The age-band crosswalk
The joins lose information; the figure says so instead of hiding it. Solid rule: clean match. Gold dash: lossy join.
The four bands u9 · u13 · u17 · sen are a derivation: no federation publishes them. Swiss adults are written « Aktive » — never « Senioren », which in Swiss usage means over-30 veterans.
The three national ladders, side by side
The three national ladders
The same child plays a different game in each country. Three columns, one vertical scale from U6 to seniors, divergences marked with a triangle and not by colour alone.
Switzerland plays 2v2 as well, but in Turnierform — tournament play, off the calendar. Only Belgium runs it as calendar competition.
The starting point is the same everywhere — nobody puts a six-year-old on a full pitch — but each federation cut the climb differently. Here are the three ladders as the federations publish them.
| Federation | The format ladder, as published | 11-a-side starts at |
|---|---|---|
| 🇫🇷 FFF | Foot à 4 (U6/U7) → Foot à 5 (U8/U9) → Foot à 8 (U10 to U13) → Foot à 11 (U14+) | U14 |
| 🇨🇭 ASF/SFV | G — 2vs2 / 3vs3 → F — 3vs3 / 4vs4 → E — 3vs3 / 6vs6 → D-7 — 7vs7 → D-9 — 9vs9 → C — 11vs11 | Junioren C (juniors C) (14-15) |
| 🇧🇪 URBSFA | 2v2 (U6) → 3v3 (U7) → 5v5 (U8/U9) → 8v8 (U10 to U13) → 11v11 (U14+) | U14 |
Three observations that account for most cross-border confusion:
- Of these three federations, only Switzerland plays 9v9. It came out of the junior-category reform decided on 1 December 2023 by the ASF central committee, communicated to the regional associations from 11 January 2024 and in force nationwide from season 2025/26. Category D was split into D-7 (7vs7) and D-9 (9vs9) to create a "fliessender Übergang vom Kinder- zum Juniorenfussball" — a flowing transition from children's football to junior football, instead of a jump straight onto the full pitch. Five regional associations adopted it early, in 2024/25: AFV, FVBJ, FVNWS, FVRZ, SOFV.
- 2v2 needs a precise sentence. France does not play it at all. Belgium runs it as a calendar competition from U6, and is the only one of the three to do so — on the Flemish side since season 2014-2015, with 3v3 at U7 since season 2018-2019. But Switzerland plays 2v2 too: category G is specified as "2vs.2/3vs.3/Vielseitigkeit", in tournament form. "Only Belgium plays 2v2" is true of the competition type and false of the format.
- 11-a-side starts at almost the same age, by opposite routes. U14 in France, U14 in Belgium, Junioren C — the Swiss federation publishes no English column, so its own German name stands — at 14-15 in Switzerland. But France and Belgium arrive there from 8v8, Switzerland from 7v7 then 9v9. Children aged 11 to 13 are not playing the same game depending on the country, and a Swiss child reaches the full pitch a year after a French one.
The season warning: a birth year is not a constant
This is the single biggest trap on this page, and it makes no noise when you fall into it. Article 66 of the FFF's Règlements Généraux lists one birth year per category — but its preamble names its own season, word for word:
"Les joueurs et les joueuses sont répartis en catégories d'âge, dans les conditions suivantes, pour la saison 2026 / 2027 :" — Players are allocated to age categories under the following conditions, for the 2026/2027 season.
The previous edition ended "pour la saison 2025 / 2026", with every year shifted back by one. On the Swiss side the Ausführungsbestimmungen Kinder- und Jugendfussball are republished each season, and only the Jahrgang column moves: formats, pitches, goals, balls and the quarter structure are identical between the 2025/26 and the 2026/27 edition.
| What moves on 1 July | What does not |
|---|---|
| Every birth year, in France and in Switzerland alike (+1 each season) | Formats (number of players), pitch dimensions, goal sizes, ball sizes, durations, and whether the match runs in halves or quarters |
And a difference of kind between the two systems, which matters more than the date:
- In France, one birth year gives exactly one category. Article 66 assigns a single year per category, with no overlap — the one exception being U6, "born in 2021 or 2022 from the age of 5" for 2026-2027.
- In Switzerland the categories overlap on purpose. Junioren C for 2026/27 covers 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014; Junioren A covers 2006 to 2011. A birth year does not determine a Swiss category. A check that rejects a player whose year does not match "the category's year" is right in France and wrong in Switzerland.
