The goalkeeper's eight seconds
Four steps. At the fourth, the restart is a corner kick to the opponents.
IFAB — Law 12.3 “Corner kick”, Laws of the Game 2026/27, in force from 1 July 2026.
The eight seconds, and the corner
The edition in force is the IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, "Effective from 1st July 2026". The Laws change every 1 July, so any coaching material that touches rules must carry its edition.
The change was made mechanically, and it helps to know how. The bullet "controls the ball with the hand/arm for more than six seconds before releasing it" was struck from the indirect-free-kick list in Law 12.2, and a new sub-section "3. Corner kick" was inserted into Law 12 (2025/26 law-change annex, p. 167).
Law 12.3 — Laws of the Game 2026/27, verbatim"A corner kick is awarded if a goalkeeper, inside their penalty area, controls the ball with their hand(s)/arm(s) for more than eight seconds before releasing it. A goalkeeper is considered to be in control of the ball with their hand(s)/arm(s) when: • the ball is between their hands/arms or between their hand(s)/arm(s) and any surface (e.g. ground, own body) • holding the ball in their outstretched open hand(s) • bouncing it on the ground or throwing it in the air. The referee will decide when the goalkeeper has control of the ball and the eight seconds begin and will visually count down the last five seconds with a raised hand. A goalkeeper cannot be challenged by an opponent when in control of the ball with their hand(s)/arm(s)."
This is not a trial. IFAB's 139th Annual General Meeting, announced on 1 March 2025, "unanimously decided" the change after "the major positive impact of trials", effective 1 July 2025, with competitions starting before that date permitted to implement it earlier. It is unchanged in the 2026/27 edition. IFAB's published reason is blunt: "Referees were not enforcing the Law, and goalkeepers were holding the ball for much longer than six seconds to waste time and change the tempo of the match".
What it means on the pitch:
- Eight seconds, not six. The referee decides when the goalkeeper has control and the count starts.
- A visible countdown. The referee "will visually count down the last five seconds with a raised hand".
- The restart is a corner kick, placed under Law 17.1 "in the corner area nearest to … the goalkeeper's position when penalised" — the goalkeeper's side, not the side where the move ended.
- No disciplinary sanction — "There is no disciplinary action unless the goalkeeper repeatedly commits the offence". No card unless it happens again.
- A goalkeeper in control is protected: they "cannot be challenged by an opponent". Symmetrically, an opponent who prevents the goalkeeper from releasing the ball, or kicks or attempts to kick it while they are releasing it, concedes an indirect free kick (Law 12.2).
- The escape clause is gone. The old definition of control explicitly excluded the case "except if the ball rebounds from the goalkeeper or the goalkeeper has made a save". That clause does not survive into the current three-bullet definition. It is a genuine narrowing of the Law, and it is little known.
2026/27 adds a second referee-awarded corner: the delayed goal kick
The new 2026/27 change that touches the goalkeeper is not their own offence but the team's, and the goalkeeper is usually the taker. Law 16.2: "If a player is unfairly delaying the taking of a goal kick for their team, the referee will whistle and signal the start of a five-second countdown … and if the goal kick has not been taken by the end of the five seconds, a corner kick is awarded to the opposing team. The offending player is cautioned only if they excessively delay the restart after the corner kick has been awarded". Law 17 now lists two referee-penalised corner triggers: the goalkeeper's eight seconds, and goal-kick delay.
