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A penalty kick is a type of free kick in association football (soccer), taken from twelve yards (approximately eleven metres) out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal. more...

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A penalty kick is performed during normal play. Similar kicks are made in a penalty shootout to determine who progresses after a tied match; though similar in procedure these are not penalty kicks and are governed by different rules.

Award

A penalty kick may be awarded when a defending player commits a foul punishable by a direct free kick (a so-called penal foul) against an opponent, within their own penalty area (commonly known as "the box" or "18 yard box"). Note that it is the location of the offence — and not the position of the ball — that defines whether a foul is punishable by a penalty kick or direct free kick, provided the ball is in play.

The referee signals the award of a penalty kick by blowing on their whistle and pointing to the penalty mark.

Procedure

The penalty kick is taken from the penalty mark, which is a midline spot a bit away from the goal around 10.9728 meters. The penalty kick taker must be clearly identified to the referee.

All players other than the defending goalkeeper and the penalty taker must be outside the penalty area, behind the penalty mark, behind the ball, and at least ten yards from the ball (i.e. outside the penalty arc) until the ball is kicked. The goalkeeper must remain between the goalposts on the goal-line facing the ball until the ball is kicked, but may move from side to side along the goal-line.

After the referee blows his whistle, which is the signal for the kick to be taken, the kicker must kick the ball in a forward direction (not necessarily at the goal, however this is almost always the case). The ball is in play once it has been kicked and moved, and from this point other players may enter the penalty area and play continues as normal, however most often a goal has already been scored.

The penalty kick is a form of direct free kick, meaning that a goal may be scored directly from it. If a goal is not scored, play continues as usual. As with all free kicks, the kicker may not play the ball a second time, until it has been touched by another player, even after a rebound from the posts. However, a penalty kick is unusual in that, unlike general play, external interference directly after the kick has been taken may result in the kick being retaken, rather than the usual dropped-ball.

An own goal may not be scored by the kicking team, although this would be almost impossible since the ball has to be kicked in a forward direction to be a valid penalty kick. If the ball were to wind up in the kicking team's goal (for example, if the kick were to ricochet off the defending team's goalpost, travel the length of the pitch, and go into the opposite goal), a corner kick would be awarded to the defending team. An own goal can result off a penalty if the defending goalkeeper (or another member of the defending side) were to deflect a stopped or errant shot into the defending team's goal.

Read more at Wikipedia.org