Substitution and Squad Limits Interpreter
Substitution and Squad Limits Interpreter
Can this team make another substitution, and does it spend one of its windows? Law 3 of the IFAB Laws of the Game caps association football at five substitutes and three substitution opportunities, plus half-time.
Is another substitution available
Law 3.2A competition permitting five substitutes and three opportunities; the team has made three substitutions in three opportunities, and wants to change during play
What Law 3.2 sets, and what a competition sets
Opportunities available = permitted − used, and a half-time or extra-time-break change uses none
Law 3.2 maximum in an official competition: five substitutes, three substitution opportunities, plus half-time
- five substitutes, and whose number that is
- Law 3.2: in official competitions “The number of substitutes, up to a maximum of five, which may be used in any match” is determined by FIFA, the confederation or the national football association. Five is a ceiling the Law allows, not a rule every competition applies, so it is an input here
- when five became permanent
- the five-substitute option started as a temporary amendment after a FIFA request in May 2020 and was “extended several times”. The IFAB made it permanent at its 136th Annual General Meeting in Doha, announced on 13 June 2022: it was “permanently introduced into the Laws of the Game 2022/23”, and the number of substitutes that may be NAMED rose from 12 to 15 at the competition organiser’s discretion
- three opportunities, counted separately
- the substitutes and the windows are two different limits and this is the distinction the page exists for. Each team “has a maximum of three substitution opportunities”, and the IFAB’s June 2022 announcement confirmed that “the current restriction of three substitution slots plus half-time” was unchanged when five substitutes became permanent. Two players sent on together spend one opportunity
- half-time, and the extra-time breaks
- Law 3.2 lets teams “additionally make substitutions at half-time”, and changes in the period between full-time and the start of extra time, and at half-time in extra time, do not count as a used opportunity. In extra time itself “any unused substitutes and substitution opportunities may be used”, and where the rules allow an additional substitute, “each team will have one additional substitution opportunity”
- the concussion substitute
- a separate protocol, approved at The IFAB’s 138th Annual General Meeting on 2 March 2024 and effective from 1 July 2024, and a competition option rather than a universal rule. “Each team is permitted to use a maximum of one ‘concussion substitute’ in a match”; when one is used “the opposing team then has the option to use an ‘additional substitute’”; and it is “separate from any limit on the number of ‘normal substitution’ opportunities”
Worked example
A competition permitting five substitutes and three opportunities; the team has made three substitutions in three opportunities, and wants to change during play
Substitutes permitted 5, used 3, so two substitutes are still available
Opportunities permitted 3, used 3, so no opportunity is left
During play, both limits have to be satisfied, so the change cannot be made — the substitutes are there and the window is not
Change the timing to half-time and the answer becomes allowed, with no opportunity used, because Law 3.2 lets teams “additionally make substitutions at half-time”
The same is true of the break before extra time and of half-time in extra time
Set the used substitutions to 5 and half-time no longer helps: an interval creates an opportunity, never a substitute
Raise the permitted figures to 6 and 4, which is the extra-time allowance where a competition grants it, and the change is allowed during play again
Set the kind to a concussion substitution and it is allowed whatever the two counts say — but only once per team per match
Two different limits, and the state where only one of them bites
| Substitutes permitted / used | Opportunities permitted / used | During play | At half-time or an extra-time break |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 / 0 | 3 / 0 | Allowed, uses one opportunity | Allowed, uses no opportunity |
| 5 / 3 | 3 / 2 | Allowed, uses one opportunity | Allowed, uses no opportunity |
| 5 / 3 | 3 / 3 | Not allowed — no opportunity left | Allowed, and no opportunity is used |
| 5 / 5 | 3 / 2 | Not allowed — no substitutes left | Not allowed — an interval does not create a substitute |
| 3 / 3 | 3 / 1 | Not allowed — a three-substitute competition | Not allowed |
| 6 / 3 | 4 / 3 | Allowed, uses one opportunity | Allowed, uses no opportunity |
The rule changed, and here is the paper trail
| Date | Body and meeting | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Before 2020 | The IFAB, Law 3 | Three substitutes in an official competition, for decades |
| May 2020 | The IFAB, at FIFA’s request | A temporary amendment allowing up to five substitutes, to protect player welfare during the pandemic. It was “extended several times” |
| 13 June 2022 | The IFAB, 136th Annual General Meeting, Doha | Five substitutes “permanently introduced into the Laws of the Game 2022/23”; “The current restriction of three substitution slots plus half-time was confirmed”; named substitutes raised from 12 to 15 at the competition organiser’s discretion |
| 2 March 2024, effective 1 July 2024 | The IFAB, 138th Annual General Meeting, Loch Lomond | “Additional permanent concussion substitutions to be a competition option in accordance with the necessary protocol” — a Law 3 change rather than a trial, with one concussion substitute per team and an additional substitute for the opposing team |
Five substitutes, three windows, and a competition’s own choice
Substitutions here are substitutions in association football — soccer — under Law 3 of the IFAB Laws of the Game. American football, Australian rules, basketball and both rugby codes allow interchange or rolling substitution on entirely different terms, and none of their limits appears on this page. There are two limits, not one, and almost every argument about a substitution comes from conflating them. Law 3.2 says that in official competitions “The number of substitutes, up to a maximum of five, which may be used in any match” is determined by FIFA, the confederation or the national football association — so five is a ceiling the Law permits and not a rule every competition applies. Separately, each team “has a maximum of three substitution opportunities”, and may “additionally make substitutions at half-time”. Five players, three windows, and the interval free.