- For Belgium, the corpus holds no current-season birth-year table. The FFA Catégories d'âge sheet is an image-only poster whose rows were never transcribed, and the only allocation actually read is the 2021-2022 edition. It is cited here only for its structure — its girls' categories open a three-birth-year window where the French rule opens one. No Belgian birth year is published on this page.
France — FFF: Article 66 and small-sided football
The jump from one format to the next
Five pitches on one shared ground line, sized by squad. The Swiss 9v9 visibly fills the step between 8v8 and 11v11.
Of the three countries compared, only Switzerland publishes a 9v9: introduced by the 2025/26 reform, decided on 1 December 2023, precisely to remove the step from small-sided play to the full field.
Two different documents, two different jobs. Article 66 of the Règlements Généraux defines the birth years, and nothing else. The category-to-format assignment comes from the lois du jeu du football à effectif réduit (small-sided laws) and the FFF's own "Les Footballs" pages.
Age categories — season 2026-2027
| Category | Born in | Format |
|---|---|---|
| U6 / U6 F | 2021 or 2022 from the age of 5 | Foot à 4 |
| U7 / U7 F | 2020 | Foot à 4 |
| U8 / U8 F | 2019 | Foot à 5 |
| U9 / U9 F | 2018 | Foot à 5 |
| U10 / U10 F | 2017 | Foot à 8 |
| U11 / U11 F | 2016 | Foot à 8 |
| U12 / U12 F | 2015 | Foot à 8 |
| U13 / U13 F | 2014 | Foot à 8 |
| U14 / U14 F | 2013 | Foot à 11 |
| U15 / U15 F | 2012 | Foot à 11 |
| U16 / U16 F | 2011 | Foot à 11 |
| U17 / U17 F | 2010 | Foot à 11 |
| U18 / U18 F | 2009 | Foot à 11 |
| U19 / U19 F | 2008 | Foot à 11 |
| U20 / U20 F | 2007 — not a row of its own: Article 66 names U20 inside the Senior row | Foot à 11 |
| Senior / Senior F | 1992 to 2007, "les joueurs et joueuses nés en 2007 étant de catégorie U20 ou U20 F" | Foot à 11 |
| Senior-Vétéran | born before 1992, male players only | Foot à 11 / recreational 8-a-side |
The U20 trap. There is no "U20" row in the category list, and plenty of software concludes that France has no U20. Article 66 spells it out inside the Senior row all the same. The youngest Senior birth year is called U20 / U20 F, and a form that rejects "U20" as an unknown category is rejecting a federal category.
Small-sided football — the published dimensions
The values below come from the lois du jeu du football à effectif réduit as republished by districts and leagues, cross-checked against the FFF's national pages. Where two federation documents disagree, both are printed.
| U6/U7 — Foot à 4 | U8/U9 — Foot à 5 | U10/U11 — Foot à 8 | U12/U13 — Foot à 8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| On the pitch | 3 + 1 goalkeeper | 4 + 1 goalkeeper | 7 + 1 goalkeeper | 7 + 1 goalkeeper |
| Minimum to play | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Pitch | 28 × 20 m — another edition gives 25 × 15 m (4-a-side with a keeper) or 30 × 20 m (4-a-side without) | 35 × 25 m | Half an 11-a-side pitch, i.e. 60-70 × 45-55 m | Half an 11-a-side pitch, i.e. 60-70 × 45-55 m |
| Goals | 4 × 1.50 m — another edition gives 3 × 1.50 m, or 2 × 1.50 m with no goalkeeper | 4 × 1.50 m | 6 × 2.10 m with nets | 6 × 2.10 m |
| Ball | Size 3 | Size 3 — "size 4 tolerated at U9" | Size 4 — FFF national page: "between 62 and 66 cm, 400 g"; one district document prints 63 to 66 cm | Size 4 |
| Duration | Festival format: 10′ + 4 × 10′ | 4 × 12′ (festival / Festifoot / futsal) | 2 × 25′ | 2 × 30′ |
| Offside | No | No | Yes, only between the 13 m line and the goal line | Yes, from the halfway line to the goal line |
| Penalty spot | 7 m — 6 m in another edition | 8 m | 9 m | 9 m |
| Protected area | 7 m × pitch width | 8 m × pitch width | 26 m wide × 13 m deep | 26 × 13 m |
| Free kicks | All direct | All direct | Direct and indirect | Direct and indirect |
| Throw-in | Played with the foot | Played with the foot | By hand | By hand |
| Back-pass to the keeper | Handling allowed | Handling allowed | Prohibited — indirect free kick | Prohibited — indirect free kick at 13 m with a wall |
| Minimum playing time per child | "Aim for equal playing time for all" | Same | 50 % minimum | 50 % minimum |
| Competition form | Festival day, no league table | Festival / Festifoot / futsal | Criterium / festival day | Criterium + Festival Foot U13 Pitch |
A vocabulary caveat, and it comes from the FFF itself: the names "Foot à 4 / à 5 / à 8" are league and district nomenclature. The federation's national page says only that the game is played "en effectif réduit à 3, 4, 5 ou 8" — small-sided, 3, 4, 5 or 8.
