The World Cup is here, folks. And that means it’s officially time for Americans everywhere to, once again, start caring about soccer.
Let’s be honest here. Most of you are just checking from four years ago during the last USWNT run. Maybe last year if you’d watched the 2022 World Cup. Regardless, you’re probably not super familiar with what’s going on.
Some of the concepts and rules within the game of soccer can be kind of confusing. One of the more confusing aspects is almost certainly how substitutions work. In most sports, you can make as many subs as you want per game. But that’s not the case here in the World Cup.
If you’re a bit confused, though, don’t worry. We’ve got you. Here’s a quick rundown on how substitutions work.
Wait, so there aren't unlimited substitutions in soccer?
Nope. There aren’t. There are only five substitutions allowed per team in each match, according to the rules from the International Football Association board.
This is actually a recent development. Prior to 2020, there were only three substitutions allowed per game. In 2021, the two additional substitutions were made permanent.
So that’s how we’ve landed at five for today’s World Cup.
Can the five subs be made at any time?
Nope. There’s a bit of a twist to this.
As we’ve established, there are a total of five substitutions allowed per game per team. So, basically, USWNT gets a chance to substitute out five of their starting 11 players. There are 23 players on each roster, so that means there are also 12 players on the bench to choose from.
Although teams can make five substitutions, there are only three windows available for coaches to make those roster changes.
If a coach has five players they want to sub in, they’ll have to make multiple substitutions in one of those windows. They could just make the change at halftime — it doesn’t count as one of the substitution windows. But if a coach needs to make a change sooner,
Wow. That's kind of limiting, isn't it?
Very. It makes the match strategy at the beginning that much more essential. If a manager has their strategy down and it’s working, the less likely it is they’ll need to actually make a substitution.
There is a loophole here, though. It’s the halftime adjustment. A manager is allowed to use substitutions at halftime if they feel they need to make a line change. Halftime also doesn’t count as one of the substitution windows.
What happens if we go into extra time?
Each team gets one additional substitution when the game goes into extra time.
So, even if a team uses all five of its subs throughout the game, it’ll get an extra sixth substitution once extra time hits. So a coach wouldn’t need to worry about not having any subs for a player who might be tired.
