Rules reference

Futsal rules, the quick version — with the law behind every line.

The Laws as a referee or scorekeeper needs them on the bench: numbers, restarts, the four-second count, accumulated fouls and what the table must do. Each line links the law it paraphrases.

FIFA's Laws are the baseline. US youth leagues routinely modify them — 24-minute halves, a size-3 ball for U12 and younger, no heading U11 and younger, no slide tackling, timeouts removed — so your league's published rules always win.

  • The court is 25–42 m long and 16–25 m wide (international matches 38–42 m × 20–25 m); the touchline is always the longer line.Youth/rec: national associations may shrink the court for youth futsal.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 1 §1–3
  • The penalty area is two 6 m quarter-circles joined by a 3.16 m line; the penalty mark is 6 m from the goal line and the second penalty mark is 10 m out — with 5 m marks either side showing the minimum distance.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 1 §4–5
  • Substitution zones are 5 m long on the touchline in front of each bench, starting 5 m from the halfway line, in the half each team defends — so they swap at half-time.Youth/rec: USYF Championship Series events do not require benches to switch at half-time.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 1 §6
  • Goals are 3 m wide and 2 m high, not fixed to the floor but stabilised so they cannot tip.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 1 §9
  • The ball is a size 4: 62–64 cm around, 400–440 g, and must rebound only 50–65 cm when dropped from 2 m — the low bounce is the point.Youth/rec: USYF Championship Series: size 3 for U12 and younger, size 4 for U13 and older.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 2 §1
  • If the ball hits the ceiling, it is out of play: kick-in to the opponents from the nearest point on the touchline.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 9 §1, §3
  • Five players per team on the court, one of whom is the goalkeeper; a match cannot start or continue if either team has fewer than three.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 3 §1
  • Substitutions are unlimited and 'rolling': any time, ball in or out of play (not during a timeout), no referee permission needed — the player coming off leaves through their own substitution zone first, then the substitute enters through the same zone.Youth/rec: FIFA official competitions allow up to 9 substitutes to be USED (so 14 players can take part; how many may be named is left to competition rules); USYF Championship Series and Mass Futsal cap rosters at 14, ECYFL at 15 — OtterFutsal’s roster guard is 16 and leagues set tighter caps per division.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 3 §2–5
  • Enter early, or from anywhere but your own zone, and play is stopped: caution for the substitute, indirect free kick to the opponents.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 3 §7
  • Any substitute may swap with the goalkeeper without a stoppage; an on-court player may only swap with the goalkeeper during a stoppage after telling the referees. Whoever keeps goal wears a goalkeeper shirt with their own number.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 3 §6
  • Compulsory kit: sleeved shirt, shorts, socks, shinguards covered by the socks, footwear; no jewellery (taping it is not allowed); goalkeepers may wear trousers.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 4 §1–4
  • Two equal periods of 20 minutes of PLAYING time — the clock stops whenever the ball is out of play, after a goal, when a penalty or free kick is awarded, for injuries, and whenever the referees signal; it restarts when play correctly resumes.Youth/rec: USYF Championship Series plays two 24-minute halves (3-minute half-time); Massachusetts leagues mostly run the clock — ECYFL plays 2 × 24 running and lets the referee stop it in the last two minutes when the game is within a goal; Mass Futsal plays 2 × 20 with no stoppage time.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 7 §1; Law 6 §2
  • The period ends when the timekeeper's buzzer/horn sounds — not on the referees' whistle — unless a penalty kick or a sixth-foul free kick has just been awarded, in which case it is completed first.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 7 §2
  • Each team gets one one-minute timeout per period. A team official asks the table (third referee or timekeeper); it is granted only when the ball is out of play and the requesting team has the restart. No timeouts in extra time.Youth/rec: ECYFL and Mass Futsal keep one 60-second timeout per half (ECYFL without stopping the clock); some leagues remove timeouts or let only the referee call them.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 7 §3
  • Half-time is at most 15 minutes (the length is set by the competition rules). If extra time is played there is no interval between its two periods — teams just change ends.Youth/rec: USYF Championship Series: 3-minute half-time.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 7 §4–5
  • There is no offside in futsal.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 11
  • Kick-off: ball still on the centre mark, opponents 3 m away; the ball is in play once kicked and clearly moving; a goal may be scored directly (into your own goal = corner to the opponents).Youth/rec: some US house rules still print 'kick-offs are indirect' — the FIFA Laws no longer say that.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 8 §1
  • Kick-in instead of throw-in: the ball sits still ON the touchline where it went out, opponents at least 5 m away, and it must be played within four seconds. A goal cannot be scored directly from a kick-in.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 15 §1–2
  • Corner kick: ball inside the corner arc, opponents 5 m away, four seconds to take it; a goal may be scored directly. Take too long and it becomes a goal clearance for the opponents.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 17 §1–2
  • Goal clearance replaces the goal kick: the goalkeeper throws or releases the ball from inside the penalty area within four seconds, opponents outside the area; it is in play once it clearly moves, and it cannot score directly.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 16 §1–2
