Table of Contents
- How do substitutions work in soccer?
- How many substitutions are allowed in soccer?
- What are the rules regarding making substitutions in soccer?
- Are soccer substitution rules the same in every league?
- Soccer goalie substitution rule
- Can the same player be substituted twice in soccer?
- Recap: Soccer substitutions rules
As they seem to change so frequently, we’ve decided to bring you up to speed with the current soccer substitutions rules in 2023.
When a player goes down injured and can’t continue the game, the head coach will want to replace them with a substitute.
It might not be the case that a substitution is made because of an injury; a player could just be having a bad game, and the change is made in the hope that their replacement will influence proceedings more.
Yet you might be wondering what the restrictions are when it comes to making substitutions. What can, and can’t, you do when swapping players?
How do substitutions work in soccer?
Simply, substitutions occur when one player leaves the field of play, and a replacement from the dugout enters the game.
Assistant referees, commonly referred to as fourth officials, will handle the administrative in-game process of substitutions, including displaying numbers on the digital boards and checking the substitute player’s attire conforms to the rules.
Head coaches will often have a limit to how many substitutions they can make in a game, which depends on the laws implemented by the governing soccer body. The usual number in elite competitions these days is five.
How many substitutions are allowed in soccer?
The amount of substitutions you can make in a game varies by the league that the game is taking place. These days, the most common number of substitutions allowed in a game is five per team, but this isn’t strictly universal.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects that were felt by teams with stretched squads in terms of health, along with the piling-up of fixtures many competitions encountered due to the hiatus most leagues enforced, many leagues decided to change the number of substitutions you can make from three to five.
While many leagues and competitions decided to keep the five substitutions rule because it was working well, others reverted back to three substitutions per team once the initial wave of the pandemic had ended.
Substitutions weren’t always allowed in soccer, though. It might seem strange but prior to 1958, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the institution tasked with maintaining and reviewing soccer laws, didn’t allow for substitutions to be made in games.
Instead, if a team had an injured player who couldn’t continue, they were simply reduced to one less player for the remainder of the game.
Nowadays, this seems very unfair, so IFAB allowed one substitution in 1958, then two in 1988. It wasn’t until 1995 that we saw the introduction of the three substitutes rule that many leagues subscribed to for so many years.
What are the rules regarding making substitutions in soccer?
In most major leagues globally, teams are permitted to make five substitutions per game, yet there are restrictions as to when you can make these substitutions.
For instance, to limit the amount of interference and stoppages in a game, the English Premier League allows five substitutions but only within three “windows”.
However, these windows don’t include half-time in a game, so a head coach has four windows to make a change (half-time plus three additional slots).
It was deemed fair that because the number of substitutes permitted to enter the field had increased, head coaches were also allowed to name nine reserves on their bench in many leagues, sometimes more. Again, this varies by competition.
It doesn’t matter what position the player plays when being substituted on or off the field. Changes don’t have to be ‘like-for-like’, providing head coaches with flexibility and opportunities to alter the systems that the team is operating in.
Numerous leagues globally also have a “concussion substitution”. The concussion substitute is a player that replaces someone who is deemed to have suffered a concussion by a medical examiner during a game or has at least shown symptoms of a concussion.
Leagues will usually allow an extra substitution in a game should a player suffer a concussion. The opposing team would also be granted an extra substitution because otherwise, it seems unfair to grant one side this extra allowance.
With such widespread information now known about the effects of concussions in later life, fewer risks are taken by medical staff who are ultimately there to protect the health of the athletes.
Are soccer substitution rules the same in every league?
While many leagues now have a five-substitution policy, this doesn’t mean that all leagues apply the rules in the same way.
MLS rules are very similar to the Premier League rules that have been discussed above.
La Liga, the top division in Spain, also allows five substitutions per team, but head coaches have a choice of 12 substitutions to select from, rather than the nine permitted in the Premier League, for example.
Interestingly, some competitions allow for a fourth substitution to be made by teams but only if the game goes to extra time.
Of course, this wouldn’t apply to league games that can end in a tie, but if a cup competition with a knock-out format ends tied, the game often goes to extra time, where sometimes another substitution is permitted because of the extended length of the game.
Soccer goalie substitution rule
The rules when replacing or introducing goalkeepers into or out of a game are the same as they are for outfield players.
Head coaches will rarely substitute their goalkeepers unless it’s absolutely necessary. Sometimes though, if a game looks likely to go to a penalty shoot-out, head coaches replace one goalkeeper with another who is deemed superior at saving penalties.
You can replace a goalkeeper with an outfield player, but head coaches will almost never do this because it’s far too risky. Vice versa, you can swap an outfield player for a goalkeeper on the bench, but there’s little reason to do this. Despite having two players who specialize between the sticks on the field, you can only have one designated goalkeeper in the game.
Again, there are no rules as to whether you must name a goalkeeper on the substitute’s bench, even though most managers feel it’s a sensible idea to do so.
Retired English manager Neil Warnock famously used to opt not to have a goalkeeper on his bench because he deemed it pointless and a waste of a selection when you could choose a player who’s much more likely to influence a game.
Can the same player be substituted twice in soccer?
Players can be substituted onto the field and then off it later in the game. It’s not extremely common, but it happens now and then.
However, when a player has been substituted off the field, they can’t be substituted back on. This rule applies everywhere.
The rule also applies to concussion substitutes too. If an outgoing player is deemed to potentially have a concussion, the rules state that they can’t come back on if they later start to feel better.
Recap: Soccer substitutions rules
Head coaches will thoroughly assess what the team requires and who is the best person to change the game favorably for their side when making a substitution.
Substitutions can affect games considerably so making the right decision could win or cost you the game.