How long is a futsal match?

Two equal periods of 20 minutes of playing time on a stopped clock, with a half-time interval of no more than 15 minutes (FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7).

Is there offside in futsal?

No. Law 11 of the futsal Laws exists only to say there is no offside, so a goal is never disallowed for an attacker's position.

What happens at a team's sixth foul in futsal?

From the sixth accumulated foul of a period the opponents' direct free kick is taken with no wall, from the second penalty mark 10 m out or from the spot of the foul, and the kicker must shoot at goal (Law 13).

How long may a futsal goalkeeper keep the ball?

Four seconds, with hands or feet, in their own half. Longer is an indirect free kick to the opponents (Law 12).

How many substitutes can a futsal team use?

Substitutions are unlimited. In official FIFA, confederation and national-association competitions a maximum of nine substitutes may be used; other matches allow up to ten by default (Law 3).

Futsal fact checks: rules and numbers we verified

These are the futsal facts Insporta checked against the FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, in force since 5 September 2025, while writing and reviewing its tests, plus the history and governance facts checked against FIFA’s published futsal history. They are listed Law by Law, each with its status and source. Where a claim from a secondary source could not be confirmed in the Laws, it is marked as not confirmed rather than stated, because that is also what a reader searching for it needs to know. Last check: 6 September 2026. The tests these facts underpin are described at Futsal on Insporta.

Law 1: The Pitch

Fact	Status	Source
Futsal is played on a flat, hard surface, generally indoors; wood or artificial material is recommended, and grass or artificial turf is not permitted.	Stable	FIFA Futsal Laws 2025/26, Law 1
Goals: inside width between the posts 3 m, height to the underside of the crossbar 2 m. Posts and crossbar are the same 8 cm width as the lines.	Stable	Law 1

Law 3: The Players

Fact	Status	Source
A team has a maximum of five players on the court, one of whom must be the goalkeeper.	Stable	Law 3
A match may not start or resume if either team has fewer than three players on the court.	Stable	Law 3
Substitutions are unlimited. In official competitions under FIFA, the confederations or national associations a maximum of nine substitutes may be used, with competition rules stating how many are named; other matches allow up to ten by default.	Stable	Law 3
A team may start with fewer than five; named players join on arrival.	Stable	Law 3
The team captain wears an armband and has a degree of responsibility for the behaviour of the team but no special status or privileges.	Stable	Law 3.12
After a send-off the team serves a two-minute numerical reduction; it may end early if the opponents score, under the goal-difference conditions in the Law.	Stable	Law 3.8
Substitution procedure: the departing player leaves first, through the team’s own substitution zone, and the substitute enters afterwards through the same zone.	Stable	Law 3
Improper substitution (entering early or from the wrong place): the offending substitute is cautioned and ordered to leave the court. If play was stopped for it, the restart is an indirect free kick to the opponents from where the ball was, or from the 6 m line nearest that spot if the ball was inside the penalty area.	Stable	Law 3

Law 5: The Referees

Fact	Status	Source
There are two referees, the referee and the second referee, both with full authority to enforce the Laws.	Stable	Law 5
If both signal an infringement and disagree, the referee’s decision prevails over the second referee’s.	Stable	Law 5
Decisions on facts connected with play, including whether a goal was scored and the result, are final.	Stable	Law 5
A decision may be changed only on realising it is incorrect, or at the referee’s discretion on another official’s advice, and only if play has not restarted and the match has not ended.	Stable	Law 5
A second referee is mandatory for international matches; the Law does not make one mandatory for every match.	Stable	Law 5

Law 6: The Other Match Officials

Fact	Status	Source
The third referee assists the referees and the timekeeper: records the participating players, monitors ball replacements, checks a substitute’s equipment before entry, records the goalscorer’s number, notifies the timekeeper of a requested timeout, signals a team’s fifth accumulated foul, records cautions and send-offs, alerts the referees to an obvious error outside their view, and supervises conduct in the technical area.	Stable	Law 6
The timekeeper starts the clock after a correct kick-off, stops it when the ball goes out of play and restarts it on resumption; records goals and fouls on the scoreboard; signals a timeout request with a distinct acoustic signal and times the minute; signals a team’s fifth foul; times a two-minute send-off reduction; and signals the end of a period or the match with a signal distinct from the whistle.	Stable	Law 6