The goalkeeper in the rest of the Laws
These are the articles that apply specifically to the position in the 2026/27 edition. There are more of them than coaches expect, and several are routinely taught wrong.
| Topic | Article | What the Law says |
|---|---|---|
| A goalkeeper is compulsory | Law 3.1 | A maximum of eleven players, "one must be the goalkeeper". A match may not start or continue with fewer than seven players. |
| Changing the goalkeeper | Law 3.4 | Allowed if the referee is informed before the change and it is made during a stoppage in play. Otherwise (Law 3.5) the referee allows play to continue and cautions both players when the ball is next out of play — but not if the change happened at half-time. |
| Colours | Law 4.3 | Each goalkeeper must be distinguishable from the other players and from the match officials. If both goalkeepers' shirts are the same colour and neither has another, "the referee allows the match to be played" — the only kit clash the Laws expressly wave through. |
| Equipment | Law 4.4 | Gloves, headgear, facemasks and knee and arm protectors are permitted, "as are goalkeepers' caps" — the goalkeeper's cap is explicitly outside the head-cover rules. And: "Goalkeepers may wear tracksuit bottoms". |
| Nets | Law 1 | Nets "must not interfere with the goalkeeper". |
| The back-pass | Law 12.2 | Indirect free kick if the goalkeeper handles the ball inside their penalty area after it has been deliberately kicked to them by a team-mate, or received directly from a team-mate's throw-in — "unless the goalkeeper has clearly kicked or attempted to kick the ball to release it into play". That escape clause is the forgotten half of the rule. Note also: "back-pass" is not a term of the Laws; it appears nowhere in the English, French or German text. |
| Re-handling after release | Law 12.2 | Indirect free kick if the goalkeeper touches the ball with the hand or arm after releasing it and before it has touched another player. |
| Deliberate trick | Law 12.2 | Indirect free kick against whoever initiates a deliberate trick (head, chest, knee) to circumvent the Law, whether or not the goalkeeper handles it; the goalkeeper is penalised and cautioned if responsible for initiating it. |
| Deliberate handball and DOGSO | Law 12.4 | Sending-off for denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by a deliberate handball offence, "except a goalkeeper within their penalty area". That exemption stops at the edge of the area. |
| Scoring with the hand or arm | Law 12.1 | Scoring directly from the hand or arm is a handball offence even if accidental, "including by the goalkeeper". Outside their own penalty area the goalkeeper has exactly the same restrictions as any other player. |
| Penalty kick — position | Law 14.1 | "The defending goalkeeper must remain on the goal line, facing the kicker, between the goalposts, until the ball is kicked", and: "When the ball is kicked, the defending goalkeeper must have at least part of one foot touching, in line with, or behind, the goal line". They must not delay the kick or touch the posts, crossbar or net. |
| Penalty kick — goalkeeper offends | Law 14.2 | The goal stands if it goes in. If it misses or hits the woodwork, it is retaken only if the offence "clearly impacted on the kicker". If the goalkeeper saves it: retake. The goalkeeper is warned for the first offence in the game and cautioned for any subsequent one. |
| Offside | Law 11.1 | The text says "second-last opponent" — it never says "goalkeeper". Practical consequence: an advanced sweeper-keeper can be the last opponent, making a defender the second-last. The offside line is not the goalkeeper's line. And the hands and arms of all players, "including the goalkeepers", are not considered for offside, the upper boundary of the arm being the bottom of the armpit. |
| Offside from a thrown ball | Law 11.2 (note) | The first point of contact is normally used, "however, when the ball is thrown by the goalkeeper, the last point of contact should be used". |
| Throw straight into the opponents' goal | Law 10 | If the goalkeeper throws the ball directly into the opponents' goal, a goal kick is awarded. |
| Goal kick or corner taken by the goalkeeper | Laws 16.2, 17.2 | A handball offence by the kicker gives a penalty kick — unless the kicker was the goalkeeper, in which case an indirect free kick is awarded. |
| Injury | Law 5 | The general rule (a treated player leaves the field and stays off for one minute after the restart) has express exceptions when a goalkeeper is injured and when a goalkeeper and an outfield player have collided and need attention. |
| Temporary dismissals | Law 5 (competition option) | "Temporary dismissals apply to all players (including goalkeepers)". |
| Penalty shoot-out | Law 10 | A goalkeeper unable to continue may be replaced by a named substitute even if the quota is used; the replaced goalkeeper takes no further part. The kicking team's goalkeeper stays on the field of play, outside the penalty area, on the goal line where it meets the penalty area boundary. A sent-off goalkeeper must be replaced by an eligible player. |
| Watch item | 2026/27 | IFAB states that its 2026/27 trials will focus mainly on "delays caused by goalkeeper injuries". That is the next rule likely to move on this position. |
The vocabulary that has a source
UEFA says it itself, in its own reference manual: "the approach to goalkeeping-specific course content is still very different throughout Europe and between national associations. There is, surprisingly, often little common ground when it comes to describing technical and tactical specifics, which should actually be universal". Its motto for the position is one sentence: "The goalkeeper needs to be part of the team, not apart from the team".
