6 things you NEED to know about playing soccer for beginners ⚽

Soccer is accessible to anybody.

It's great for fitness, mental health, and building friendships.

Keen to get involved, but don't know where to start?

You don't need a lot of equipment to play soccer, and you probably have a lot of it already!

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As a minimum, you'll need:

• Light, comfy clothes — what you'd be comfortable doing other sports in

• Trainers with good grip

• A soccer ball

While not essential for getting started, you may want to eventually get:

• Soccer cleats — spiked shoes to keep your grip while running

• Gloves — for goalkeepers

• Shin pads — to protect your shins from accidental kicks

• Plastic cones — to use as ground markers for practice drills

Almost anywhere! Maybe not in space, though (yet!).

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Some accessible places you can play:

• Parks — probably the easiest to find and offers the most space

• Beaches — if you want to play barefoot in the sand

• School playgrounds — make sure to check with the caretaker first

• Gardens/patios — mind the plants!

• Gyms — see if you can book a pitch or court at your local gym

• Streets — stay safe!

Individually: Practice shooting into a goal or dribbling the ball.

In pairs: Pass the ball to each other or have one person go in goal and try to save shots.

Larger groups: Play in small teams against each other or practice the above drills with more people.

A mix of the three is best to develop techniques in private and then put them into action against others.

There are many skills to learn and these can be improved with practice, but the basics are easy to pick up for beginners.

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Beating the goalkeeper: Shoot before you get too close to the keeper. Use the inside of your foot for better accuracy.

Basic passing and receiving: Use the inside of your foot to pass the ball and the same when receiving to control the ball.

Controlling more difficult balls: Practice trapping the ball by having a partner throw balls at you from various heights, angles, and speeds.

Taking the ball with you: Run with the ball, taking small touches and trying to keep it as close to you as possible.

Protecting the ball: Use the underside of your foot to pull the ball back away from defenders.

Check out this video for a visual guide to learn and improve the skills above.

In a typical match, there are 11 players on the pitch for each team.

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Each team is divided into different types of players. With the exception of the goalkeeper, the number of each type of player on the field can vary based on "formations".

These are the main tasks for each player:

• Goalkeeper — stop opposition goals (can use hands)

• Defender — stop opposition attacks (can't use hands)

• Midfielder — provide a link between attack and defence

• Striker — score goals against the opposition

Having fun and developing new skills should be your focus. When you do want to start playing competitively, here are three of the most important rules:

The aim for each team is to score as many goals past the opposing team in the allotted time (90 minutes).

Only the goalkeeper can use their hands (with some exceptions). Outfield players must use their head, chest, or feet to "play" the ball.

When your team breaks rules, "free kicks" and "penalties" are awarded to the opposition to give them a temporary advantage.

These should get you started, but if you want to learn the rest of the rules, this video has you covered.

Great job! It's ok if you're not playing like Cristiano Ronaldo or Lucy Bronze just yet. Focus on understanding and practicing the basics, then improving bit by bit. Most of all: have fun!

Before you kick off...