Law 7: The Duration of the Match

Fact	Status	Source
Two equal periods of 20 minutes of playing time on a stopped clock, reducible only if competition rules permit.	Stable	Law 7
The timekeeper ends a period with an acoustic signal different from the referees’ whistle. The period ends when that signal sounds even if the referees do not whistle. With no timekeeper, the referees keep time and end the period with the whistle.	Stable	Law 7
A period is extended only to complete a penalty kick or a sixth-foul free kick already awarded, and in no other case.	Stable	Law 7
Timeout: one one-minute timeout per team per period, requested by team officials through the third referee or timekeeper, granted only when the ball is out of play and the requesting team will take the restart. No carry-over to the next period and no timeouts in extra time.	Stable	Law 7
The half-time interval does not exceed 15 minutes; competition rules set the exact length. There is no interval between the extra-time periods, only a change of ends, and a drinks break of up to one minute is allowed at half-time in extra time.	Stable	Law 7
An abandoned match is replayed unless competition rules or the organisers determine otherwise.	Stable	Law 7.5
The detail of the last-two-minutes stoppages could not be confirmed against the current Laws, and secondary sources disagreed with each other (one gave a 10-minute half-time cap against the Law’s 15). Insporta does not ask about it.	Not confirmed; not asked	Secondary sources only

Law 8: The Start and Restart of Play

Fact	Status	Source
A kick-off starts both periods and both periods of extra time, and restarts play after a goal, taken by the team that conceded.	Stable	Law 8
The referee tosses a coin; the winner decides whether to take the kick-off in the first or the second period. Unless competition rules say otherwise, the home team chooses which goal to attack in the first period.	Stable	Law 8
The team that did not take the first-period kick-off takes the second-period one. Teams change ends for the second period, and at half-time each team changes benches so its bench is on its defensive side.	Stable	Law 8
At a kick-off all players except the kicker are in their own half, opponents are at least 3 m from the ball, the ball is stationary on the centre mark, and it is in play when kicked and clearly moves.	Stable	Law 8
A goal may be scored directly from a kick-off against the opponents. A kick-off that goes directly into the kicker’s own goal gives a corner kick to the opponents.	Stable	Law 8
There is no four-second count on a kick-off or a penalty kick.	Stable	Practical Guidelines to the Laws
Dropped ball: the referee or second referee drops it where play stopped, except that if that spot is inside the penalty area it is dropped on the penalty-area line nearest the stoppage. It is in play once it touches the ground.	Stable	Law 8
A claim that other players must be 4 m from a dropped ball and that one designated player per side takes it was not confirmed in the Laws and Insporta does not assert it.	Not confirmed; not asked	Secondary sources only

Law 9: The Ball In and Out of Play

Fact	Status	Source
The ball is out of play when the whole ball crosses a goal line or touchline, when the referee stops play, or when it hits the ceiling.	Stable	Law 9
It is in play at all other times, including a rebound off a post or the crossbar that stays on the court and a rebound off a referee on the court.	Stable	Law 9
After ceiling contact (courts need a minimum 4 m clearance) the restart is a kick-in to the opponents of whoever last touched the ball, from the touchline point nearest where it hit the ceiling.	Stable	Law 9

Law 10: Determining the Outcome of a Match

Fact	Status	Source
A goal is scored when the whole of the ball passes over the goal line between the posts and under the bar with no offence by the scoring team.	Stable	Law 10
More goals wins; equal goals, or none, is a draw.	Stable	Law 10
When a competition needs a winner, the only permitted procedures are the away-goals rule, two equal periods of extra time not exceeding five minutes each, kicks from the penalty mark, and combinations of these.	Stable	Law 10
Kicks from the penalty mark are taken after the match has ended and are not part of the match. A player sent off during the match cannot take part; cautions and warnings from the match are not carried forward; a team with more eligible players reduces to equal its opponents first; the referee tosses for the goal, then tosses again and the winner chooses whether to take the first or second kick.	Stable	Law 10