The most explicit technical taxonomy traced to a federation is Swiss. The Swiss Football Association (ASF/SFV), through the J+S / Federal Office of Sport monthly theme 04/2018 written by Patrick Foletti, the ASF head of goalkeeping, publishes five 1v1 techniques, and names them:
ASF/SFV and J+S — the five 1v1 techniques"Cinq techniques sont à disposition: bloc pied, bloc main, plongeon, lève-jambe et croix."
German edition: "Es stehen 5 Techniken zur Verfügung: Block Fuss, Block Hand, Tauchen, Bein weg und das Kreuz."
| Element | French (as published) | German (as published) |
|---|---|---|
| The player | gardien de but | Torhüter — also Torspieler/-in, the ASF's preferred term in children's football |
| Goalkeeper coach | entraîneur des gardiens (de but) | Torhüter-Trainer |
| Dive | plongeon | Hechten (and Tauchen for the 1v1 dive) |
| Catching ladder | rattraper un ballon bas / qui rebondit / mi-haut, haut | Ballfangen flach / Aufsetzer / halb hoch – hoch |
| Punch | dégagement au poing gauche / droit / à deux poings | Fausten — linke Hand / rechte Hand / beidhändig |
| Coming out at feet | sortie dans les pieds | Herauslaufen |
| Aerial ball | ballon aérien; centre for the cross | hohe Bälle; Flanke for the cross |
| Footwork | pas chassé · pas de course | Side Step · Laufschritt |
| Distribution by hand | lancer, relance à la main | Abwurf |
| Goal kick | coup de pied de but | Abstoss |
| Orientation | orientation du corps; the triad but – ballon – gardien | Orientierung; Tor – Ball – Torhüter |
Two published technical rules worth knowing, because they settle arguments:
- Which footwork for what: "Le pas chassé est privilégié pour les plongeons, tandis que le pas de course s'avère beaucoup plus efficace pour les sorties. Deux éléments que les jeunes gardiens doivent encore intégrer." — side steps for dives, running steps for coming out.
- Catch or punch: "S'il ne parvient pas à saisir le ballon, le gardien le dévie du poing." Catch first, punch as the fallback. It is the closest thing to a published claim-versus-punch decision rule that could be retrieved. The ASF also publishes a punch taxonomy by hand — left, right, both — but no generic noun for it.
UEFA's model of the role
UEFA publishes no exercises, but it does publish a model of the role that is worth knowing, because it corrects a very common observation error: three levels of involvement.
| Level | UEFA definition |
|---|---|
| Regular involvement | Phases where the goalkeeper does not have to deal with the ball and involvement is unlikely: "The player is in observation and communication mode". UEFA adds that this is "the goalkeeper's default mode, and must be maintained throughout the match". |
| High involvement | Activities that precede or enable involvement: creating space, asking for a back pass, giving clear instructions when setting up a wall, getting into a set position when anticipating an imminent delivery or shot on target. |
| Ball involvement | Direct involvement with the ball (handling, passing) or with the player in possession (pressuring the attacker in a 1v1). |
UEFA also names the failure modes: hesitation — "stop-and-go behaviour for through balls and crosses", the should-I-stay-or-should-I-go — and fast-but-wrong, "diving the wrong way in a 1v1 situation". And the positional error, "no man's land": "a position on the pitch from which the goalkeeper cannot put adequate pressure on the player in possession or sufficiently defend the goal".
