---
title: "End Zone Game"
description: "No goals: a team scores by dribbling the ball into the zone behind the opponents and stopping it there."
canonical: https://hobbit.football/drills/end-zone-game
language: en
publisher: Hobbit (https://hobbit.football)
---

# End Zone Game

> No goals: a team scores by dribbling the ball into the zone behind the opponents and stopping it there.

U6 to U12 · 6 to 8 players · 20 × 30 m · 15 min

Also called Into the End Zone, Line football, Touchdown!.

![Diagram of End Zone Game](https://hobbit.football/api/game-library/diagram/end-zone-game)

## How to play

1. Mark a pitch 20 metres wide and 30 long with a 5 metre end zone at each end. Two teams of three or four. With more players, run two pitches side by side.
2. Each team defends one end zone and attacks the other. To score, dribble over the line into the opponents' end zone and stop the ball there with your sole.
3. Defenders may not enter their own end zone.
4. After a goal, the team that conceded restarts from its own end zone. When the ball goes off the side, restart with a pass or a dribble in from where it went out.
5. Play blocks of 4 to 5 minutes, then change opponents.

## The decision it trains

The player on the ball looks at a line, not a goal. Is there a gap to dribble through now, or does a pass to a teammate in space make it 2v1? When to speed up, and when to slow down and turn? Defenders cannot follow into the zone, so half a step past the last one is usually a goal, and taking a defender on pays. Teammates spread out so one defender cannot block two lanes, and defenders choose between pressing the ball and holding the line.

## Make it harder or easier

- **Too hard:** widen the pitch to 25 metres, or give the attackers one extra player (4v3).
- **Too easy:** put three 2 metre gates on each end line; the zone can only be entered through a gate.
- **Younger players:** play a first round with the ball in the hands (a touch from a defender hands the ball over), then the same game with feet.

## What to ask at the breaks

- "When did you dribble in alone, and when did you pass first?"
- "Where did you stand so the dribbler had someone to pass to?"
- "Defending, when did you go to the ball, and when did you wait?"

## Where it comes from

No inventor is documented, and it is played in many places. Canada Soccer introduces its version for young children with "Ever played flag football? Here's soccer's version." The FA, the Football Association of Ireland, FIFA's grassroots material and the Finnish FA's teacher guide all document forms of it, and Michael Beale wrote it up for Soccer Coach Weekly. Its names include Into the End Zone (Canada) and 3v3 Dribbling (Ireland).

## Documented by

- The FA (United Kingdom): End zone game
- Canada Soccer (Canada): Into the End Zone, Flag Football, Touchdown!
- FIFA Training Centre (International): Line football
- French national education (school PE) (France): Jeu des portes
- Football Association of Finland (Finland)
- Italian FA (FIGC) (Italy)
- Japan FA (Japan): ラインゴール
- BC Soccer (Canada)
- German regional FAs (Bavaria, Hamburg, South Baden) (Germany): Endzonenball, Linien-Spiel
- Football Australia (Australia): End Zone, Line football
- US Youth Soccer (United States): American Football, 3 v 3 End-line Soccer
- PA West Soccer (United States): End Line Dribble, End Zone Game
- Ontario Soccer (Canada): END ZONE GAME, Pit Stop, Pass Master
- Massachusetts Youth Soccer (United States)
- EFDeportes (Argentina): Punto en la zona
- Soccer Coach Weekly (United Kingdom): The End Zone Game
- iCoachFootball (Ireland): 3v3 Dribbling
- Sport Session Planner (United Kingdom): 2 x 1v1 to End Zones

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