Ball crosses goal line

In American football, the saying “ball crosses the goal line” usually means that the football, which is an oval-shaped ball, has completely crossed the goal line. At each end of the field, the goal line is the line between the field and the end zone.

A score happens when a person carrying the ball or a pass is caught in the end zone and the ball crosses the imaginary vertical plane of the goal line. In American football, a score is worth six points. One of the most common ways a team gets points during a game is to score a touchdown.

In American football, the ball must cross the goal line with at least one part of it, usually the tip, for it to be called a score. Also, the play is not a score if the player with the ball goes out of bounds before crossing the goal line or is knocked down before the goal line. Instead, the ball is put where the person was moving or where they went out of bounds.