  • Free kicks (direct and indirect) are taken within four seconds from the spot of the offence, ball still, opponents at least 5 m away; an indirect free kick is shown by one arm raised until the ball touches another player or goes out.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 13 §1–3
  • A referee visibly counts the four seconds at kick-ins, corners, goal clearances, free kicks (including sixth-foul kicks) and whenever the goalkeeper controls the ball in their own half — but not at kick-offs or penalty kicks.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Practical Guidelines — Signalling
  • Dropped ball: to one player of the team that had, or would have gained, possession (2025-26 change); others 2 m away; in play when it touches the floor.FIFA 2025-26 amendments — Law 8
  • The goalkeeper may not control the ball — hands, arms or feet — in their own half for more than four seconds (indirect free kick).FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 12 §2
  • After releasing the ball, the goalkeeper may not touch it again in their own half once a team-mate has deliberately played it to them, until an opponent has played or touched it (indirect free kick, no card); and may never handle a deliberate kick from a team-mate inside the penalty area — including straight from a kick-in.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 12 §2
  • The goalkeeper may throw over the halfway line unless the competition's youth rules forbid it; a throw straight into the opponents' goal is a goal clearance for the opponents (a goalkeeper cannot score by throwing).Youth/rec: several US youth leagues ban punting/drop-kicks (ECYFL: no punt or drop kick, throw within 4 seconds) and throws into the opponents' penalty area; Mass Futsal lets U11-and-younger goalkeepers receive the ball more than once per possession.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 10 §1; Law 16 §2
  • Direct free kick: careless, reckless or excessive-force charging, jumping at, kicking, pushing, striking, tackling/challenging or tripping an opponent — plus handball, holding, impeding with contact, biting or spitting, or throwing an object.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 12 §1
  • Indirect free kick: dangerous play, impeding without contact, dissent or offensive language, preventing the goalkeeper from releasing the ball, the goalkeeper offences above, and any stoppage to caution or send off.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 12 §2
  • The Laws do not ban sliding: a tackle is judged like any other challenge — careless, reckless or excessive force — and a lunge that endangers an opponent is serious foul play (red card).Youth/rec: many US youth leagues ban slide tackling outright (Metro Futsal, 619 Futsal: ‘no slide tackling or leaving your feet’); Mass Futsal allows sliding as outdoors but not body contact during a slide — follow the league.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 12 §1, §3; Futsal Terms — Tackle
  • ACCUMULATED FOULS are all direct-free-kick offences, counted separately for each team in each period. No accumulated foul is recorded when a penalty kick is awarded (2025-26). The count resets to zero for the second half; if extra time is played, the second-half count carries into it.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 13 §4
  • From a team's SIXTH accumulated foul in a period, every further foul is a direct free kick WITHOUT A WALL: taken from the 10 m mark, or — if the foul was between the 10 m line and the end line, outside the penalty area — from the 10 m mark or the spot of the foul at the kicker's choice. Defenders stay behind an imaginary line level with the ball and 5 m away; the goalkeeper is at least 5 m from the ball. A sixth-or-later foul inside the offender's own penalty area is a penalty kick.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 13 §5–6
  • Advantage on an accumulated foul is only played while the offending team has fewer than five in that period (and no clear scoring chance is denied); from the sixth foul on, stop play unless there is a clear chance to score.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 13 §4; Law 12 §3
  • Penalty kick: for a direct-free-kick foul inside the offender's penalty area — ball on the 6 m mark, kicker identified, goalkeeper on the line facing the kicker until the ball is kicked, everyone else at least 5 m away, behind the mark and outside the area.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 14 §1–3
  • Caution (yellow): delaying the restart, dissent, entering/leaving or substituting improperly, not respecting the distance at a restart, persistent offences, unsporting behaviour (reckless foul, simulation, handball to stop an attack, stopping a promising attack, removing the shirt, moving the goal).FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 12 §3 — Cautionable offences
  • Sending-off (red): denying a goal or obvious goal-scoring opportunity (handball, moving the goal, a foul not attempting the ball, or a free-kick foul outside the area), serious foul play, biting or spitting, violent conduct, offensive/insulting/abusive language, or a second caution. The player leaves the vicinity of the court and bench.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 12 §3 — Sending-off offences
  • After a red card the team plays short and a substitute may enter only after TWO MINUTES of playing time — unless the team with more players scores first, in which case the short-handed team may add one player. The sent-off player never returns.Youth/rec: USYF: any ejection carries a minimum one-game suspension.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 3 §8
  • Coaches and team officials can be warned, cautioned or sent off; if the offender cannot be identified, the senior coach present receives the sanction.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 12 §3 — Team officials; Law 5 §3
  • Two referees — the referee and the second referee — control the match with equal authority; when they disagree the referee's decision prevails. With no table officials, the referee also keeps time and fouls.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 5 §1–6
