Soccer is the most popular and widely followed sport in the world. The fast-paced intriguing game spellbinds the fans with action goals, mesmerising saves, sensational dribbling skills and crunching tackles. In the sport, the dimension of soccer pitches has been the subject of debate over the years, even though it’s among the most neglected aspects of the game, by the fans. Yet, it plays a critical role in the game.
Alongside the size and the Soccer field dimensions, factors such as the type of playing surfaces: Artificial or natural grass turf are also crucial. With that being said, have you ever wondered, what’s the actual size and dimensions of the soccer field, on which the sporting action truly takes place? Well, rest assured, because in this article — We will be explaining every detail related to the Soccer pitch — its size, dimensions, Length, width and overall area as per International and domestic top division league standards.
How Large is the Soccer field? It’s Dimensions and Area.
The Size and dimensions of the Soccer field may vary from International matches and top division Leagues across the world but have the same criteria to determine the overall Area of an ideal field — which is as per the FIFA guidelines. However, the grounds at the youth and amateur levels are generally smaller in size, as compared to the ideal size of pitches that we see in the FIFA tournaments and the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga and other top leagues in the world, are all of them follows IFAB standards.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is a self-regulatory body which defines the rules of the game, and their rules are adhered to worldwide including in FIFA-sanctioned matches. The body regulates the rules of the sport and the laws of the game have stated that an ideal soccer field must be rectangular in shape and marked with continuous lines and the size can range from 100-130 yards (90-120 meters) in length and 50-100 yards (45-90 meters) in width for an 11-a-side Soccer match.
However, the International governing body Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) guidelines to set the size of the field are more specific. Their size must fall within 110 to 120 yards long (100-110 meters) long, while 70 to 80 yards (64-75 meters) wide in the International matches. Also to be noted, the size may vary sometimes but always remain within the given parameters.
How Long is an Ideal Soccer Pitch?
Just like the overall area of the Soccer ground, the length of the pitch should be a minimum of 110 yards and a maximum of 120 yards as per International guidelines for soccer fields. For, the Premier League, La Liga and other top-tier European leagues have pitches ranging from 109 to 115 yards in length.
At the youth level, the length is shortened. It varies from different age groups and levels of the tournament for instance for Under-13 to Under-14 the length is kept between 87-98 yards. While Under-18 and Under-23 categories and youth leagues keep the dimension 109-115 yards
The length of the soccer field is very important as it defines what type of game a team would play for smaller pitches teams use more of a direct way using long balls. On the other hand, longer pitches provide the team with an ideal surface to play a possessions-based and technical game, also using the width of the field.
What is the total area of Soccer Field?
As we have already discussed the length and width of the Soccer field depend on the level of the game. According to International Standards set by FIFA, the overall Area of the soccer field is between 6,400 to 8250 sq meters. In acrs, it will be from 1.58 to 2.05 which is calculated as the overall Area of the pitch.
Now, coming onto domestic leagues standard the dimensions form an overall area of 4,050 to 10,800 sq meters which is 1.00 to 2.67 in acres. The Soccer field is enormous in size. Thus professional players and match officials such as Referee and assistant referees are required to have an exceptional level of stamina and intensity to compete on International and club levels.
Understanding the Soccer field markings
Now, arrives the most crucial part of the soccer field which is the Area marked within the soccer field, where the actual actions take place during the game. Without the marking, it might not be possible for match officials to officiate the game and for players to gain an understanding of the Penalty area, centre spot, corners and sidelines to determine whether the ball is out of play or not.
In marking, a soccer field encompasses two sidelines on either side of the ground, two Penalty box areas alongwith a semi-circle on both ends. A centre line marked at the middle of the pitch and a kickoff circle whose radius is kept at 9.15 meters, in the midst of the centre line — which divides the field into two halves.
Four-quarter circles marking for taking corner kicks, the size of the penalty box must be around 18 yards (16.5 meters) in length from the goal line and 44 yards (40.3 meters) in width. The penalty spot kick is marked 11 meters away from the goal line. The 6-yard box within the penalty box is 6 x 20 yards and (5.5 x 18.32) in meters.
FAQs-
Q. What is bigger a Soccer pitch or a Rugby field?
In terms of total area, the NFL (Rugby) field is larger than soccer fields.
Q. What are the measurements of a soccer field in yards?
In yards, the measurements should be within (100-130) x (50-100) yards.
Q. What are the measurements of a soccer field in meters?
The dimensions of a soccer ground fall within (90-120) x (45-90) meters.
Q. What are the dimensions of a Penalty Box?
The dimensions of the Penalty box are 18 yards long and 44 yards wide.