The published session: EASI, 75 minutes
Across the documents consulted, one federation publishes a goalkeeper session structure with durations. It is the ASF/SFV, through J+S and the Swiss Federal Office of Sport, in the mobilesport.ch monthly theme 04/2018. It is called EASI — Échauffement, Analytique, Situatif, Intégré (warm-up, analytic, situational, integrated) — and it refers explicitly to the "directives ASF – Concept d'entraînement du gardien SFV/ASF, 2011".
| Block | Published duration | Dominant load | Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| Échauffement (warm-up) | 20′ | TE / ta-COO | Stabilisation and mobilisation, then the "5+5+1" template. |
| Analytique (analytic) | 25′ | TE / ta | Orientation "but – ballon – gardien". "Tous les ballons sont annoncés" — every ball is announced. |
| Situatif (situational) | 25′ | te / TA | "but – ballon – gardien = jeu". "Tous les ballons ne sont pas annoncés (frappes libres)". The S2 level simulates a match situation with no aid at all. |
| Intégré (integrated) | "dépend de l'entraîneur principal" | TE / TA | The goalkeeper inside the team session. |
| Cool-down | 5′ | — | — |
Upper case marks the dominant load. TE technical, TA tactical, COO coordination. "Globalement, une unité d'entraînement dure 75 minutes" — durations are indicative and adaptable to age, level and time available.
The published lessons break that frame into a finer split, and that is the one you can put straight onto a pitch:
- Stabilisation — 5′. Four to six exercises chosen from a published set of 14; "Tenir la position durant 15 à 30 secondes pour chaque exercice" — hold each for 15 to 30 seconds.
- 5+5+1 — 15′. Five elements without the ball (ABC coordination, joint mobilisation, tonification, accelerations, dynamic stretching) + five with the ball (footwork 1, footwork 2, catch low, catch bouncing, catch mid-high and high) + one element preparing the session's main technique.
- Analytic — 20′. Every ball announced, the technique named before the action.
- Situational — 20′. Same set-up, balls no longer announced.
- Competition — 10′. The same technique in contest form — five shots per goalkeeper, then rotate.
- Cool-down — 5′. Total: 75 minutes, 2 goals, 2 to 6 goalkeepers (the worked example uses 4).
The published difficulty dial is better than "easy / medium / hard": it is the announced / not-announced axis. In the analytic block every ball is declared; in the situational block it is not.
The published items, with their stated category
| Item | Format | Category as published |
|---|---|---|
| Lesson "Duels 1:1" (Lektion "Duelle 1:1") | 75 min, 2 to 6 goalkeepers | "Catégories: juniors E-D et plus âgés" — German edition: "Stufe: E–D und ältere Juniorinnen und Junioren" |
| Lesson "Plongeons" / "Hechten" (diving) | 75 min, same structure | juniors E-D et plus âgés |
| Lesson "Battle" | duration variable, "selon la taille du groupe et l'organisation"; adds two poles and a rope | juniors E-D et plus âgés |
| Coming out at feet — Rhythm / Differentiation | 1 goal, 3 balls / 1 goal, 7 balls and 8 coloured cones | theme cover: "Tranche d'âge: 10 ans et plus" — 10 years and older |
| Aerial balls — Rhythm / Differentiation | 1 goal, 1 ball / 1 goal, 6 balls and 20 cones | "dès Footeco-14" — from Footeco-14 |
| Nine-station circuit, dodgeball with goals, ten-pass with goals | indoor PE material | no age per station; theme cover 10 years and older. "Adapter la taille des buts et des ballons en fonction du niveau et de l'âge." |
| Stabilisation and mobilisation programme | 14 exercises | 4 to 6 by choice, 15 to 30 s each |
The published rationale for the aerial work says something important about the position in development football: "Les jeunes gardiens sont rarement confrontés à de telles actions en match ou à l'entraînement" — young goalkeepers rarely meet these actions in a match or in training, so the first exposures should be built in deliberately. The same note applies to coming out: "de telles situations se présentent rarement dans les catégories juniors".