11-a-side, from U14 to seniors
| Category | Duration | Ball |
|---|---|---|
| U14 | 2 × 40′ | Size 5 |
| U15 | 2 × 40′ | Size 5 |
| U16 | 2 × 45′ | Size 5 |
| U17 | 2 × 45′ | Size 5 |
| U18 | 2 × 45′ | Size 5 |
| U19 | not covered by the championship regulation read | — |
| Senior | 2 × 45′ | Size 5 |
So the size 4 → size 5 crossover happens at U14, at the same moment as the move to the full pitch. Two things the corpus could not establish, and which are worth checking with your league: the U19 duration, and the number of substitutions permitted from U14 to U18 — the championship regulation consulted is silent on the latter.
Switzerland — ASF/SFV: overlapping Jahrgänge, quarters and tournaments
Two frameworks coexist inside the same Swiss club and must not be merged. The ASF/SFV categories (G to A) say which competition the team enters. J+S / Jugend+Sport is a federal programme run by the Federal Office of Sport, and it says which scheme a training session is registered under, what subsidy it draws and what qualification the coach holds — J+S-Kids covers ages 5 to 10, J+S as a whole covers 5 to 20. Neither derives from the other.
| Category | Age | Jahrgänge 2026/27 | Spielform | Pitch | Goals | Ball | Duration | Offside | League table |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | 5-6 | 2020, 2021 and younger | 2vs2 / 3vs3 (+ Vielseitigkeit) | approx. 20 × 15 m | Mini-goals, min. 1.2 × 0.8 m | Size 3/4, 290 g | 10′ per match; 120′ tournament total | No | No |
| F | 7-8 | 2018, 2019, 2020 | 3vs3 (Kleinfeld) / 4vs4 (Grossfeld) | Klein approx. 25 × 20 m · Gross approx. 30 × 25 m | Klein mini-goals min. 1.2 × 0.8 m · Gross 5 × 2 m | Size 4, 290 g | 12′ per match; 120′ tournament total | No | No |
| E | 9-10 | 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 | 3vs3 (Kleinfeld) / 6vs6 (Grossfeld) | Klein 25-30 × 20-25 m · Gross 43-48 × 25-30 m | Klein mini-goals · Gross 5 × 2 m | Size 4, 290-350 g | Klein 8-10′ · Gross 15′, over 3 rounds; 120′ tournament total | No | No |
| D-7 | 11-12 | 2014, 2015, 2016 | 7vs7 | 55 × 35 m max; min. length 41 m, width 25 m | 5 × 2 m | Size 4, 360 g | 20′-3′-20′-10′-20′-3′-20′ | Yes, from the halfway line | No |
| D-9 | 11-13 | 2013, 2014, 2015 | 9vs9 | 68 × 52 m max; min. length 57 m, width 41 m | 5 × 2 m | Size 4, 360 g | quarters, as D-7 | Yes, from the halfway line | No |
| C | 14-15 | 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 | 11vs11 | 100 × 64 m; length 110-90 m, width 64-59 m | 7.32 × 2.44 m | Size 5, 420 g | 45′-15′-45′ | Yes | Yes |
| B | 16-18 | 2008 to 2012 | 11vs11 | as C | 7.32 × 2.44 m | Size 5, 420 g | 45′-15′-45′ | Yes | Yes |
| A | 18-20 | 2006 to 2011 | 11vs11 | as C | 7.32 × 2.44 m | Size 5, 420 g | 45′-15′-45′ | Yes | Yes |
The "Age" column is the nominal age the ASF publishes; it cannot be derived from the Jahrgänge, which overlap more widely. The two columns come from different federation documents.
