PIFA's guide to football/Positions

**This page is still under construction!!!!**

Hey guys! How's it going? Etros here!

We are producing a series of concept football content to help new editors create their OCs and learn a little more about the sport! It is worth mentioning that football is not an exact science and its concepts are very subjective. That said, here we will be working with concepts adapted for our wiki! If you disagree with any idea, feel free to talk to us and suggest changes. Good reading!

## Positions

The football field is about 105 meters long and 68 meters wide. In it, 11 players from each team move almost freely, although there are some rules and trends in this regard. The main one, the offside rule, which causes a bid to be interrupted if the player has any part of his body - except hands and arms - in the opponent's half of the field and closer to the goal than the ball and the second -last opponent, who is usually the goalkeeper, although there are exceptions. And to better understand this disposition of players on the field, today we will address the concept of Positions.

Positions in football represent the sector in which each player will act, indicating his initial position on the field. Something that helps to understand this is to see the field as a space divided into 3 large zones: Defense, Midfield and Attack.

Understanding the main zones of the field, we can now observe the main 11 positions. In addition to the positions having their names and abbreviations, they also have a number. This came about with the first time that players used numbers on their uniforms, and thus a tendency to count positions was created, assigning a number even to the role of the player. And so expressions such as "classic 10", "9 striker" and so on appear. Another interesting fact about position counts is that many countries around the world have their own counts! So some numbers may change culturally speaking depending on your region. In Brazil for example, the Letf-full Back is position 6, while the Defensive Midfielder is position 5, also called "big 5 destroyer"

But don't confuse that with jersey numbering these days! Most competitions allow extensive numbering, so it's common to see players with jerseys 20, 80, 99 or something like that. Although they are rare, we even have those forwards who play with jersey number 4 for example, even though it is a number associated with center backs.

It is important to remember that these positions are not necessarily linked to archetypes and functions, which we will see on another page of this guide! Positions are just to define in which quadrant of the field the player starts! And when we say quadrant, we really mean the quadrant! Each position has its Center, Left and Right version. But in order not to make the diagram too polluted with all these variations, we chose to center some of them, keep an eye out for that.

1. Goalkeeper
2. Right Fullback
3. Left Fullback
4. Right Center Back
5. Left Center Back
6. Defensive Midfield
7. Right Midfield/Wing
8. Center Midfield
9. Forward
10. Offensive Midfield
11. Left Midfield/Wing

## Goalkeeper (GK)

The Goalkeeper is the only player who can use his hands to catch and pass the ball. Although there is an exception common to all with the throw-ins takings. It is the player who stays in the goal being considered as the last line of defense of the team.

## Full Back (FB, SB)

Fullbacks are players who play on the sidelines of the field, on the same line or slightly ahead of the Center Backs. Usually the team has two Fullbacks, one on the right and one on the left. Because of this positioning, they are usually in charge of preventing the advances of opposing wingers. This position is also called Sideback.

## Center Back (CB)

The Center Backs are players positioned just in front of the goalkeeper, being part of the penultimate line of defense of the team. Due to their position, they are the ones who protect the box of ​​the penalty area next to the goalkeeper.

## Defensive Midfield (DM, DFM)

Defensive Midfield players start positioned behind the half- center circle of the field. Some teams play with two players in this position, while others position only one player, a little more centrally.

## Center Midfield (CM)

The central midfield position is one of the most confusing as it is a very narrow strip between the defense and attack fields. The central midfielder is a player who will sometimes be a little further back and sometimes more advanced, but who is still part of the midfield range.

## Offensive Midfield (OM, AM)

The Offensive or Attacking Midfield position tends to be more centralized on the field, and located between the central midfielders and the attacking players, often leading the player to step into the opponent's penalty area

## Wings (WG, WM)

Like the Fullbacks, the Winger play on the sidelines. And similar to the center midfield position, the Wing position causes confusion about being a wide midfield position, or side attackers. Also, it tends to be a paired position, one player on the right and one on the left, although there are exceptions.

## Forwards (FW)

Forward's position is the most advanced on the field, bringing players who are closer to the opponent's goal. It is a position that varies a lot depending on the tactical scheme, and can be wider, more centralized or deeper.