With children: rotate, do not specialise
This is the question every club asks, and one federation answers it in writing. The position is Swiss, it is explicit, and it is broader than the goalkeeper: it is about playing positions in general.
ASF/SFV and J+S, Kinderfussball — Theorie und Praxis, p. 32"Wechselnde Spielpositionen statt Frühspezialisierung" (section heading: changing positions instead of early specialisation)
"Ebenfalls wechselnde Torspieler/-innen. Der Torspieler nimmt aktiv am Spiel teil." (rotate the goalkeepers too; the goalkeeper takes an active part in the game)
"Eine Frühspezialisierung auf bestimmte Spielpositionen innerhalb des Kinderfussballs schadet …" (early specialisation in particular positions within children's football is harmful …)
The published detail: at Junioren G and F, every child should take a turn in goal; at Junioren E, mainly those who actively seek the position. ⚠️ secondary reading The Swiss categories are G 5–6, F 7–8, E 9–10, D-7 11–12 and D-9 11–13.
And rotation is not only advice: in the 2026/27 implementing regulations for children's and youth football it becomes a competition rule for the FF-14 girls' categories — "Pro Turnier werden mind. 2 (oder mehr) unterschiedliche Torspieler/-innen eingesetzt", at least two different goalkeepers per tournament.
The three countries do not say the same thing — and that is the point
| Question | 🇫🇷 France (FFF) | 🇨🇭 Switzerland (ASF/SFV, J+S) | 🇧🇪 Belgium (URBSFA) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Should children rotate through goal? | No published position could be retrieved. The fff.fr technical-directorate pages returned HTTP 403 on 1 August 2026. | Yes, explicitly: rotate everyone at G and F, self-selection from E, and a minimum of two goalkeepers per tournament at FF-14. | Not researched in this source. |
| Is there even a goalkeeper at 5–6? | Foot à 4 is 3 + 1 goalkeeper. The 2013 text still carries both variants: a 25 × 15 m pitch "à 4 avec gardien" or 30 × 20 m "à 4 sans gardien", goals 3 × 1.50 m, or 2 × 1.50 m without a goalkeeper. | Categories G, F and E: no goalkeeper, mini-goals; a goalkeeper is required at D-7 and D-9. ⚠️ secondary reading | The two wings of the same federation contradict each other. On the francophone side (FFA, ex-ACFF), the U6 Jeu à 2 sheet prints "Pas de gardien de but !". On the Flemish side, Voetbal Vlaanderen plays the same 2v2 as "1+K tegen 1+K", with the rule "Doelman — Elke speelhelft mag één speler de bal met de handen spelen binnen het eigen doelgebied (6 m zone)". |
| When does goalkeeper-specific training start? | The only age signal retrieved: the Certification Gardien de But requires 10 supervised goalkeeper sessions, 5 of them in U11-U13 and 5 in an older category. | Material addressed to club coaches and goalkeeper coaches "dès les juniors E", cover "10 ans et plus"; aerial work "dès Footeco-14". | Not researched. |
| May the goalkeeper handle a back-pass in youth football? | Not retrieved. | At 9v9, no. And at D-7 / D-9 the goal kick is taken by hand, "Abwurf aus den Händen". ⚠️ secondary reading | Not researched. |
The practical consequence. "Rotate your goalkeeper" is a Swiss-sourced instruction. It is good advice, it is written down, and it is backed by a competition regulation — but no French or Belgian equivalent was retrieved, so it must not be presented as a European consensus. On the UEFA side, the Goalkeeper B diploma must cover "Goalkeeping in small-sided games: 4v4 → 9v9" and "chronological age bias", which points the same way without saying it as plainly.
