Futsal substitutions explained: how to follow the rotation

The ball is moving, one player drifts towards the bench and a team-mate gets ready to come on. To follow a futsal match, watching only the action around the ball can mean missing a rotation. A few pointers help you keep track of who is playing, who is waiting and who can return.

This guide describes the standard procedure under the FIFA Laws of the Game 2025/26. It does not replace the specific regulations of an individual competition.

The exit comes before the entry

The incoming substitute waits until the player being replaced has left the pitch. Under the normal procedure, each goes through their own team's substitution zone. The Laws provide for exceptions to leaving via this zone.

The bib is also part of the change: it is complete once the incoming player is fully on the pitch via the zone, having handed the bib to the player being replaced. Watching the bib alone is therefore not enough to tell whether the procedure is finished.

A player going off is not gone for good

Substitutions are unlimited and a replaced player may return. They are allowed whether the ball is in play or not, except during a timeout. Leaving the pitch therefore does not necessarily mean a player's match is over.

UEFA's explainer states that changes can be made individually or in groups. To read a rotation, look first at the players going off, then at those coming on, rather than treating the bench as a fixed group.

What the rotation tells you

Take a fictional scenario: the ball stays in play. Two players from the blue team leave the pitch through their zone; two substitutes wait for those exits before each carrying out the entry procedure. A rotation can therefore take place without any stoppage in play. It must nonetheless follow the prescribed order and steps.

The spectator can then work out who is on the pitch, but not necessarily what the coach intended. A substitution does not, on its own, prove an injury, a sanction or a specific tactical plan. Explaining those reasons in a real match requires other documented evidence.