Football Coin Toss

Press Flip a coin for heads or tails, then read what the winner of the toss may choose.

Football Coin Toss

Heads or tails, 1 chance in 2 each

Heads

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Next step More than two sides? Spin for who goes first No teams yet? Draw them at random

All 32 toss rules

Football 8

Football: a coin that does not turn over The referee tosses again, and the call made the first time stands. The captain may not change it.
Football: overtime in the college game The winner of the toss either says whether its team takes the ball first or second, or picks the end of the field where both teams run their series.
Football: overtime in the professional game At the end of regulation time the referee tosses a coin again at the center of the field, and the visiting captain calls again.
Football: what the other captain gets Whatever the winner did not take. When the winner defers, the captain who lost the toss chooses first for the first half.
Football: what the winner of the toss may choose One of two things: to receive the kickoff or to kick off, or which goal the team defends. The winner may also defer, and so choose when the second half begins instead.
Football: who calls heads or tails The captain of the visiting team, and the call is made before the referee tosses. Where there is no home team the referee names the captain who calls.
Football: who chooses at the start of the second half The captain who lost the toss has first choice of the same two things, unless the winner deferred. A winner who deferred chooses now.
Football: who tosses the coin The referee, at the center of the field, with the captains of both teams standing by. In the professional rule book this happens no more than three minutes before the kickoff.

Show all 32 toss rules (24 more)

Soccer 6

Soccer: a new toss before extra time The referee tosses a coin again, because extra time starts with a new kick-off. The steps are those of the start of the match.
Soccer: the ends change for the second half The teams change ends, and the team that picked the goal in the first half takes the kick-off.
Soccer: two tosses before a penalty shoot-out Two tosses. The first decides the goal where the kicks are taken, with one side of the coin given to each goal. The team that wins the second chooses to kick first or second.
Soccer: what is left for the other team If the winner picked a goal, the other side kicks off. If the winner took the kick-off, the other team picks the goal to attack.
Soccer: what the winner of the toss decides Which goal to attack in the first half, or to take the kick-off. Since June 2019 the winner has had both choices; from 1997 until then the winner could only pick a goal.
Soccer: who tosses the coin The referee. The game's rule makers answer the question directly: a team captain or an assistant referee may not toss it.

Cricket 4

Cricket: changing your mind Not allowed. Once the other captain and the umpires have been told, the choice to bat or to field cannot be changed.
Cricket: what the winner of the toss decides Whether to bat or to field first. The captain tells the other captain and the umpires as soon as the toss is over.
Cricket: when the toss is made Not earlier than 30 minutes and not later than 15 minutes before the time set for the start of play.
Cricket: who tosses the coin The two captains, on the field of play, with one or both umpires watching. By custom the home captain tosses and the visiting captain calls.

Tennis 5

Tennis: a warm-up that is stopped If the players leave the court, the result of the toss stands, but both sides may choose again.
Tennis: choosing an end The winner may pick the end of the court instead. The opponent then picks whether to serve or receive in the first game.
Tennis: choosing to serve or receive The winner of the toss may pick server or receiver for the first game. The opponent then picks the end of the court.
Tennis: passing the choice A third way: the winner of the toss may make the opponent choose first.
Tennis: when the toss is made Before the warm-up starts. It settles two things for the first game: the ends, and who serves and who receives.

Volleyball 4

Beach volleyball: one toss for two sets The referee tosses before the warm-up for the first serve and the sides in the first two sets. A third set has a toss of its own.
Volleyball: a new toss before the deciding set With the sets level at two each, a new toss is made before the fifth set.
Volleyball: what the winner of the toss chooses Either the right to serve or to receive the first service, or the side of the court. The team that lost takes the choice that is left.
Volleyball: who tosses the coin The first referee, before the match, with the two team captains present.

Other sports 5

Badminton: a coin or a shuttlecock A coin may be tossed: the winners choose to serve or receive first, or pick an end, and the other side makes the choice that is left. The other way is to cast a shuttlecock; the side it points to serves first.
Curling: who has the last stone The last stone of the first end can be given by chance, such as a coin toss. Teams may instead settle it with one stone each, thrown to see which stops closer to the center.
Field hockey: an end or the ball A coin is tossed before the game. The winning captain picks an end to start from, or picks to start with the ball.
Rugby union: kick off or pick an end The referee brings the two captains together for the toss. The winner either kicks off or picks an end to defend; the other captain has what is left.
Table tennis: serve, receive or an end Lots decide who serves first, as a rule a coin toss. The winner may choose to serve, to receive, or which end of the table to play from.

How this list was compiled: The lines were written by the editors for this page and each was checked on 5 October 2026 against the published rules of its sport or, where the rule book did not open, against the sport's Wikipedia article. Football: the National Football League's rule book, Rule 4, Section 2 (the toss) and the overtime rule, at operations.nfl.com; the college overtime line from the Wikipedia article American football rules. Soccer: Laws 8 and 10 of the Laws of the Game with their questions and answers, at theifab.com, and the Wikipedia article Kick-off (association football) for the years the law changed. Cricket: Laws 13.4 and 13.5 of the MCC Laws of Cricket, 2017 Code, at lords.org, and the Wikipedia article Toss (cricket) for the custom of who tosses. Tennis: Rule 9 of the ITF Rules of Tennis, at itftennis.com. Volleyball: Rule 7.1 of the FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025-2028, at fivb.com, and the Wikipedia article Beach volleyball. Other sports: the Wikipedia articles Laws of rugby union, Field hockey, Badminton, Table tennis and Curling. A league, a school association or a tournament can set its own procedure: read the rule book of your own competition. Wikipedia text is used under CC BY-SA 4.0 for facts only; the wording here is the editors' own. Licence: own work; facts from the public rule books and Wikipedia articles named in the source line

How it works

This football coin toss is one large coin. A press lands it on Heads or Tails, each with the same chance. The list below says who tosses, who calls and what the toss decides in football and in other sports.

Read the full guide

Call it, then press

One captain calls heads or tails out loud before the press, as the visiting captain does at a referee coin toss on a football field. Press Flip a coin: the coin lands and Heads or Tails is written under it.

Best of three or five

Tap 3 or 5: that many coins flip at once, shown in a row in the order they fell. The tally under the coin adds up every flip you make and is kept in this browser.

See what the toss decides

The list under the coin goes sport by sport: football first, then the soccer coin toss, the cricket coin toss and the tennis coin toss, each with what the winner may choose and what is left for the other side.

Coin toss football rules change with the level of play. A league, school association or tournament can set its own.
Say what the winner gets before the press: the ball, an end of the field, or first pick.

Questions and answers

How to do a coin toss for football?

The referee meets the captains at midfield. The visiting captain calls heads or tails before the toss. The winner picks to receive or kick off, or a goal to defend, or defers the choice to the second half. The other captain takes what is left.

How to do a coin toss in soccer?

The referee tosses the coin. The team that wins decides which goal to attack in the first half or takes the kick-off, and the other team has what is left. For the second half the teams change ends.

Who calls the coin toss in football?

The captain of the visiting team, before the coin is tossed. If the coin does not turn over in the air, the referee tosses again and the first call stands.

What does it mean to defer?

The winner of the toss puts the choice off until the second half. The captain who lost the toss then chooses first for the first half.

Is each flip here random?

Yes. Each press draws 0 or 1 in your browser, with the same chance each: 1 is heads and 0 is tails. No flip looks at the one before it.