Finally, the same J+S theme publishes a school module so every pupil goes in goal at least once: "L'idée est que chacun puisse se mettre dans la peau du gardien … et goûter à cette sensation au moins une fois!". For the youngest categories that is the only defensible content — and it is exposure to the position, not goalkeeper training.
What the research measures
Start with the most useful measurement of all: how much science exists on the position. PubMed, queried on 1 August 2026:
| Query | Records |
|---|---|
goalkeeper*[tiab] AND (soccer[tiab] OR football[tiab]) | 622 |
soccer[tiab] OR football[tiab] | 27,724 |
| Goalkeeper share of the football literature | 2.24% |
… of which youth (child* OR youth OR adolescen*) | 112 |
| … of which injury | 135 |
| … of which randomised controlled trials | 10 |
The reviews confirm it from the inside: White et al. (2018) found only 26 eligible records for the whole question of goalkeeper match-play and performance testing; Perez-Arroniz et al. (2023) found only 56 articles covering anthropometry, conditioning, external load and injury combined. One of the eleven players on the pitch, roughly 2% of published football science.
What the match actually demands
- 4 to 6 km covered on match day, about 50% of outfield players' distances; ~98% of time at low movement intensities; 2 to 10 saves per match, "which often involve explosive actions (e.g. dives, jumps)". No between-half performance decrements have been observed in professional goalkeepers. Isolated testing profile: superior jump performance, reduced VO₂max, slower sprint times than outfielders. (White et al. 2018, systematic review, 26 records)
- Goalkeeper-specific training elicited 51 ± 11 dives — the most of any activity in the week — against 5 ± 3 in small-sided games; changes of direction (34 ± 12) and explosive efforts (70 ± 18) in goalkeeper training exceeded match values. Match high-speed distance: 103 ± 72 m. Across 100 matches, more dives occurred in the 75–90 min epoch than in 0–15 min (1.3 ± 1.4 vs 1.0 ± 1.1) and more explosive efforts (2.5 ± 2.4 vs 2.0 ± 1.8). (White et al. 2020, 8 Premier League goalkeepers)
- The hardest development finding, quoted as it stands: "in early ages (9–13 years) the training of goalkeepers is not well posed, since compared to the players are worse both in physical capacities and technique". The same review concludes that long-distance aerobic capacity does not influence goalkeeper performance, while sprint, jump, agility and mobility do. (Perez-Arroniz et al. 2023, 56 articles)
- The gap does not wait for adolescence: outfielders show higher VO₂max, mean anaerobic power, repeated-sprint ability and 5–20 m sprint, and lower body-fat percentage, than goalkeepers "from a very youth age (8 years old)". (Slimani and Nikolaidis 2019, systematic review)
Injuries: what is true, and what is a myth
| Region | What the literature says |
|---|---|
| Upper limb | Goalkeepers are reported to have up to 5 times more upper-extremity injuries than outfield players, "many of them requiring substantial time-loss". Ranked locations: shoulder/clavicle → hand/finger/thumb → elbow → wrist → forearm → upper arm. (Marom and Williams 2018) |
| Shoulder | Across 3,828 matches / 126,357 hours of two Brazilian championships 2016–2019: 169 upper-limb injury events, 6.8% of all injuries; the shoulder is 63.3% of upper-limb injuries; mean return to play 19.1 days (range 0–200), and longer for goalkeepers. (de Souza Lima et al. 2022) |
| Shoulder prevention | One-season randomised controlled trial in amateur goalkeepers, n = 726: 50 injuries (0.62/1000 exposure-hours) with the FIFA 11+ Shoulder programme against 122 (1.94/1000 h) with the usual warm-up — IRR 0.32 (95% CI 0.27–0.34). The programme has three parts: general warming-up; strength and balance of the shoulder, elbow, wrist and finger muscles; advanced core-stability and muscle-control exercises. ⚠️ the published abstract contradicts itself — the results give IRR 0.32 while the conclusion says "50% fewer". Cite the IRR. (Al Attar et al. 2021; Ejnisman et al. 2016 for the structure) |