- Swiss children's football runs in neither halves nor quarters, but in tournaments. G, F and E each publish a duration per match (8 to 15 minutes) and a total tournament duration of 120 minutes. A Saturday morning in category F is a tournament, not a fixture.
- F and E each have two formats at once. F is 3vs3 on the Kleinfeld (mini-goals) and 4vs4 on the Grossfeld (5 × 2 m goals). E is 3vs3 and 6vs6. These are not alternatives a club picks once: both are published for the same category in the same season.
- D-7 and D-9 play four quarters, in the sequence printed word for word as
20′ – 3′ – 20′ – 10′ – 20′ – 3′ – 20′, and substitutions are allowed only during the quarter breaks. From C upwards the ASF switches to a recommendation: at least one half per player. - No league table up to and including D-9. The first table appears at C. For G, F and E the document is explicit: "Es gibt keine Rangierungsspiele und keine Ausscheidungsspiele" — no placement matches and no knockout matches.
- Optimal squad sizes per tournament team, as published: G 3-4 players, F 5-6, E 8-9.
- The 2026/27 document contains no rule on heading — a negative read from the document itself, not a retrieval failure. Unlike Belgium, where both wings forbid it explicitly below 11-a-side.
Also, from the 2026/27 document itself: the girls' Jahrgänge (FF-14, FF-17, FF-21) were not extracted, so no Swiss girls' birth year is published here; and category A widens to six Jahrgänge (2006-2011) against five last season, with no published explanation.
Belgium — URBSFA: one federation, two wings, two match structures
This is the Belgian peculiarity, and it catches out plenty of neighbouring clubs. The two wings of the URBSFA — Voetbal Vlaanderen on the Dutch-speaking side and FFA (formerly ACFF; acff.be redirects to ffa.be) on the French-speaking side — publish the same format ladder but not the same match structure. Voetbal Vlaanderen plays quarters at every youth level up to U17 (U19-U21 reverts to 2 × 45′); FFA plays halves at every youth level. And the wing is a property of the club, not of the category: Brussels clubs may affiliate to either one.
| Format | Categories | 🟡 Voetbal Vlaanderen | 🔴 FFA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2v2 / 2c2 | U6 | max 6 mini-matches of 2 × 3′ · 12.5 × 18 m · goals 1.5 × 3 m · size 3 ball · with a goalkeeper ("1+K tegen 1+K") | Festifoot of 1 h 15 max, play "en vagues de 20″-30″", 4 sequences of 8′-10′ · 12 m × 16.50 m · goals 1.6 to 2 m wide, 1.20 to 1.5 m high · size 3 · "Pas de gardien de but !" (no goalkeeper) |
| 3v3 / 3c3 | U7 | max 4 mini-matches of 2 × 5′ · 15 × 25 m · goals 1.5 × 3 m · size 3 | Festifoot of 1 h 15 max, "jeu en vagues de 40″-50″" · 15 m × 25 m · goals 3 to 5 m wide, 1.5 to 2 m high · size 3 |
| 5v5 / 5c5 | U8-U9 | 4 × 15′ · 25 × 35 m · goals 2 × 5 m · size 3 | 2 × 25′, 10′ half-time · 35 m × 25 m · goals 5 m × 2 m · size 3 |
| 8v8 / 8c8 | U10-U13 | U10-U11 4 × 15′; U12-U13 4 × 20′ · U10-U11 30/35 × 40/50 m; U12-U13 40/45 × 50/60 m (Voetbal Vlaanderen publishes width × length) · goals 2 × 5 m · size 4 | 2 × 30′, 10′ half-time · U10-U11 40-50 × 30-35 m; U12-U13 50-60 × 40-45 m · goals 5 m × 2 m · size 4 |
| 11v11 / 11c11 | U14+ | U14-U17 4 × 20′; U19-U21 2 × 45′ · full pitch · goals 2.44 × 7.32 m | U14-U15 2 × 35′; U16-U17 2 × 40′; U19-U21 2 × 45′ · full pitch · goals 7.32 × 2.44 m · U14-U15 size 4, U16-U21 size 5 |
What both wings print identically, below 11-a-side: heading is forbidden ("Koppen niet toegestaan" / "Jeu de tête INTERDIT"), no league table, no offside, free kicks always indirect — plus one rule with a scope of its own: no aluminium studs below U14.