  • The timekeeper starts the clock at each kick-off, stops it whenever the ball is out of play or the referees signal, restarts it on the correct restart, keeps goals / accumulated fouls / period on the public scoreboard, times timeouts and the two-minute power play, signals a team's fifth accumulated foul, and signals the end of each period.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 6 §2 — The timekeeper
  • The third referee keeps the record of players, goalscorers and cards, handles timeout requests, keeps each team's accumulated-foul count per period, and gives the mandatory signal and places a visible marker on the table when a team reaches FIVE accumulated fouls.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 6 §2 — The third referee
  • Mandatory signals include the visible four-second hand count, one arm raised for an indirect free kick, two arms for advantage after a direct-free-kick offence (one arm after an indirect one), and the table's arm signals toward the bench for a timeout and for a fifth accumulated foul.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Practical Guidelines — Signalling
  • When a winner is required, competition rules may use extra time (two equal periods not exceeding five minutes each) and/or a penalty shoot-out.Youth/rec: USYF Championship Series: knockout games go straight to penalty kicks; no overtime in pool play.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 10 §2; Law 7
  • Shoot-out: five kicks each, alternating, a different kicker every time (everyone eligible kicks before anyone kicks twice); it stops early once one team cannot be caught; if level after five, one kick each until decided.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 10 §3
  • Second-half accumulated fouls carry into extra time; there are no timeouts in extra time and no interval between its periods.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 13 §4; Law 7 §3, §5
  • FIFA lets national associations modify only a short list for youth and grassroots futsal: court size, the ball, goal size, captain's armband, the length of the periods, and limits on goalkeeper throwing. Running clocks and no-timeout rules are league conventions layered on top.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Notes — Modifications to the Futsal Laws
  • Gym courts: ECYFL plays on standard basketball courts — sidelines as touchlines, the 3-point arc as the penalty area, the penalty spot on the free-throw line and the second penalty spot at the top of the arc; the sixth foul still means no wall.ECYFL Futsal Rules — Law 1
  • Ball: size 3 ('junior') for U12 and younger, size 4 for U13 and older — USYF Championship Series, ECYFL, Mass Futsal and Western Mass all split it this way.USYF Championship Series Rules 2025-26
  • Game length: USYF Championship Series 2 × 24 with a 3-minute half-time; ECYFL 2 × 24 running time with a 2-minute half-time; Mass Futsal 2 × 20 with a 2-minute half-time and no stoppage time.Youth/rec: the period is still extended to finish a penalty kick or a sixth-foul free kick already awarded.ECYFL Futsal Rules — Law 7
  • Rosters: USYF Championship Series and Mass Futsal up to 14, ECYFL up to 15 (minimum 5); most leagues recommend 8–12 so everyone plays.ECYFL Futsal Rules — Law 3
  • Officials: ECYFL assigns one or two referees and no table — the referee keeps time and the second referee tracks accumulated fouls; USYF uses two referees (sometimes a third) with volunteer score-table helpers.ECYFL Futsal Rules — Law 5
  • Safety conventions: no heading for U11 and younger (USYF, Mass Futsal), slide-tackling bans in many leagues, non-marking flat indoor shoes and shin guards — no cleats or turf shoes — and only futsal balls on court.Mass Futsal — Rules
  • Massachusetts: Mass Youth Soccer endorses futsal as the state's off-season, FIFA-sanctioned alternative and affiliates futsal leagues (ECYFL was its first); the Massachusetts State Referee Committee lists the futsal referee licences and certifies officials.Mass Youth Soccer — Futsal
  • Referees: U.S. Soccer's Futsal Pathway has two licences — Futsal Referee (grassroots) and Regional Futsal Referee; numbered grades no longer exist.U.S. Soccer — Futsal refereeing
  • Before: collect both team lists, hand each bench its timeout-request slip, and make sure your clock can time a half, a one-minute timeout and a two-minute power play, and can show each team's accumulated fouls for the period.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 3 §3; Law 6 §1–2
  • During: run the clock only while the ball is in play; log every direct-free-kick foul the referees signal against the offending team (including ones signalled after advantage); at a team's FIFTH foul sound the signal, point to that bench and put the marker on the table — everyone should know the next foul is a free kick without a wall.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 6 §2; Law 13 §4
  • Timeouts: wait for the ball to be out of play AND the requesting team to have the restart, signal, time exactly one minute (a 10–15 s warning is good practice), record it — no second timeout in the same period.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 7 §3
  • Red cards: start a two-minute count of playing time, tell the bench the clock time its substitute may enter (earlier if the opponents score), and remember the sent-off player cannot return.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 3 §8; Law 6 §2
  • End of period: sound the signal the instant playing time runs out (complete a penalty or sixth-foul kick already awarded first); at half-time reset both foul counts to zero and note that benches and substitution zones swap ends; record score, fouls per period, timeouts and cards on the match report.FIFA Futsal Laws 2025-26, Law 7 §2; Law 13 §4; Law 1 §6

Checked against the FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025-26 (effective 5 Sept 2025) and US Youth Futsal rules, reviewed 22 Aug 2026. Sources: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025-26 (PDF) · FIFA — Amendments 2025-26 (summary) · US Youth Futsal — Futsal Rules · USYF Championship Series Rules 2025-26 (PDF) · U.S. Soccer — Refereeing documents · ECYFL — Futsal Rules · Mass Youth Soccer — Futsal · Mass Futsal — Rules. Your league's own rules and age-group modifications take precedence.

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