| Hip and groin | The myth. Five seasons of the Swedish male first league, 16 teams, 467 time-loss hip/groin injuries among 1,687 players: "Goalkeepers had the lowest percentage of injuries and absence days." So do not write a position-specific groin warning. (Lundgårdh et al. 2020) |
| Head | Mechanism: goalkeepers "most commonly sustain collision injuries when the head strikes the goalpost, the playing field, or another player's elbow, foot, or head" (Fields 1989 — ⚠️ old, narrative). A survey of 3,001 athletes: 18% reported a concussion (football 25%) and, within football, "goalkeepers and defensive midfield players showed most concussive incidences" (Helmich 2018 — ⚠️ retrospective self-report). A meta-analysis of 6 studies: female-to-male concussion rate ratio for goalkeeping = 1.63 (95% CI 1.22–2.17) (Dave et al. 2022). |
| Position and overall injury | In 369 academy players U14–U23, post-peak height velocity: "No association with playing position was observed for any injury type or location." The higher incidence rate was in central defenders, not goalkeepers. (Hall et al. 2022) |
What nobody publishes: no goalkeeper-specific return-to-play protocol was retrieved from any federation, nor from the peer-reviewed set consulted on 1 August 2026. What exists is a prevention programme (11+ Shoulder) and the observation that upper-limb return to play is longer for goalkeepers.
One last figure, because it ties the Law back to the technique: since Law 14.1 requires only one foot on the line instead of two, goalkeepers dive further and faster (p < 0.001 for both). ⚠️ n = 6 goalkeepers, 20 dives, laboratory (Monteiro et al. 2022).
Goalkeeper coach qualifications
| UEFA Goalkeeper B | UEFA Goalkeeper A | |
|---|---|---|
| Instrument | UEFA Coaching Convention, 4th edition, updated 2020 | |
| Minimum total hours | 60 h | 120 h |
| Entry requirement | Valid UEFA C licence or national goalkeeper certificate with relevant C diploma modules | Valid UEFA B licence and (if applicable) valid UEFA Goalkeeper B licence |
| Qualifies the holder to | "develop young goalkeepers and coach adult goalkeepers in either the amateur or elite game" | coach goalkeepers of all ages in professional football |
| Hours off the pitch | ≥ 20 h | ≥ 36 h |
| Hours on the pitch, work experience included | ≥ 40 h | ≥ 84 h |
| Guided interactive content | ≥ 40 h | ≥ 50 h |
| Work experience in the club environment | ≥ 20 h | ≥ 70 h |
| Four assessed domains | Specialised goalkeeper coach · Goalkeeper · Training environment · Match | |
The Goalkeeper B diploma carries one rarely quoted competence that bears directly on development: working with goalkeepers through maturation, particularly during peak height velocity, where training programmes often have to be adapted to reduce growth-related problems.
The French pathway has three steps. The Certification Gardien de But, an entry-level federal certificate open after two modules of the Certificat Fédéral Football: it targets educators working with goalkeepers in U11-U13 plus one older category (U15, U17, U19 or senior), and is assessed by a 15-minute teaching situation, a 15-minute interview and a 15-minute oral on a placement report covering 10 goalkeeper sessions, 5 of them in U11-U13. Then the Certificat d'Entraîneur Gardien de But niveau 1 (CEGB level 1), 24 hours, delivered by the regional institutes (IR2F), which requires among other things three seasons as a goalkeeper and three seasons coaching goalkeepers at a stated level; the session reported by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine league ran over 3 days, 13–15 June 2024, with 11 coaches. Finally the CEGB Pro, which the LFP charter makes mandatory: every Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 club must field "1 entraineur des gardiens de but de l'équipe professionnelle, titulaire ou en cours d'obtention du Certificat FFF gardien de but (CEGB Pro) ou de son équivalence (licence UEFA A Goalkeeper)". There is also an 8-hour futsal goalkeeper-coach initiation certificate.