Law 11: Offside

Fact	Status	Source
There is no offside in futsal. Law 11 exists only to state this, so a goal is never disallowed for an attacker’s position.	Stable	Law 11

Law 12: Fouls and Misconduct

Fact	Status	Source
A direct free kick is awarded for seven offences committed carelessly, recklessly or with excessive force (kicking, tripping, jumping at, charging, striking, pushing and tackling an opponent), plus holding, spitting at anyone and deliberately handling the ball.	Stable	Law 12
An indirect free kick covers mainly goalkeeper offences, including controlling the ball with hands or feet in the goalkeeper’s own half for more than four seconds, plus dangerous play and impeding without contact.	Stable	Law 12
Four-second control: a goalkeeper who controls the ball with hands or feet in their own half for more than four seconds concedes an indirect free kick. The limit applies to the feet as well as the hands.	Stable	Law 12
Back-pass: a goalkeeper who touches the ball again in their own half after it was deliberately kicked to them by a team-mate, with no opponent touching it in between, concedes an indirect free kick. A pass with the head, chest or knee is not covered; only a kick is.	Stable	Law 12
Kick-in handling: a goalkeeper who handles the ball inside their own penalty area after receiving it directly from a team-mate’s kick-in concedes an indirect free kick. The zone is narrower than for the back-pass: the penalty area, not the whole half.	Stable	Law 12
Caution (yellow card): unsporting behaviour, dissent, persistent infringement, delaying the restart of play.	Stable	Law 12
Send-off (red card): serious foul play, violent conduct, spitting at anyone, denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity, offensive or abusive language or gestures, and a second caution in the same match.	Stable	Law 12
There is no distinct sliding-tackle rule in Law 12. A slide is judged under the ordinary careless, reckless or excessive-force standard like any other tackle. A “sin bin” for sliding tackles belongs to some local youth leagues, not to the FIFA Laws.	Stable; sin bin not in the Laws	Law 12

Law 13: Free Kicks and Accumulated Fouls

Fact	Status	Source
The ball is stationary when any free kick, direct or indirect, is taken.	Stable	Law 13
Four-second limit to take a free kick once positioned. Exceeding it turns a direct free kick into an indirect free kick to the opponents: an actual change of restart, not a warning.	Stable	Law 13
Opponents stay at least 5 m from the ball, and outside the penalty area, until it is in play.	Stable	Law 13
For a team’s fouls one to five in a period, the defending team may form a wall.	Stable	Law 13
From a team’s sixth accumulated foul in a period onward, no wall is permitted. If the foul is in the team’s own half between the imaginary 10 m line and the goal line but outside the penalty area, the attacking team chooses between the second penalty mark and the spot of the foul. Every player other than the kicker and the goalkeeper stays behind an imaginary line level with the ball, parallel to the goal line, outside the penalty area and 5 m from the ball; the goalkeeper stays inside the penalty area at least 5 m from the ball; the kicker must be a properly identified player and must attempt a direct shot at goal, not a pass.	Stable	Law 13
Accumulated fouls reset each period.	Stable	Law 13

Law 14: The Penalty Kick

Fact	Status	Source
The ball is placed on the penalty mark. The goalkeeper stays on the goal line, facing the kicker, between the posts, until the ball is kicked. Every other player is on the court, outside the penalty area, behind the penalty mark and at least 5 m from it. The ball is in play when kicked and it moves forward.	Stable	Law 14
Goalkeeper encroaches: the kick proceeds; a goal stands, and if no goal is scored the kick is retaken.	Stable	Law 14
Attacker encroaches: the kick proceeds; a goal is retaken, and if no goal is scored the restart is an indirect free kick to the defending team, not simply a disallowed kick with no restart.	Stable	Law 14
Both teams infringe at the same time: retaken. The ball bursts or becomes defective during the kick: retaken.	Stable	Law 14
A rebound off the goalkeeper, crossbar or post that then hits an outside agent: play is stopped and restarted with a dropped ball or at the penalty-area line, depending on where it happened.	Stable	Law 14

