1's permitted ranges

Law 1.3 and 1.4

Length, along the touchlineThe long side, which Law 1 calls the touchline. Law 1.3 requires it to be longer than the goal line, and that is a separate requirement from the numeric ranges: a 90 by 90 pitch is inside both ranges and still illegal.

Width, along the goal lineThe short side, which Law 1 calls the goal line. The goal itself is always 7.32 m wide whatever this figure is, and the penalty area is always 40.32 m across, so a narrow pitch has proportionally far more of its width inside the penalty area.

UnitsLaw 1 states every dimension in metres with a yards figure in brackets, and the yards figures are the Laws’ own rounding rather than exact conversions — 100 yds is 91.44 m, and the Law prints the minimum length as 90 m (100 yds). A yards entry here is multiplied by 0.9144, the exact international yard, and then checked against the metre limits.

Legal for international matches, and for every other matchExample

105 m by 68 m — the size FIFA’s World Cup Qatar 2022 Regulations require for a match pitch

What Law 1 actually requires

All matches (Law 1.3): touchline 90 m to 120 m, goal line 45 m to 90 m, and the touchline must be longer than the goal line
International matches (Law 1.4): touchline 100 m to 110 m, goal line 64 m to 75 m

a range, not a size: this is the whole point of the page. Law 1 does not specify a football pitch; it specifies a band of legal pitches, and the band is wide — a legal pitch may be anywhere from 4,050 to 10,800 square metres. Two legal internationals, 100 by 64 and 110 by 75, differ by 1,850 square metres. Any page that gives “the” pitch size is wrong
the touchline must be longer than the goal line: Law 1.3, and it is a separate requirement from the numbers. A pitch 90 m by 90 m is inside both numeric ranges and is not a legal field of play. This page tests the shape first for that reason
inclusive bounds: the Law says minimum and maximum, so a pitch exactly 100 m long is legal for an international and one 99.99 m long is not. The limits are checked with greater-or-equal and less-or-equal here, which is what the wording requires
competitions narrow it, never widen it: sections 1.3 and 1.4 both state that “competitions may determine the length of the goal line and touchline within the above dimensions”. FIFA’s World Cup Qatar 2022 Regulations, Article 18(2), require “length 105m, width 68m” unless FIFA approves otherwise; Article 21(6) sets the same size for training pitches. A competition requirement is always a subset of the Law
yards: Law 1 prints a yards figure beside every metre figure, and the yards figures are the Laws’ own rounding: the minimum length is given as 90 m (100 yds), although 100 yds is 91.44 m. Choosing yards above multiplies by 0.9144, the exact international yard, and then tests against the metric limits
the markings do not scale: the pitch is a range and the markings are fixed. A penalty mark is 11 m from the goal line and a goal is 7.32 m wide on every pitch in the world, whatever its dimensions. The table below lists them

Worked example

105 m by 68 m — the size FIFA's World Cup Qatar 2022 Regulations require for a match pitch
Law 1.3's shape requirement: 105 m is longer than 68 m, so the touchline is longer than the goal line
Law 1.3's range: 105 m is within 90 to 120 m and 68 m is within 45 to 90 m
Law 1.4's international range: 105 m is within 100 to 110 m and 68 m is within 64 to 75 m, so this is legal for international matches
Change it to 120 m by 90 m — the Law 1.3 maximum in both directions — and it stays legal for other matches and drops out of the international range
Change it to 90 m by 90 m and it fails, even though both figures are inside both ranges, because the touchline is not longer than the goal line
Switch the units to yards with 105 by 68 unchanged and it becomes 96.01 m by 62.18 m: still legal for other matches, too short and too narrow for an international

