Kick Your Way to Victory: 2026 Soccer Rules Practice Exam Extravaganza!

A "back-pass" in soccer is specifically defined as a deliberate pass to the goalkeeper using the feet. This rule is put in place to prevent teams from time-wasting tactics that could result from repeatedly passing the ball back to the goalie to allow them to pick it up and maintain possession. When a player intentionally plays the ball backwards with their feet to their goalkeeper, it triggers the rules surrounding back-passes. The referee will stop the game and award an indirect free kick to the opposing team if the goalkeeper is caught handling such a ball.

The other responses entail scenarios that do not align with the official definition of a back-pass. A pass to the goalkeeper using the head does not count as a back-pass because it is not performed with the feet and does not invoke the same rule. A pass made behind the halfway line is unrelated to the rule governing back-passes, since it does not specifically address the nature of the pass being made to a goalkeeper. Lastly, a blocked shot leading to a corner kick has no relevance to the back-pass rule, as it pertains to a different aspect of the game entirely.