Law 15: The Kick-In

Fact	Status	Source
Awarded to the opponents of whoever last touched the ball before it fully crossed the touchline.	Stable	Law 15
The kicker has one foot on the touchline or on the ground outside the court; the ball is stationary, placed at the exit point or within 25 cm of it, outside the court.	Stable	Law 15
Four-second limit from being ready to take it, the same class of limit as the free kick, goal clearance and corner.	Stable	Law 15
Opponents stay at least 5 m from where the kick-in is taken.	Stable	Law 15
No goal may be scored directly from a kick-in.	Stable	Law 15
If the kicker touches the ball again, other than with the hands, before another player touches it: indirect free kick to the opponents. If the kicker deliberately handles it first: a direct free kick to the opponents, and it counts as an accumulated foul for the kicking team.	Stable	Law 15

Law 16: The Goal Clearance

Fact	Status	Source
Awarded when the whole ball crosses the goal line, on the ground or in the air, last touched by an attacker, with no goal scored.	Stable	Law 16
The ball is thrown, not kicked or rolled, by the defending goalkeeper from anywhere inside their own penalty area.	Stable	Law 16
Four-second limit from being ready; exceeding it gives an indirect free kick to the opponents.	Stable	Law 16
Opponents stay on the court, outside that penalty area, until the ball is in play; the whole area is the exclusion zone and no separate distance is given.	Stable	Law 16
No goal may be scored directly from a goal clearance.	Stable	Law 16
If the ball is not thrown clear of the penalty area the clearance is retaken and the four-second count does not reset.	Stable	Law 16
A goalkeeper who deliberately handles the ball again before another player touches it concedes a direct or indirect free kick depending on where it happened, under the ordinary handball logic of Law 12.	Stable	Laws 16 and 12
Attacking players inside the penalty area during the clearance: retaken.	Stable	Law 16

Law 17: The Corner Kick

Fact	Status	Source
Awarded when the ball wholly crosses the goal line, last touched by a defender, with no goal scored. The ball is placed inside the corner arc nearest where it crossed the line.	Stable	Law 17
A goal may be scored directly from a corner kick, unlike a kick-in or an indirect free kick.	Stable	Law 17
Opponents stay at least 5 m from the corner arc until the ball is in play. Four-second limit; the ball is in play once kicked and it moves.	Stable	Law 17
Opponent encroaches: the kick is retaken and that player is cautioned.	Stable	Law 17
Kicking team exceeds four seconds: the other team is awarded a goal clearance, not an indirect free kick.	Stable	Law 17
Kicker’s second touch before another player touches the ball: a free kick to the opponents, indirect for a foot touch, and a direct free kick counting as an accumulated foul for deliberate handling, mirroring the kick-in rule.	Stable	Law 17

History and governance

Not from the Laws. Checked on 4 September 2026 against FIFA’s published futsal history and corroborated across general references; every fact stands.

Fact	Status	Source
The indoor five-a-side game was devised by Juan Carlos Ceriani at the YMCA in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1930.	Verified	FIFA futsal history; FIFA Futsal Coaching Manual (2025), chapter 2
Borrowed elements: five a side and a short match from basketball; the goalkeeper rules from water polo; the pitch and goal sizes from handball; substitutions from ice hockey.	Verified	FIFA futsal history
The name “futsal” comes from the Spanish fútbol sala and the Portuguese futebol de salão, indoor or hall football.	Verified	FIFA futsal history
FIFUSA, the international federation for fútbol de salón, was formed in 1971.	Verified	FIFA futsal history
FIFA took up the indoor game and held its first Futsal World Championship in 1989, in the Netherlands, won by Brazil.	Verified	FIFA futsal history
Since the split of the 1980s there are two international bodies: FIFA and the AMF (Asociación Mundial de Futsal), the continuation of FIFUSA.	Verified	FIFA futsal history

Each fact above was checked because a question depended on it, either while writing the question or when a reviewer challenged it. The process is described in How Insporta writes a test.