---
title: "Mark Your Rival"
description: "Every player has one rival on the other team: score when you can, stop your rival from scoring, and keep deciding whether to stay with them or help a teammate."
canonical: https://hobbit.football/drills/rival-marking
language: en
publisher: Hobbit (https://hobbit.football)
---

# Mark Your Rival

> Every player has one rival on the other team: score when you can, stop your rival from scoring, and keep deciding whether to stay with them or help a teammate.

U7 to U11 · 8 to 12 players · 18 × 27 m · 15 min

Also called 5v5 rivals.

![Diagram of Mark Your Rival](https://hobbit.football/api/game-library/diagram/rival-marking)

## How to play

1. Mark a pitch about 27 metres long and 18 wide with a small goal at each end, no keepers. Five against five; with more players, run a second pitch beside it.
2. Before kick-off, pair every player with a rival of about the same level on the other team. Everyone has two jobs: score, and stop their rival from scoring.
3. Each player keeps their own count: a point for every goal they score, and a point every time they win the ball from their rival or block their rival's shot.
4. Play games of 5 minutes. At the end, each pair compares counts, and whoever has more adds one goal to their team's score.
5. Change rivals for the next game.

## The decision it trains

Every player carries two jobs at once, and the scoring makes both of them count. Without the ball the question never changes: where is my rival, and can I see them and the ball together? Close enough to step in front of a pass meant for them, or half a step off so they cannot spin past? When a teammate is beaten, the hard choice arrives: leave your rival to help, and they may be the one left free to score. With the ball it turns round. Your rival is shadowing you, so you have to shake them off, with a change of pace or a fake run, before you can receive or shoot.

## Make it harder or easier

- **Too hard:** shrink the pitch to about 22 by 15 metres, so a rival is never more than a few steps away.
- **Too easy:** grow the pitch to about 32 by 22 metres: more room to run, and more ground to cover when your rival does.
- **Next step:** drop the duel count and just play, each player still responsible for one opponent. Do they still know where their rival is?

## What to ask at the breaks

- "When our team lost the ball, how quickly did you find your rival?"
- "When did you leave your rival to help a teammate, and what happened next?"
- "With the ball, how did you get away from the player marking you?"

## Where it comes from

The FA documents it in its England Football Learning sessions as "5v5 rivals" (2025), in a festival week session for 7 to 11 year olds shared by Loz Lok, an FA coach development lead. A 2024 pressing session from Matt Jones, an FA coach development officer, closes on the same idea: a game in which each player is responsible for one opponent. No source names who created it.

## Documented by

- The FA (United Kingdom): 5v5 rivals
- Football Australia (Australia)
- FIFA Training Centre (International)

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