In FIFA's "Constitution", Laws of the Game, a foul is the act of kicking, tripping, jumping in/at, charging, striking or pushing an opponent.
There's a difference between fouls and misconduct that many people fail to understand. A foul can occur when a player tries to get the ball from his opponent and kicks him or pushes him away accidentally, whereas misconduct means that a player willfully targets his opponent and punches, kicks or pushes him away
Fouls can only occur when the ball is in play, but misconduct can occur when it's out of play as well.
Depending on the seriousness of the foul or misconduct, the referee can penalize it with a yellow or red card in addition to a free kick or penalty kick.
Fouls in soccer are penalized by handing over the ball to the team that suffered the foul if the foul has been committed outside a penalty area. In this case, a direct or indirect free kick is given, depending on the nature of the soccer foul, with the kick being taken from the spot where the foul occurred.
If the offence occurs in the defending team's penalty area, the ref will give the attacking team a penalty kick , which is a great scoring opportunity, allowing a player to take a shot from 12 yards (11 meters) with just the opposing goalkeeper to beat and no defenders around him.
The player that caused the foul is also in danger of being cautioned with a yellow card, or being sent off from the pitch with a red card, if the offence was way over the limits.
Examples of red card fouls include extremely hard tackles that injure or are aimed at injuring an opposing player, intentionally hitting or stepping on a fallen opponent. However, a player is also shown a red card if he collects two cautionary yellows.
Yellow Card: A yellow card is awarded for the following actions--
Unsporting behavior
Showing dissent by word or action
Persistently infringes on the Laws of the Game
Delays the restart of play
Failure to respect the required distance when play is restarted with a corner kick or free kick
Enters or re-enters the field of play without the referee's permission
Deliberately leaves the field of play without the referee's permission
Red Card: A red card is awarded for the following actions--
Guilty of serious foul play
Guilty of violent conduct
Spits at an opponent or any other person
Denies an opponent a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball (this does not apply to a goalkeeper within his own penalty area)
Denies an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player's goal by an offence punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick
Uses offensive, insulting or abusive language
Receives a second caution in the same match
Using careless or reckless force:
Kicks or attempts to kick an opponent
Trips or attempts to trip an opponent
Jumps at an opponent
Charges an opponent
Strikes or attempts to strike an opponent
Pushes an opponent
Additional offenses:
Tackles an opponent to gain possession of the ball
Makes contact with the opponent before touching the ball
Holds an opponent
Spits at an opponent
Handles the ball deliberately (except for the goalkeeper within his own penalty area)
Penalty Kick is awarded if infractions are committed by the defending team inside the penalty area (BOX). The ball need not be in the area.