Law 1’s permitted ranges, which are ranges

Quoted from Law 1 of the IFAB Laws of the Game, sections 1.3 and 1.4, read from theifab.com on 12 October 2026; the figures are identical in the 2026/27 and 2025/26 editions the site serves, and the Laws are reissued and dated by season. Both bounds are inclusive, because the Law says minimum and maximum. Law 1.3 also carries a requirement that is not a number — “The touchline must be longer than the goal line” — which is why a 90 m by 90 m pitch is inside both ranges and still illegal. Both sections state that “competitions may determine the length of the goal line and touchline within the above dimensions”, so a competition’s own requirement is narrower than the Law, never wider.
Dimension	Minimum	Maximum	Applies to
Length, along the touchline	90 m (100 yds)	120 m (130 yds)	Law 1.3 — matches generally
Width, along the goal line	45 m (50 yds)	90 m (100 yds)	Law 1.3 — matches generally
Length, along the touchline	100 m (110 yds)	110 m (120 yds)	Law 1.4 — international matches
Width, along the goal line	64 m (70 yds)	75 m (80 yds)	Law 1.4 — international matches

The markings, which unlike the pitch are single fixed numbers

This contrast is what makes the page worth having: the pitch is a permitted range and the markings are not. Every figure here is a single value in Law 1, the same on every pitch in the world, so a penalty mark is 11 m from the goal line whether the pitch is 90 m long or 120. That produces a real asymmetry. The penalty area is 16.5 m either side of a 7.32 m goal, so it is 40.32 m across on every pitch — which is 90% of the width of a 45 m-wide field and 45% of the width of a 90 m one. The same Law, the same marking, two very different games.
Marking	Law 1 figure	Section
Goal: distance between the inside of the posts	7.32 m (8 yds)	1.10
Goal: lower edge of the crossbar to the ground	2.44 m (8 ft)	1.10
Penalty area: from the inside of each post, and into the field	16.5 m (18 yds)	1.6
Goal area: from the inside of each post, and into the field	5.5 m (6 yds)	1.5
Penalty mark, from the midpoint between the posts	11 m (12 yds)	1.6
Penalty arc radius, from the penalty mark	9.15 m (10 yds)	1.6
Centre circle radius	9.15 m (10 yds)	1.2
Corner arc radius	1 m (1 yd)	1.7
Maximum width of any line	12 cm (5 ins)	1.2

A size is not a standard: whose requirement is 105 by 68?

105 by 68 metres is widely described as the standard football pitch. It is not a standard. It is FIFA’s requirement for its own tournament, set inside a range the IFAB permits, and even there it is qualified by “unless otherwise approved by FIFA”. A ground at 100 by 64 and one at 110 by 75 are both perfectly legal internationals and differ by 1,850 square metres of playing surface. The right thing to say about a particular stadium is that its pitch is somewhere inside the range, not that it is the standard size.
Body	What it requires	Document
The IFAB	A range: 90 to 120 m by 45 to 90 m, narrowed to 100 to 110 m by 64 to 75 m for international matches	Laws of the Game, Law 1.3 and 1.4
FIFA, for FIFA World Cup match pitches	“Unless otherwise approved by FIFA, the pitch shall have the following dimensions: length 105m, width 68m”	FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Regulations, Article 18(2)
FIFA, for FIFA World Cup training sites	“Unless otherwise approved by FIFA, all training site pitches shall be 105m x 68m in size”	FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Regulations, Article 21(6)

Law 1 gives a range, not a size

The pitch described here is the field of play for association football — soccer — as the IFAB Laws of the Game define it. An American football field, an Australian rules oval and a rugby pitch are different shapes governed by different bodies, and none of their dimensions appear below. The question people arrive with is “how big is a football pitch”, and it has no single answer, because Law 1 of the Laws of the Game does not specify a pitch. It specifies a band of legal pitches: a touchline of 90 m to 120 m and a goal line of 45 m to 90 m, with a narrower band of 100 m to 110 m by 64 m to 75 m for international matches. A legal field of play can be anywhere from 4,050 to 10,800 square metres, and two legal international pitches can differ by 1,850 square metres. Any page that prints one figure as the pitch size is wrong, and this one will not.