⚠️ Two acknowledged unknowns. We could not establish whether a level 2 or 3 exists between CEGB level 1 and CEGB Pro: the level 1 course sheet lists none, and the fff.fr technical-directorate page returned HTTP 403 on 1 August 2026. And no ASF/SFV goalkeeper diploma name was retrieved: Switzerland has a head of goalkeeping and concept documents (Foletti 2007, 2011, 2013), but the title of its certification was not recovered. The Belgian pathway was not covered by this source.
Sources
Laws. IFAB, Laws of the Game 2026/27, "Effective from 1st July 2026" — Laws 1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16 and 17, English, French and German editions · IFAB, Laws of the Game 2025/26 and its "Law changes 2025/26" annex, p. 167 (deletion of the six-second bullet, creation of sub-section "3. Corner kick") · IFAB, Law changes 2025/26 — Goalkeepers controlling the ball with their hand(s)/arm(s) · IFAB news release "The IFAB tackles goalkeeper time wasting", 139th AGM, published 1 March 2025. UEFA. UEFA Goalkeeper Coaching — An integrated and collaborative approach, Technical Development unit and Goalkeeper Advisory Group (First Edition 2022; the title page also prints 2023) · UEFA Coaching Convention 2020 — Syllabus of minimum content, UEFA Goalkeeper B Diploma and … Goalkeeper A Diploma · the UEFA coaching-licences page. France. LFP, Charte du football professionnel — Titre 4: Statuts des entraîneurs, season 2024/25, art. 650.4 · FFF/IEFF course sheets "Certification Gardien de But" and "Gardien de But niveau 1 — module 24 h" · Ligue Méditerranée, "Certificat d'Entraîneur Gardien de But niv. 1" · Ligue de Football Nouvelle-Aquitaine, report on the CEGB level 1 course (Le Haillan, 13–15 June 2024) · Ligue de Football des Hauts-de-France, futsal goalkeeper-coach initiation certificate · FFF youth format tables (Foot à 4 / 5 / 8). Switzerland. Federal Office of Sport (OFSPO/BASPO) and J+S, mobilesport.ch monthly theme 04/2018 Entraînement du gardien / Torhütertraining, by Patrick Foletti, ASF head of goalkeeping, with Thierry Barnerat, published 4 April 2018 · ASF/SFV and J+S, Kinderfussball — Theorie und Praxis, p. 32 · ASF/SFV, Ausführungsbestimmungen Kinder- und Jugendfussball 2026/27 ⚠️ read through a summariser, not verified word for word · ASF junior category table. Belgium. Voetbal Vlaanderen 2v2 specification and 2v2 Dribbelvoetbal brochure · FFA (ex-ACFF), Règles du jeu — Jeu à 2, season 2025-2026 ⚠️ image-only PDF, read by OCR. Science. White et al. 2018, Sports Medicine 48(11):2497-2516 · White et al. 2020, J Sports Sci 38(8):848-854 · Perez-Arroniz et al. 2023, Phys Sportsmed 51(3):193-202 · Slimani and Nikolaidis 2019, J Sports Med Phys Fitness 59(1):141-163 · Marom and Williams 2018, Am J Orthop 47(10) · de Souza Lima et al. 2022, J Exp Orthop 9(1):120 · Al Attar et al. 2021, Am J Sports Med 49(9):2293-2300 · Ejnisman et al. 2016, Open Access J Sports Med 7:75-80 · Lundgårdh et al. 2020, KSSTA 28(4):1325-1332 · Hall et al. 2022, J Athl Train 57(7):696-703 · Fields 1989, Phys Sportsmed 17(1):69-73 · Helmich 2018, J Sports Med Phys Fitness 58(1-2):172-179 · Dave et al. 2022, Phys Sportsmed 50(1):11-19 · Monteiro et al. 2022, Sci Rep 12:18493 · PubMed counts via E-utilities, queried 1 August 2026. Content verified August 2026; the Laws of the Game change every 1 July, so re-check each season.
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