The Belgian "no league table" is not a display preference, it is a regulatory classification. The federal regulation, Book B Title 7, article B7.2, defines non-11-a-side youth football as "jeugdwedstrijden niet-11/11, die een opgemaakte kalender afwerken zonder resultaten" — matches working through a published calendar without results, deliberately not called championships. FFA additionally runs the Iris League, a youth championship reserved for clubs of the Brussels-Capital Region.
Age by age, all three countries
Same ball, different goal
The two goals overlaid at the same scale, with a 1.75 m silhouette for reference. The gap is hatched.
Only the published measurements are dimensioned: ball size is a federation size ("size 4"), and no diameter is published.
Rows are ordered by the child's age, not by category label, because the labels do not align.
| Age | 🇫🇷 France | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 🇧🇪 Belgium |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | U6 — Foot à 4, 28 × 20 m, goals 4 × 1.50 m, size 3 | G — 2vs2 / 3vs3, approx. 20 × 15 m, 10′ per match | U6 — 2v2 · VV 12.5 × 18 m with a keeper · FFA 12 × 16.50 m with no keeper |
| 6 | U7 — Foot à 4 | G — 2vs2 / 3vs3 | U7 — 3v3, 15 × 25 m · VV 4 × (2 × 5′) · FFA 1 h 15 Festifoot |
| 7-8 | U8, U9 — Foot à 5, 35 × 25 m, size 3, 4 × 12′ | F — 3vs3 / 4vs4, tournament form | U8, U9 — 5v5, 25 × 35 m, size 3 · VV 4 × 15′ · FFA 2 × 25′ |
| 9-10 | U10, U11 — Foot à 8, half pitch, goals 6 × 2.10 m, size 4, 2 × 25′ | E — 3vs3 / 6vs6, tournament form | U10, U11 — 8v8, goals 2 × 5 m, size 4 · VV 4 × 15′ · FFA 2 × 30′ |
| 11 | U12 — Foot à 8, size 4, 2 × 30′ | D-7 — 7vs7, 55 × 35 m, goals 5 × 2 m, size 4, quarters | U12 — 8v8, 40/45 × 50/60 m, goals 2 × 5 m, size 4 · VV 4 × 20′ · FFA 2 × 30′ |
| 12 | U13 — Foot à 8, offside from the halfway line | D-7 or D-9 — 9vs9, 68 × 52 m | U13 — 8v8 · VV 4 × 20′ · FFA 2 × 30′ |
| 13 | U14 — Foot à 11, full pitch, size 5, 2 × 40′ | D-9 — 9vs9, goals 5 × 2 m, size 4 | U14 — 11v11, goals 2.44 × 7.32 m · VV 4 × 20′ · FFA 2 × 35′ |
| 14-15 | U15, U16 — Foot à 11, size 5 | C — 11vs11, 100 × 64 m, goals 7.32 × 2.44 m, size 5, 45′ + 45′ | U15, U16 — 11v11 · VV 4 × 20′ · FFA 2 × 35′ then 2 × 40′ |
| 16-18 | U17, U18 — Foot à 11, 2 × 45′; U19 — duration not published | B — 11vs11 | U17, U19 — 11v11 |
| 19-20 | Senior (the youngest year labelled U20) | A — 11vs11 | U21 — 11v11 |
The four disagreements you can see on the pitch
- Format at age 11. 8-a-side in France, 8v8 in Belgium, 7vs7 in Switzerland. Three countries, two answers. No "team size follows from age" rule survives all three markets.
- Ball size at age 13. Size 5 in France (U14), size 4 in Switzerland (D-9), size 4 in Belgium (U14). Children of the same age do not play with the same ball depending on the country — equipment lists have to be country-scoped. At 12, by contrast, all three agree: size 4 everywhere.
- Goal size for the 10-13 band. 6 × 2.10 m in France, 5 × 2 m in Switzerland and Belgium. France is the outlier, and the two Belgian wings do agree with each other on this one.
- Match structure below 14. France: two halves. Switzerland: four quarters in D, and neither in G/F/E, which run tournaments. Belgium: it depends on the wing — quarters on the Flemish side, halves on the French-speaking side. A two-period scoresheet can represent neither a Swiss D match nor a Flemish youth match.
And one point of agreement, the strongest of the three countries: no league table is published in children's football — not in France (festival days), not in Switzerland ("Rangliste: Nein" up to D-9), not in Belgium, where the regulation goes as far as not calling those fixtures championships at all.
