The referee and both captains meet at the center of the pitch before kickoff. The referee flips the coin, the visiting captain calls it, and the captain who wins the toss picks which goal their team will attack in the first half — which means the team that loses the toss kicks off with possession of the ball. Both are reversed at the start of the second half.
Unlike football, soccer only uses the toss once. Possession in extra time isn’t decided by a second flip; it simply swaps again the way it does at halftime. That single-use tradition is part of why officials carry a coin worth flipping — see our custom soccer referee coins page.
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