RULES FOR 5-A-SIDE SOCCER 2.1 Each team may have a maximum of eight players. Prior to kickoff, all players must be named and checked off on the referee's team sheet. 2.2. At any given moment, each side may have four outfield players and a goalie on the field. There are no restrictions on who can be used in what role. The answer is 8 if everyone plays within 20 minutes of each other. If people go over time, then that's when problems might arise. The only way you could get more than 8 players on the field at once is if some of them were substituting for injured teammates. In general, though, you should avoid having more than 8 players on the field at once because it gets complicated. If you do have this many people on the field, you'll need to split up into two groups to allow everyone to have a chance of getting some game time. You could have one group of seven players and another group of one player with the option of replacing him if needed. These are called "substitutions" and they can make all the difference between winning and losing a match. The more players you have on the field at once the more things can go wrong. You might not see anyone from your team for a few moments because they've been sent off or injured.