Why these formats are legal: the IFAB "General modifications" clause
One question comes up every time a club official compares the Laws of the Game with the poster from their district: where does the right to play 5-a-side on a 35-metre pitch with 1.50 m goals come from? The answer is in no numbered Law. It sits in the front matter of the Laws of the Game, under "Notes and modifications → General modifications", pages 20-21 of the 2026/27 book.
The text lets each national FA modify a closed list of organisational points. For youth, veterans, disability and grassroots football:
- size of the field of play;
- size, weight and material of the ball;
- width between the goalposts and height of the crossbar from the ground;
- duration of the two (equal) halves of the game (and of the two equal halves of extra time);
- number of players;
- use of return substitutes;
- use of temporary dismissals (sin bins) for some/all cautions;
- specific requirements for the captain's compulsory armband.
The same section adds that "national FAs, confederations and FIFA have the flexibility to decide the age restrictions for youth and veterans football". That is exactly what Article 66, the Ausführungsbestimmungen and the Belgian youth regulation are doing.
"The same Laws apply in every match in every confederation, country, town and village and, apart from the modifications permitted by The IFAB (see 'General modifications'), the Laws must not be modified or changed, except with the permission of The IFAB." — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Notes on the Laws of the Game — Applying the Laws, p. 17
The practical consequence is more useful than the clause itself: the list is closed. Offside, handball, DOGSO, the penalty-kick procedure and every other playing Law are not nationally modifiable. When the FFF moves the offside line to 13 m at U10/U11, it is exercising a youth-competition power inside a format the clause itself authorises — it is not rewriting Law 11 for France.
Worth remembering too: there is no IFAB 5-a-side, 8-a-side or U11 pitch dimension. IFAB publishes only the 11-a-side pitch (touchline 90-120 m, goal line 45-90 m; 100-110 × 64-75 m for internationals). Every reduced dimension on this page is a national number. Never present a reduced dimension as an IFAB dimension.
Frequently asked
My child is 11: how many players on the pitch?
Why doesn't a birth year determine a category in Switzerland?
At what age do players move to a size 5 ball?
Is there a league table in children's categories?
Are these small-sided formats actually official under the Laws of the Game?
Why did Switzerland invent 9v9?
Sources
France — FFF, Règlements Généraux season 2026-2027, Article 66 (age categories) · FFF, Lois du jeu du football à effectif réduit (District Côte d'Azur edition, uploaded 10/2025; Ligue de Bretagne edition, "applicables au 1er septembre 2013") · FFF District de Loire-Atlantique, Règles du jeu U10-U11 and U12-U13 Foot à 8 · Ligue Hauts-de-France, Règlements des championnats U18, U17, U16, U15 et U14 · fff.fr pages "Le foot pour les enfants", "Football à 8 et à 5", "Présentation des pratiques".
Switzerland — ASF/SFV, Ausführungsbestimmungen Kinder- und Jugendfussball season 2026/27 (national edition and Aargauer Fussballverband edition) · Ostschweizer FV, Jugendfussball — Ausführungsbestimmungen 2025/26 · ASF presentations Neue Einteilung Juniorenkategorien (OFV, 28/10/2024; FVRZ, 11/01/2024) · ASF, Kinderfussball-Konzept (2013, cited as superseded) · SOFV/ASF poster Spielregeln 18-19 (cited as historical) · J+S / Federal Office of Sport, "Allround (Kinder)" and "Fussball" pages.
Belgium — Voetbal Vlaanderen, Poster jeugdreglementering 2024 ("van toepassing vanaf 01/07/2024") and Wisselschema (updated 15/06/2023) · KBVB, Opleidingsvisie Voetbal Vlaanderen, 2025 edition, §9.3 · FFA (formerly ACFF), Règles du jeu 2025-2026 — Jeu à 2, à 3, à 5, à 8, à 11 · URBSFA/KBVB, Bondsreglement Book B Title 7, articles B7.2 and B7.8 · Voetbal Vlaanderen, Brochure 2v2 Dribbelfestival.
Laws of the Game — IFAB, Laws of the Game 2026/27, effective from 1 July 2026 — Notes and modifications → General modifications, pp. 20-21, and Notes on the Laws of the Game — Applying the Laws, p. 17.
Verified in August 2026 against 2026-2027 season documents (France) and 2026/27 (Switzerland). Re-check every 1 July.
help.football.age-groups-and-formats