Official Foosball Rules

Because foosball or table soccer is a casual game, many players will abide by their own rules. But there are game rules developed by the United States Table Soccer Association and used in all official tournaments. A full-length foosball game is played to the best of nine goals.

Serving

The first serve is determined by a coin toss. If you win the toss, you can choose to serve first or pick a side of the table to play. To serve the ball, you send it through the serving hole in the table. You can't serve the ball until your opponent signals he is ready by touching the playing rods. Tapping the ball on the side of the table is a good way to signal that you are ready to serve. When you serve, you can spin the ball as you send it through the hole. Your hands must be out of the field of play once the ball hits the playing surface. You must touch the ball with at least one player before you can score a legal goal

Scoring

The ball legally rolling into a goal is scored no matter whose player hit it. If you put the ball in your own goal with one of your own players, it counts for your opponent, and vice versa. You are not allowed to spin the rods. You must maintain your grip on a rod as you operate it. If you have possession of the ball, you must move the ball from its current location within 15 seconds.

Restarts

After a goal is scored, the player scored upon serves the next ball. If play is stopped for any reason, the ball is given to the player who was last scored upon. This includes the ball being knocked off the table or stopping somewhere on the table where no one can hit it. You may reach onto the table to touch the ball once it is declared dead and then place it in position for serving, but you can't touch the ball or anywhere within the playing area as long as the ball is in play.