An attacker beats the defensive line and then goes around the keeper on the edge of the penalty area, leaving them well behind. The attacker continues dribbling the ball towards their opponents' goal. They then stop the ball on the goal line with their foot. They then get down to their knees, wait for the goalkeeper and/or other defenders to approach (in order to make a last ditch save) and then score with their head.
Would this goal stand, and if not, what would be the outcome and why?
This scenario occurred in a 2014 match in the french Ligue 1. Paul-Georges Ntep scored a goal for Rennes against Reims with a header after dribbling up to the empty goal. On this occasion at least, the referee let the goal stand.
Herman Koré repeated the feat in the French cup , according to google translate:
During the 8th round of the Coupe de France between Chateaubriant and US Concarneau Saturday Herman Kore had fun pushing the ball head on the opponents goal
and again the goal stood, even though the opposition were upset.
So in practice it seems likely that the goal will stand, but the referee could possibly decide that the act of heading the ball in from the ground was "unsporting behaviour". This is indeed recommended in this post, which claims to have been "approved by the U.S. Soccer Federation’s National Referee Program". In this case the referee would stop the game, issue a yellow card to the attacker, and restart with an indirect free kick to the defending team.
In the Rules of The Law, it was told that (page 34):
A goal is scored when the whole of the ball passes over the goal line, between the goalposts and under the crossbar, provided that no infringement of the Laws of the Game has been committed previously by the team scoring the goal"
Making a goal with your head is not an infringement. So goal it is.