That separation produces the state this page exists to resolve: a team with substitutes left and no window left. It cannot make a change while the match is in play, and it can make one at half-time, because an interval does not consume an opportunity. It is also why two players so often walk on together — a double change spends one opportunity rather than two. The mirror case is worth knowing too: once the permitted substitutes are gone, half-time is no help at all, because an interval creates an opportunity and never a substitute.
Both numbers are recent and both are an input here rather than an assumption. Three substitutes was the Law for decades. Five arrived in May 2020 as a temporary amendment at FIFA’s request and was “extended several times” before The IFAB made it permanent at its 136th Annual General Meeting in Doha, announced on 13 June 2022: five was “permanently introduced into the Laws of the Game 2022/23”, and in the same breath “The current restriction of three substitution slots plus half-time was confirmed”. The number of substitutes a team may NAME rose at the same meeting from 12 to 15, at the competition organiser’s discretion. So a competition using three substitutes today is applying Law 3.2 exactly as written, and a page that told its reader five was the rule would be wrong for that competition every week.
Extra time and head injuries are both handled outside those counts. In extra time “any unused substitutes and substitution opportunities may be used”, and where a competition’s rules allow one additional substitute, “each team will have one additional substitution opportunity” — which is the last row of the first table above. Changes in the break before extra time and at half-time within it use no opportunity, exactly as half-time does not. The concussion substitute is a separate protocol again, approved at The IFAB’s 138th Annual General Meeting on 2 March 2024 and effective from 1 July 2024 as a competition option: “Each team is permitted to use a maximum of one ‘concussion substitute’ in a match”, when one is used “the opposing team then has the option to use an ‘additional substitute’”, and the whole thing is “separate from any limit on the number of ‘normal substitution’ opportunities”. For what those minutes on the pitch do to a player’s rate statistics, the goals per 90 minutes calculator divides by minutes rather than appearances. Every figure on this page is printed with the body that publishes it and the season or edition it belongs to, because a football number is usually a regulation rather than a fact, and regulations are revised. Check the playing conditions or competition regulations for the competition in front of you before relying on a default.
Frequently asked questions
How many substitutes are allowed in football?
Up to five in an official competition, and the competition decides how many of those it allows. Law 3.2 puts the number “up to a maximum of five, which may be used in any match” in the hands of FIFA, the confederation or the national football association. Plenty of competitions still use three, which the Law expressly permits.
How many substitution windows does a team get?
Three, plus half-time. Law 3.2 gives each team “a maximum of three substitution opportunities” and lets them “additionally make substitutions at half-time”. When The IFAB made five substitutes permanent in June 2022 it confirmed that “the current restriction of three substitution slots plus half-time” stood.
Does a double substitution use two windows?
No, one. That is why the Law counts substitutes and substitution opportunities separately, and why two players so often come on at the same stoppage. A team with three windows can therefore use all five substitutes during play if it groups them.
When did five substitutes become permanent?
At The IFAB’s 136th Annual General Meeting in Doha, announced on 13 June 2022: the option was “permanently introduced into the Laws of the Game 2022/23”. It had begun in May 2020 as a temporary amendment at FIFA’s request and was extended several times. The number of substitutes that may be named rose from 12 to 15 at the same meeting.
Does a concussion substitution count against the five?
No. Under the additional permanent concussion substitutions protocol, “Each team is permitted to use a maximum of one ‘concussion substitute’ in a match” and making one is “separate from any limit on the number of ‘normal substitution’ opportunities”. The opposing team then has the option of an additional substitute. The protocol is a competition option, approved on 2 March 2024 and effective from 1 July 2024.
Related calculators
References
- The IFAB. Laws of the Game, Law 3 — The Players, sections 3.2 and 3.3. Zurich: The International Football Association Board. Read for: “The number of substitutes, up to a maximum of five, which may be used in any match”, set by FIFA, the confederation or the national association; “a maximum of three substitution opportunities” and substitutions “additionally” at half-time; naming “from three to a maximum of fifteen”; extra time’s unused substitutes and opportunities and the additional one; and 3.3’s “The substitution is completed when a substitute enters the field of play.” The clause on matches other than official competitions came back malformed and is not quoted.
- The IFAB. “The IFAB permanently approves five substitute option in top level competitions.” theifab.com, 13 June 2022, reporting the 136th Annual General Meeting in Doha. Five substitutes “permanently introduced into the Laws of the Game 2022/23”; “The current restriction of three substitution slots plus half-time was confirmed”; named substitutes raised from 12 to 15 at the competition organiser’s discretion. The temporary amendment followed a FIFA request in May 2020 and was “extended several times”.
- The IFAB. “Additional permanent concussion substitutions protocol”, Notes and Modifications to the Laws of the Game, theifab.com; and “The IFAB approves permanent concussion substitutes among several changes to the Laws”, theifab.com, 2 March 2024, reporting the 138th Annual General Meeting at Loch Lomond, effective 1 July 2024. “Each team is permitted to use a maximum of one ‘concussion substitute’ in a match”; the opposing team “then has the option to use an ‘additional substitute’”; and it is “separate from any limit on the number of ‘normal substitution’ opportunities”.
- The IFAB. Laws of the Game, Law 7 — The Duration of the Match (sections 7.1 and 7.3). Zurich: The International Football Association Board. “A match lasts for two equal halves of 45 minutes.”