How do you score in flag football?
B · Beginner · The game · 3 of 5A touchdown is worth six points. After it the scoring team has one more play, the try: one point if it scores from the 5-yard line, two if it chooses to go from the 10-yard line. A safety gives two points to the defence. There are no field goals.
How it works
- Touchdown: 6 points. The ball in a runner's possession breaks the plane of the goal line, or a pass is caught in the end zone.
- The try: "an extra down with the opportunity for either team to score 1 or 2 points".
- One point: from the opponent's 5-yard line. This is inside the no-running zone, so it must be a pass.
- Two points: from the 10-yard line, by a run or a pass.
- Choose first: the team must decide before the ball is made ready, and cannot change after a penalty.
- Defence on a try: if the defence intercepts and returns the ball all the way, it scores 2 points.
- Safety: 2 points to the other team when a team is responsible for the ball becoming dead on or behind its own goal line.
- After a safety: the team that scored the two points takes the ball on its own 5-yard line.
- Touchback: no points. The ball is dead in the end zone and the attacking team put it there. The defending team starts on its 5-yard line.
- After a try: the other team starts on its own 5-yard line.
- At the end of a half: a touchdown scored as time runs out is still followed by its try.
The glossary has the touchdown, the try, the safety, the touchback, the end zone and the interception.
Tricky cases
A team chooses a one-point try, and a penalty moves it back to the 10-yard line. Is it now worth two?
No. A repeated try keeps its original value. From the 10-yard line the team may now run or pass, still for one point.
The quarterback is deflagged in their own end zone. What is the result?
A safety: two points to the defence, which then takes the ball on its own 5-yard line.
A defender intercepts on their own 3-yard line and momentum carries them into the end zone, where they are deflagged. Safety?
No. An interception between the 5-yard line and the goal line with momentum into the end zone is a touchback.
On a try, the defence intercepts and runs the length of the field. What does it score?
Two points, whichever try the offence had chosen.
Why the rule exists
With no kicking, the extra point had to become a play. Offering two distances turns it into a decision: the shorter one is easier but must be a pass into a crowded end zone, and the longer one is worth double. Many close games are settled by that choice.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Touchdown | 6 points | IFAF Flag Rule 8-1-1 |
| Try from 5 yards, or from 10 | 1 point, or 2 | IFAF Flag Rule 8-1-1; 8-3-2 |
| Safety, or safety on a try | 2 points, or 1 | IFAF Flag Rule 8-1-1 |
| Tackle football | Also has field goals and kicked extra points | C |
From the rule book
International Federation of American Football, International Flag Football Rules 2023 (in force from 1 May 2023), Rule 8, with approved rulings 8-3-2-I to IV and 8-4-1-III. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: IFAF International Flag Football Rules 2023 (PDF).