Soccer is gaining more popularity all around the United States and is rising to the top to compete with other major leagues such as the NFL and MLB to gain viewer market share. In other countries, it is already the most popular and played sport. The Laws of the Game for soccer are all the same throughout the world from the FIFA World Cup through to a local high school soccer game in your county.

According to FIFA, there are 17 baseline laws, otherwise knowns as rules, that all games must follow to keep the game fair, which is the crucial foundation of what we call “The Beautiful Game”. The laws must always be protected and respected by all those in authority such as the coaches, and team captains, which have a clear responsibility to respect the match officials and their decisions.

Youth soccer rules use the FIFA laws as a template and make modifications in areas such as:

  • size of the field of play
  • size, weight, and material of the ball
  • width between the goalposts and height of the crossbar from the ground
  • duration of the two (equal) halves of the game (and two equal halves of extra time)
  • the use of return substitutes
  • the use of temporary dismissals for some/all cautions such as yellow cards.

Below are 7 rules of 11v11 Standards of Play, which are modified FIFA rules to comply with U.S. soccer.

LAW 1 – FIELD OF PLAY

• Min 100 yards and Max 130 yards (length)
• Min 50 yards and Max 80 yards (width)
• Goals should be 8feet (height) x 24 feet (width)

LAW 2 – BALL

  • Size 5

LAW 3 – NUMBER OF PLAYERS

  • 11v11 (10 players and 1 goalkeeper)
  • Game may not start or continue if there are less than 7 players on a team
  • Substitutions are unlimited and can occur at
    any stoppage (The use of return substitutions
    is only permitted in youth, veterans, disability and grassroots soccer, subject to the agreement of the national soccer association, confederation of FIFA.)

LAW 5 – REFEREE

  • Minimum certification as a U.S. Soccer Grade 8 Referee

LAW 6 – OTHER MATCH OFFICIALS

  • Used at the discretion of the competition authority

LAW 7 – DURATION OF THE MATCH

U13U14U15U16U17
Half Length30 min.40 min.40 min.45 min.45 min.
Half Time Period10 min.15 min.15 min.15 min.15 min.

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