What Are The Rules In Futsal?
When the governance of futsal was taken over by football's international governing body FIFA in 1989, it marked a significant turning point for the sport. The first FIFA Futsal World Championship took place that year, and in the decades that have followed the game has continued becoming more closely aligned with soccer, while also growing in popularity across the globe.
However, many people who don't play the sport are still unfamiliar with exactly what futsal involves and how it works. How is it different from association football and what are the main rules that novices need to know? These are the questions we'll be answering in this article, as we flesh out the key futsal rules, explain what positions there are in the game, and briefly take you through some of the reasons why futsal has become so popular.
What Is Futsal?
Futsal is a small-sided game based on football, in which many of the rules and principles are the same. In particular, it is closely linked with modern brands of possession football (such as tiki taka) that focus on short, sharp passing triangles, clever movement and close ball control in tight spaces. These ideas are at the very core of what futsal is all about.
A futsal team includes five players in total, and because of the small-sided nature of the game, matches take place on a pitch that's around the same size as a basketball court. This area is referred to as a futsal court.
Futsal — which takes its name from the Spanish and Portuguese for "hall football" or "lounge football", "fútbol sala", "fútbol de salón", or "futebol de salão" — is played all over the world. However, over the years a few countries have carved out a special reputation for themselves as futsal-mad nations, capable of consistently producing top players and teams and crucially, equipping young footballers with certain skills that allow them to take the professional world of association football by storm. Brazil, Portugal and Spain in particular are all known as big proponents of futsal.
As well as the smaller court (which must be between 38 and 42 metres long and 20 and 25 metres wide) futsal also uses a smaller ball (typically a size 3 or 4 with extra features such as a sticky surface for better ball control).
What Positions Are There In Futsal?
Given the differences between futsal and football, it's no surprise that there are also some key tactical and strategic distinctions worth laying out in detail. Coaches only have five players at their disposal, so they're a lot more limited when it comes to the systems that they can put in place. While managers in the Premier League have a wide variety of different formations to work with, from the compact 4-2-2-2 shape to systems like 3-5-2 that focus on width and expansive play, positions in a futsal team often stay pretty much the same across different teams.
A classic futsal team will often be set up as 1-1-2-1. But what are the individual roles that contribute to that broader structure? Below is a quick round-up of all the key positions.
Goalkeeper
The role of the goalkeeper in soccer is very different to the role of a goalkeeper in futsal. The same basic parameters exist; they must be good at issuing instructions, making reaction saves, and distributing the ball. However, there are some specific rules within futsal that make the role slightly different. More on this shortly.
Defender
Defenders in futsal usually take up a central position, and while they're often the deepest outfield player on the court they commonly have license to roam around and get forward. Their primary job is stopping opponents from scoring by tracking runs and making tackles and interceptions, before distributing the ball to teammates. A strong, reliable defensive structure is vital in futsal.
Wingers
Wingers have the job of occupying wide areas and contributing to both attack and defence. Most futsal teams will have two wingers (left and right) and these players will have both attacking and defensive responsibilities, running up and down the flanks to pick up forward passes or track opposition runs. Speed, acceleration, clever movement and technical ability are all super important skills here.
Pivot
Football fans are likely to have heard of a pivot before, but in futsal the term has a slightly different meaning. Rather than referring to a central defensive midfield position (as seen in a double pivot structure, for example), pivots in futsal (also known more simply as forwards) are the players leading the line up top. They need to have great finishing skills, dribbling ability, close control and intelligent movement.
It's important to note that there is a lot of fluidity in futsal, with players having the license to switch positions and move about in a way that 11-a-side structures don't always allow for. In a sense, this idea has similarities with the Dutch philosophy of Total Football.
Futsal Laws Of The Game: Key Futsal Rules To Remember
In general, futsal follows very similar rules to association football, but there are some important ways in which it diverges that we should flesh out. Below you'll find a list of the key futsal rules you'll need to remember if you're interested in pursuing this small-sided sport.
The four-second rule
We'll start by explaining one of the most important laws of the game: the four-second rule. In futsal, goalkeepers can only possess the ball for a maximum of four seconds, after which they have to release it to another player. This prevents timewasting from goalkeepers and means the pace of the game remains fast throughout. The four-second count starts when the goalkeeper is judged to be "ready" to release the ball, either from their hands or their feet. Once this time limit is broken, an indirect free kick is given to the opposition.
Unlimited Substitutions
Unlike most professional football leagues, which generally allow coaches to make a maximum of five substitutes over three substitution windows, the referee and their officials in futsal are more liberal. Substitutions are unlimited and can be made at any time during play, as long a player does not enter the court before his team-mate leaves it. Sometimes only one substitution will be made at a time, but it's also possible for coaches to make multiple changes at once.
Accumulated Fouls
Another key difference is the matter of accumulated fouls. While free kicks and penalties work broadly in the same way as football, it's also possible for teams to rack up accumulated fouls and reap the rewards. Effectively, if a team commits five fouls in one half, for each subsequent foul their opponents are given a free shot at goal from the second penalty mark, which is ten metres from goal. This punishment gives a strong goalscoring opportunity (in the form of a kind of long distance penalty kick from outside the penalty area) against the team that has been penalised, underlining the importance of not giving away cheap fouls. To prevent this becoming too regular, foul counts are refreshed at half time.
No Stoppage Time
Futsal matches are 40 minutes long, split into two halves of 20 minutes. These games play out in real time, with no stoppage time added; instead, a timekeeper stops the clock each time the whistle blows so there is no time wasted. If a game is drawn, two five-minute periods of extra time follow, and a penalty shoot-out afterward if there's still no winner.
Kick-ins
When the ball crosses either side touchline or hits the ceiling, play resumes with a kick-in. These set-pieces must be played with the feet to a teammate — you can't score directly from a kick-in. Meanwhile, goal clearances must be thrown rather than kicked out.
The Penalty Area
Unlike some small-sided versions of indoor football, in futsal players are allowed to go into the penalty area and goalkeepers can come outfield. However, once a goalkeeper does venture out, if they've kicked the ball they cannot touch it until it has entered the opposing half or been touched by a player from the opposing team.
Sending Offs
When a player gets sent off in association football, their team must play with one less player for the rest of the match, but in futsal, teams only receive a temporary disadvantage. Players given a straight red or two yellow cards are sent off, but after two minutes the penalised side are allowed to bring a new player on to get their numbers back up to five. This is largely in the interests of fairness, because the small-sided nature of the sport means even a one-player advantage can make a huge difference.
Officials
Enforcing the list of rules set out above are three key officials: the referee, situated on one touchline, the second referee, on the opposite touchline, and a timekeeper who is in charge of controlling fouls and time-outs. Just like football, clear communication between each of these officials is super important. At the very top of the game, a third off-field referee can also be added to the mix.
What Are The Main Benefits Of Futsal?
There's a reason futsal is so popular in some of the best footballing nations in the world; it is extremely useful when it comes to honing technical skills such as ball control, dribbling and passing. When players learn to receive and touch the ball in the tight spaces of a small-sided pitch under intense pressure, while also developing their ability to find space and move around the pitch with intelligence, they give themselves an excellent grounding for 11-a-side football.
For that reason, the professional game is packed with talents who have benefited from playing futsal at a young age, from World Cup-winning Argentina captain Lionel Messi to Portuguese legend Luis Figo. Check out our guide to five soccer superstars who played futsal for more information.