Futsal is FIFA’s official five-a-side game, played on a hard court with a heavier, low-bounce ball. It is easy to confuse with casual five-a-side football, but its rules are stricter and more specific: a stopped clock, a 4-second limit on most restarts, kick-ins instead of throw-ins and an accumulated-foul system that ends in a free shot without a wall. This guide follows the FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, in force since 5 September 2025, and covers what you need as a player, coach or referee. If you play recreational small-sided football on artificial grass, our 7-a-side football rules guide covers those house rules instead.
Players and substitutions
- Five players per team on the pitch, one of them the goalkeeper.
- A match cannot start or continue if a team has fewer than three players.
- Unlimited “flying” substitutions: players can come on and off at any time, including while the ball is in play, but only through their team’s substitution zone and only after the outgoing player has left.
- Competitions typically allow up to nine substitutes on the team list.
Many teams use a “flying goalkeeper”: an outfield player in a goalkeeper’s shirt, or simply the goalkeeper moving up, to create a 5-vs-4 overload when chasing a goal. It is legal but leaves the goal open. Plan line-ups and rotations with our lineup builder.
Pitch, goals and ball
| Item | Rule |
|---|---|
| Length | 25–42 m (international: 38–42 m) |
| Width | 16–25 m (international: 20–25 m) |
| Goals | 3 m wide × 2 m high |
| Penalty area | arc-shaped, 6 m from the goal |
| Penalty mark | 6 m |
| Second penalty mark | 10 m |
| Ball | size 4, 62–64 cm, 400–440 g, low bounce |
The low-bounce ball keeps the game on the floor and rewards close control with the sole of the foot. To compare a futsal court with a full-size football pitch, see our soccer field dimensions tool.
Match length, timeouts and extra time
Futsal is played over two halves of 20 minutes of effective time. The clock is stopped every time the ball goes out of play and restarted when it comes back in, so the real duration is much longer than 40 minutes. Half-time is up to 15 minutes.
- Timeouts: each team may request one timeout of one minute per half.
- Extra time (when a winner is needed): two periods of 5 minutes.
- If still level: kicks from the penalty mark.
Where competitions allow it, video support is used at FIFA futsal tournaments on a challenge basis: coaches request a review of specific decisions, rather than a VAR team monitoring everything.
Restarts and the 4-second rule
Speed of play is protected by the 4-second rule. Once the team is ready to restart, it has four seconds to take:
- a kick-in (the ball is placed on the touchline and kicked, not thrown);
- a goal clearance (the goalkeeper throws the ball from inside the penalty area; it replaces the goal kick);
- a corner kick;
- a free kick.
The referee counts visibly. Over four seconds, the restart goes to the opponents. The goalkeeper is also limited to four seconds of control of the ball in their own half, and there are restrictions on the goalkeeper receiving the ball again in their own half after releasing it, until an opponent has played or touched it.
Opponents must stand at least 5 m away at kick-ins, corners and free kicks.
There is no offside in futsal.
Fouls and accumulated fouls
Fouls are judged much as in football: careless, reckless or excessive-force challenges, holding, pushing, tripping and deliberate handball are direct free kick offences. Futsal adds an accumulated foul count:
- Every direct free kick offence counts as an accumulated foul for the team.
- For the first five accumulated fouls in each half, opponents may form a wall at free kicks.
- From the sixth accumulated foul in a half, the fouled team takes a direct free kick without a wall, from the 10-m mark or from where the foul happened, depending on the location.
- The count resets at half-time, but fouls from the second half carry into extra time.
The scoreboard or the timekeeper’s table shows each team’s accumulated fouls. It changes tactics: a team on five fouls must defend carefully for the rest of the half. Our online scoreboard can track goals and the foul count side by side.
Cards and sendings-off
Yellow and red cards follow the same logic as in football. The big difference is what happens after a red card:
- The sent-off player may not return and must leave the area around the pitch.
- The team plays one player short for two minutes.
- A substitute may enter after two minutes, or earlier if the team with more players scores a goal.
- If both teams are reduced, special rules decide when each may restore numbers.
Two yellow cards in the same match also lead to a red card and the same two-minute period short.
Futsal vs five-a-side
| Futsal | Recreational 5-a-side | |
|---|---|---|
| Rulebook | FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game | House rules of the venue or league |
| Surface | Hard indoor court | Usually artificial grass, often caged |
| Ball | Size 4 low bounce | Often size 5 or standard size 4 |
| Clock | Stopped clock, 2 × 20 min | Running clock, booked slot |
| Touchline | Kick-ins | Rebounds off boards or kick-ins |
| Height limit | None | Some venues ban balls above head height |
In the UK, the FA runs a National Futsal Series and England has a national futsal team, while weekly 5-a-side leagues at commercial centres use their own rules. In the US, futsal is popular in youth development under US Youth Futsal and other organisers. The strongest professional league is generally considered to be Spain’s Primera División, organised by the LNFS. Germany has had a DFB Futsal-Bundesliga since 2021, and futsal is also strong in Brazil, Portugal and Iran.