Law 1.3 also carries a requirement that is not a number at all: “The touchline must be longer than the goal line.” That matters more than it sounds, because a pitch 90 m by 90 m sits inside both numeric ranges and is still not a legal field of play. This page therefore tests the shape before it tests the limits, and a square pitch fails at every size. It is also the most common way to get a wrong answer here, since transposing the two figures gives a plausible number rather than an obviously silly one.

Competitions narrow the Law; they never widen it. Sections 1.3 and 1.4 both state that “competitions may determine the length of the goal line and touchline within the above dimensions”, and FIFA does exactly that for its own tournament: Article 18(2) of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Regulations requires “length 105m, width 68m” unless FIFA approves otherwise, and Article 21(6) sets the same size for training pitches. So 105 by 68 is a real requirement with a named body and a named competition behind it, and it is not a standard pitch size — it is one competition’s choice inside a range the IFAB allows, carrying its own escape clause.

The markings are the opposite case, and the contrast is the most useful thing on the page. Every marked distance in Law 1 is a single fixed number: the goal is 7.32 m between the posts and 2.44 m to the crossbar, the penalty mark is 11 m out, the penalty area extends 16.5 m from each post and 16.5 m into the field, the centre circle and the penalty arc have a 9.15 m radius, and no line may be more than 12 cm wide. None of those scales with the pitch. The penalty area is 40.32 m across whatever the ground, which is 90% of the width of a minimum-width pitch and 45% of a maximum-width one — the same Law producing two quite different games. The Laws of the Game are reissued every year and dated by season, so check the current edition before relying on a figure. Every figure on this page is printed with the body that publishes it and the season or edition it belongs to, because a football number is usually a regulation rather than a fact, and regulations are revised. Check the playing conditions or competition regulations for the competition in front of you before relying on a default.

Frequently asked questions

How big is a football pitch?

There is no single size. Law 1.3 of the IFAB Laws of the Game permits a touchline of 90 m to 120 m and a goal line of 45 m to 90 m. For international matches Law 1.4 narrows that to 100 m to 110 m by 64 m to 75 m. Every size in those ranges is a legal pitch, so the honest answer to “how big” is a range.

Is 105 by 68 metres the standard pitch size?

No. It is FIFA’s requirement for FIFA World Cup matches, in Article 18(2) of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Regulations, and it is stated as “unless otherwise approved by FIFA”. It sits inside the IFAB’s permitted range rather than replacing it, and a pitch at 100 by 64 or 110 by 75 is an equally legal international.

Can a football pitch be square?

No. Law 1.3 requires that “the touchline must be longer than the goal line”, so a square field of play is never legal — not even at 90 m by 90 m, where both figures are inside the permitted ranges. That is the one requirement in Law 1 that is a relationship rather than a number.

Do the pitch markings change with the size of the pitch?

No, and that is the striking thing about Law 1. The goal is always 7.32 m wide, the penalty mark is always 11 m out, the penalty area always extends 16.5 m from each post, and the centre circle always has a 9.15 m radius. So the penalty area is 40.32 m across on every pitch, which is 90% of a 45 m-wide field and 45% of a 90 m-wide one.

Which edition of the Laws of the Game do these figures come from?

They were read from The IFAB’s own site on 12 October 2026, which serves the 2026/27 and 2025/26 editions, and the figures quoted are identical in both. The Laws are revised annually and dated by season, so a figure should be checked against the edition in force for the competition you are working on.

Related calculators

References

The IFAB. Laws of the Game, Law 1 — The Field of Play (sections 1.2 to 1.7 and 1.10). Zurich: The International Football Association Board. Read 12 October 2026; the figures quoted are identical in the 2026/27 and 2025/26 editions served by theifab.com.
FIFA. FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Regulations. Zurich: FIFA. Article 18(2) — “Unless otherwise approved by FIFA, the pitch shall have the following dimensions: length 105m, width 68m”; Article 21(6) — “all training site pitches shall be 105m x 68m in size”; Article 18(1) on natural grass and artificial surfaces.