No throw-ins, no limits: FIFA builds the future of football in Baku

No throw-ins, no limits: FIFA builds the future of football in Baku No throw-ins, unlimited substitutions and an offside line just 14 metres from goal: at the first FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival™, football looks a little different. That is exactly the point. At first, any football fan will do a double take. Because right now, when the ball rolls out of play in Baku, nobody picks it up. The player puts it down and kicks it back into play. It is one of the first things that catches the eye at the FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival™, and it is far from the only change. As the inaugural tournament reaches its finals today, the rulebook used in Azerbaijan offers a glimpse of how FIFA is thinking about the next generation of players, and the fans who will watch them. The changes are part of a deliberately modified format. Matches are played eight against eight over two halves of 20 minutes, on a smaller (68 by 47 metre) pitch with full-size goals. Throw-ins have been replaced by kick-ins, and offside only applies beyond specially marked lines 14 metres from the goal line. On top of that, coaches can make unlimited substitutions. The idea behind it is simple. FIFA designed the format to produce fast-paced football with more touches and more interaction on the ball, so that every player can focus on developing their technical skills. Shorter matches allow teams to gain experience against a wider range of opponents, with each side playing at least nine games. Each rule changes the rhythm of the game in its own way. A kick-in turns a dead moment into an attacking option: instead of a short throw to the nearest teammate, the ball can be played straight into the box or switched to the other flank. The offside line has a similar effect. A high defensive line can no longer catch forwards offside in midfield, which opens up space and pushes the action towards the goals. Unlimited substitutions keep the intensity high and give more players more minutes. For Arsène Wenger, FIFA Chief of Global Football Development, that is the core of it. “At this age, the most important thing is to play,” he says. The smaller format is also meant to keep games competitive between very different football nations: “We wanted it to be a reduced number, not 11 against 11, because the difference between the countries would be too big. We wanted, as well, shorter games, (so) that everybody can meet everybody.” Wenger sees real value in that mix: “In life, when you love a sport, you want to know how good you are. So, you have to play against everybody.” On the ground, the coaches have felt the difference. Mali coach Rafan Sidibe sums up what he has seen over the week: “I would say the impact is that everyone has been able to play a faster game, with fewer stoppages. Frankly, I think that has been a very good thing. It has had a positive impact on the game, particularly in attack. I think we have seen a lot of goals, many coming from the kicks, and especially with the unlimited substitutions.” The format is also designed to develop the people on the touchline. Amit Desai, High Performance Strategy Consultant, points out that Baku is a learning environment for coaches too: “It’s not just the players we’re bringing to this tournament but also 189 coaches, head coaches and their assistants. Also, probably for many of them, (it’s) the first chance to really test themselves on a scale like this.” That is why the organisers bring the coaches together for education and development sessions alongside the matches. Behind the new rules sits a bigger question: how should football treat its youngest players? Baku offers one answer. Instead of fewer, longer matches on a full-size pitch, players get more games that are shorter and played on a smaller surface. Two halves of 20 minutes and unlimited substitutions mean players get regular breaks, and coaches can spread the minutes across the whole squad instead of relying on the same core group. The result is high-tempo football that is demanding but manageable for 14- and 15-year-olds, and arguably more fun to play and to watch. Latvia coach Kirils Buravcevs sees exactly that on the pitch: “We have very quick transitions in attack and in defence, and we have many duels on the field. Intensity is the main point for us, and we are happy with that.” Thanks to the rotation, he adds, every one of his players has featured in the tournament. There is also a clear developmental logic. The full 11-a-side format only starts at U-17 level, which turns the U-15 stage into a bridge. Players learn to make quick decisions in tight spaces before they step onto a full-size pitch, a benefit Buravcevs also highlights for himself as a coach. Not every detail convinces everyone. Costa Rica coach Luis Carlos Mejias Brenes welcomed the offside line for opening up the game, but felt that on such a compact pitch a kick-in becomes something close to a corner, and would rather see restarts taken by hand. That kind of feedback is what a first edition is for, and it is part of what makes Baku a genuine testing ground rather than a showcase. So are kick-ins coming to the senior World Cup? That question remains open for now. But youth football has always been a natural place to test new ideas, and Baku shows FIFA is willing to rethink the game from the ground up for the players who will shape its future. The tournament also connects to a wider pathway: more than 500 players at the event have come through FIFA Talent Academies, which have been set up in over 60 Member Associations as part of the FIFA Talent Development Scheme. And the experiment continues. The 2027 edition will feature girls’ teams, and from 2028 every Member Association will be invited to enter both its boys’ and girls’ U-15 sides in two separate competitions. Whether kick-ins ever make it into a World Cup final is a question for another day. What is already clear is that a generation of players is learning the game in Baku with more touches, more space and more chances to make decisions. Some of them may be playing at a World Cup in ten years’ time, and they will bring that experience with them.