FA 3v3 Football: Why U7s Are Moving From 5v5 - And Is It Actually Better?

For generations, one of the first experiences a young footballer has had of “proper football” is pulling on a shirt, finding their position and playing a small-sided match against another team.

From the 2026/27 season, that experience is changing.

The FA's new FutureFit framework introduces 3v3 football at U7, replacing 5v5 as the maximum permitted format. There are no designated goalkeepers, fewer players, smaller pitches and a deliberate attempt to strip the game back to its simplest form.

At first glance, it is easy to dismiss it.

How can 3v3 prepare children for a game that ultimately becomes 11v11?

What happens to young goalkeepers?

Are we simplifying football too much?

They are reasonable questions.

But when you look at the thinking and research behind the change, there is a compelling argument that perhaps we have been asking the wrong question.

Instead of asking “Does 3v3 look enough like adult football?”, perhaps we should ask:

“What version of football gives a six-year-old the most opportunities to actually learn how to play?”

That is where 3v3 starts to become very interesting.

What Is Changing With FA 3v3 Football?

The introduction of FA 3v3 football is part of a much wider restructuring of youth football in England. Under the new pathway, players will begin at U7 with 3v3 before progressing through 5v5, 7v7 and 9v9, with 11v11 delayed until U14.

The principle is relatively simple: keep children in smaller-sided formats for longer.

At U7, the change is particularly significant.

A 3v3 game is played on an area approximately 15m x 10m. There are no designated goalkeepers, officials or substitutes within the intended format. With six players involved rather than ten, it becomes difficult for anyone to disappear from the game.

And that is really the point.

The FA wants more children playing, more often.

The Research Behind 3v3

This isn't simply a case of someone at The FA deciding that smaller games sound like a good idea.

The changes have been supported by research conducted in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University, whose Football Exchange researchers analysed more than 400 grassroots matches across U6-U14 football.

The researchers looked at areas including physical activity, technical actions, time on the ball and decision-making across different playing formats.

The overall pattern was clear:

as the number of players decreases, individual involvement increases.

FA analysis provides a simple example. Across ten minutes of ball-in-play time, a player in a 7v7 game averaged eight passes. In 3v3, that increased to 15.

But passes are only one part of the picture.

Smaller formats create more opportunities to receive, dribble, defend, attack, change direction, score, stop goals and perhaps most importantly, make decisions.

For a six-year-old learning football, that repetition matters enormously.

Imagine two children playing for 30 minutes.

One touches the ball 20 times.

The other touches it 50 times.

Multiply that difference across a season.

Then across several seasons.

Suddenly, reducing the number of players doesn't look like such a small change.

The Problem With Simply Copying Adult Football

Football has traditionally worked backwards.

We know the finished game is 11v11, so youth football has often been viewed as a gradual attempt to recreate it.

Positions are introduced. Formations appear. Coaches begin discussing shape, defensive lines and build-up structures.

There is nothing inherently wrong with children beginning to understand those concepts.

But there is a danger that we teach children where to stand before we teach them how to play.

A six-year-old doesn't need to understand the responsibilities of a Premier League holding midfielder.

They need the ball.

They need to learn how it feels to receive under pressure. They need to dribble past somebody. Lose possession. Win it back. Recognise space. Pass to a teammate. Defend a goal.

Then do all of it again.

And again.

And again.

3v3 creates those repetitions naturally.

Does 3v3 Really Relate to 11v11?

This is probably the biggest question I had when first looking at the change.

If the end product is 11v11, surely we should prepare players by playing something that resembles 11v11?

But football is not really defined by the number of players on the pitch.

The same fundamental problems exist in 3v3.

Can I beat an opponent?

Can I create space?

Can I support the player on the ball?

Can I recognise when to pass and when to dribble?

Can we create an overload?

Can I react when possession changes?

Can I protect our goal?

Those problems still exist when players eventually reach 11v11.

The scale changes.

The distances change.

The number of teammates and opponents changes.

The decisions become more complex.

But many of the foundations remain.

A simple 2v1 that happens during a 3v3 match can appear on the wing in an 11v11 game years later.

A player learning when to support behind the ball is beginning to understand principles that will eventually underpin possession football.

A child recognising that their teammate has moved one way and therefore space has appeared somewhere else is learning something far more valuable than simply being told to “stay in your position”.

In that sense, 3v3 isn't separate from 11v11. It is one of its building blocks.

And smaller-sided football shouldn't necessarily disappear as players get older either.

Even senior professional teams regularly use 3v3, 4v4 and other small-sided practices because reducing numbers increases the frequency of particular decisions and actions.

The format may be simple.

