This post explains 
the football term ‘spot kick’.
- Find out more about this phrase by reading the transcript below.
- You can also find many more examples of soccer vocabulary by going to our football cliches page here and our huge football glossary here.
Spot kick
A spot kick is another way of saying a penalty. In the penalty area there is a place 12 yards away from the goal line which is known as the penalty spot and this is where players have to take the penalty from. Verbs that usually collocate with spot kick include ‘award a spot-kick‘ – when a referee gives a penalty and ‘convert the spot-kick‘ which means to score from the penalty.
Example: The referee awarded a spot-kick to Bayern Munich after consulting with the VAR.
Hello! I usually hear commentators just saying “spot” without the word “kick” like the following.
Rooney scores from the spot.
Then, how is that?
Yes, in this example ‘spot’ refers to the actual place in the penalty area where a player will shoot from. Spot kick is another name for the penalty itself.