Football · Laws of the Game
Law 4: The Players' Equipment
2 parts · 3 tests · 30 facts · updated 6 September 2026 · markdown
Law 4 covers what a player may and must wear: the five compulsory items and their conditions, the safety principle that bans jewellery and dangerous equipment, the colour rules that keep the teams, the goalkeepers and the officials distinct, permitted protective and electronic equipment, the ban on slogans and advertising, and the procedure for leaving the field to put a kit fault right.
4.41Compulsory equipment, safety and jewellery
The five items a player must wear and the conditions on each, what happens when a boot or shinguard is lost in play, the safety rule that forbids all jewellery and any dangerous equipment, the pre-match and pre-entry inspections, permitted protective gear, and the limits on electronic equipment for players and team officials.
Test 1The compulsory equipment and losing it in play
The five compulsory items are a sleeved shirt, shorts, socks, shinguards and footwear. Footwear and socks are not optional, and an armband is not part of the defined kit.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
Shinguards must be of a suitable material giving reasonable protection and must be covered by the socks. The Law sets no fixed size and does not name a required material such as plastic.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
External tape or material on the socks must match the colour of that section of the sock. It is not tied to the shorts colour and does not have to be hidden.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
Goalkeepers may wear tracksuit bottoms at any time; the Law attaches no weather or timing condition. Outfield players must wear shorts.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
A player who loses footwear or a shinguard accidentally may keep playing until the next stoppage, when it must be replaced. If they play the ball or score before that, the action counts.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · applied
Kit problems do not require an immediate stoppage. The player is told to leave the field to put it right and returns, after a check, with the referee's permission.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · applied
Re-entering without the referee's permission is cautionable even if the kit is now correct. If play is stopped for the caution, the restart is an indirect free kick to the opponents.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · applied
Equipment corrected off the field must be checked by a match official, and the player re-enters only with the referee's permission, which may be given while play continues.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
Each goalkeeper must wear colours distinguishable from the other players and from the match officials. It is not limited to the officials or to the opposing outfield players.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
If both goalkeepers wear the same colour and neither can change, the Law simply lets the match proceed. There is no requirement to delay or improvise a change.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · applied
Test 2Safety, jewellery and the pre-match check
Every kind of jewellery is forbidden, with no exception for size, material or personal significance, and covering it with tape does not make it acceptable.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
A player who will not remove jewellery cannot take part. It is not resolved by hiding the item or by postponing it to a stoppage once play has started.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · applied
Starting players are checked before the match and each substitute is checked before entering. Substitutes are not exempt, and the Law does fix these moments.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
Non-dangerous protective items are permitted, and whether a cast is dangerous is the referee's judgement on the day, not a medical certificate or an agreement between captains.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · applied
The Law names headgear, facemasks and knee and arm protectors made of soft, lightweight padded material, together with goalkeepers' caps and sports spectacles.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
Goalkeepers' caps and sports spectacles are named alongside the padded protectors. Head covers must not be attached to the shirt, which rules out a collar-fixed snood.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
Players, including substitutes, may not wear or use electronic or communication equipment, apart from an approved electronic performance and tracking system.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
Team officials may use small, mobile, handheld equipment for coaching or for player welfare or safety. Larger equipment and inappropriate behaviour are sanctioned.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · applied
If play is stopped only to caution the player, the restart is an indirect free kick to the opponents from the ball's position, unless another restart already applied.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · applied
Law 4 contains no specification for studs, their material or their length. Footwear is covered only by the general requirement that nothing a player wears is dangerous.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
4.42Colours, undergarments, head covers and slogans
How the two teams and the officials are kept visually distinct, the matching-colour rules for undershirt sleeves and undershorts, the colour and physical conditions on a head cover, the ban on political, religious or personal slogans and on revealed advertising, who sanctions such infringements, and the procedure a player follows to leave the field and correct a kit fault.
Test 1Colours, undergarments, head covers and slogans
The two teams must wear colours that distinguish them from each other and from the match officials. There is no default 'away team in white' rule.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
Undershirt sleeves must be the same colour as the main colour of the shirt sleeve. Team-mates end up matching, but the reference is the sleeve, not the shorts.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
Undershorts and tights must match the main colour of the shorts, or the lowest part of the shorts, and every player on a team must wear the same colour.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
A head cover must be black or the same colour as the shirt, with team-mates matching. It is tied to the shirt, not the shorts, and the colour is fixed rather than a contrast choice.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
A head cover must not be attached to the shirt, must not have protruding parts, and must not endanger anyone, for instance with a closing mechanism at the neck.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
Compulsory equipment must carry no political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images. Team and competition logos are the permitted markings.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
Players must not reveal undergarments showing slogans, statements, images or advertising other than the manufacturer's logo; the competition organiser or association applies a sanction.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
Advertising is barred from a player's base layer with one exception: the badge of the company that made the kit. Squad numbers and crests belong on the outer shirt.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · recall
Outfield teams must be distinguishable, so the team with a change strip wears it. The goalkeeper-only exception, where the match is simply allowed to proceed, does not extend to outfield colour clashes.
Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 · applied
Sources
IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 4 (paraphrased in original wording; original questions authored from the Law, not reproduced)
- IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 430