The football problems within it aren't.

But What About Goalkeepers?

This is where I think the discussion becomes less straightforward.

The new U7 3v3 format has no designated goalkeeper.

I understand the logic.

At that age, we don't necessarily want one child standing in a goal while the game takes place at the opposite end of the pitch. Removing the fixed goalkeeper gives that player the same opportunities to dribble, pass, defend and make decisions as everyone else.

There is also an interesting potential benefit.

Modern goalkeepers are increasingly expected to be footballers first.

They receive under pressure. They play passes. They create overloads during build-up. They need awareness, composure and confidence with the ball at their feet.

So perhaps spending a child's earliest football experiences playing outfield actually creates a stronger technical foundation for a future goalkeeper.

There is a lot I like about that argument.

But I still think we should be careful.

Some children love being goalkeepers.

They enjoy diving around. They want the gloves. They identify with that position from an incredibly young age.

We shouldn't respond to a development model by discouraging that enthusiasm.

There are also goalkeeper-specific skills that playing 3v3 without goalkeepers obviously cannot develop.

Handling.

Set position.

Diving.

Shot stopping.

Positioning relative to the goal.

My view is therefore somewhere in the middle.

I wouldn't rush to specialise a six-year-old goalkeeper and have them spend every match permanently in goal.

But equally, I wouldn't tell a child desperate to become a goalkeeper that goalkeeping doesn't matter until they're older.

Let them experience both.

Develop the footballer and nurture the enthusiasm for goalkeeping.

Long-term, that might actually produce better goalkeepers.

More Decisions, Less Coaching?

There is another part of 3v3 that I think could be even more important than the format itself.

The FA's model deliberately reduces adult involvement.

And grassroots football probably needs some of that.

Watch many children's matches and there can be an incredible amount of information coming from the sidelines.

“PASS!”

“SHOOT!”

“GET BACK!”

“SPREAD OUT!”

The child receives the ball and, before they have even looked up, an adult has made the decision for them.

If we're going to increase the number of decisions players experience through 3v3, we need to actually allow them to make those decisions.

That means accepting mistakes.

A player might dribble when they should have passed.

Good.

Let them experience what happens.

They might pass when they had space to drive into.

Good.

Can they recognise it differently next time?

The value of 3v3 isn't simply that there are fewer players.

It is that fewer players can create an environment where every child has to become involved in solving the game.

Coaches need to be brave enough not to solve it for them.

Will 3v3 Create Better Footballers?

We won't truly know the answer for years.

No playing format guarantees better players.

A badly coached 3v3 environment can still be poor.

A fantastic coach can create an excellent development environment within 5v5.

And development is influenced by far more than match format alone.

But the principle behind the change makes sense to me.

If we want technically confident players who can make their own decisions, then giving them more opportunities to touch the ball, solve problems and influence matches seems a sensible place to start.

My biggest hope is that coaches don't turn 3v3 into miniature tactical football.

We don't need rigid formations.

We don't need a six-year-old permanently labelled a defender.

And we certainly don't need coaches controlling every possession from the touchline.

Give them the game.

Let them attack.

Let them defend.

Let them score.

Let them lose the ball.

Let them work out how to win it back.

The real measure of 3v3 won't be whether an U7 team looks organised.

It will be whether those players arrive at 7v7, 9v9 and eventually 11v11 with a bigger toolbox of skills and a better ability to solve the increasingly complex problems football presents.

3v3 Isn't About Making Football Smaller

Perhaps that's the most important point.

3v3 isn't trying to replicate 11v11.

It shouldn't.

A six-year-old isn't a smaller version of a 25-year-old footballer.

The purpose of youth football should be to create the experiences players need now, while gradually preparing them for what comes next.

If smaller formats mean more touches, more decisions, more movement and fewer opportunities to hide from the game, there is a strong case for making that trade.

There will be challenges.

Goalkeeper development needs thought.

Coaches will need to resist over-organising games.

Clubs will need to adapt facilities and equipment.

And the pathway from 3v3 towards the full game needs to remain progressive rather than treating each format as an isolated version of football.

But I think the principle is right:

Before we ask young players to understand the whole game, give them as many opportunities as possible to learn how to play it.

Want to Hear More? Watch Coach's Commute

I recently discussed the move from 5v5 to 3v3, the thinking behind the changes and what they could mean for young players in more detail on Coach's Commute.

If you prefer listening to your coaching content or want to hear more of my thoughts on whether 3v3 really prepares players for the future game, you can watch the full episode on The Football Hub YouTube channel.

▶ Watch the full Coach's Commute episode: 3v3 vs 5v5

Take Your Coaching Further With The Football Hub

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