Football & soccer finishing drills

The red player sets off, feints past the cone defender and shoots into the goal. The blue player immediately gives a pass to the red player, and the red player lays off a one-two for the blue player to shoot into the goal. After this, the yellow player gives a pass to the blue player, who plays a one-two towards the end line. The yellow player crosses from the end line, and both the blue and red players take part in the finishing.

A pass from the centre to the winger, who dribbles all the way to the byline. The attacker takes the defender with them to the near post. When the defending has dropped towards the goal, the midfield player arrives late at the edge of the penalty area into the gate. The winger lays the ball back and the arriving player shoots first time from the pass. A goalkeeper in goal. Start alternately from both flanks.

Two attackers break down one defender out wide and deliver a cross. The wide player passes to the inside player, who comes towards the ball and turns towards goal. At the same time, the defender sets off from the opposite corner to apply pressure. The passer immediately makes an overlapping run on the outside past their teammate, into the space between the penalty area and the touchline. From there, they receive the ball back and deliver a cross. The run into the penalty area is staggered: one to the near post, the other to the far post. The defender does not follow outside the square. Start alternately from both flanks. Alternatively, the wide player can solve the situation themselves in a 1v1, either by going inside or down the touchline.

The drill starts with the red player making a movement, which the player in the middle looks to find with a pass. The red player controls the ball, goes around the cone near the end line and plays a cut-back pass to the central player, who looks to shoot and score. The queues change after every repetition.

The situation starts with a sideways pass from one queue to the other. The diagonal attacker (orange) moves away to the side from the defender and looks to shoot immediately after the control. In the second variation, the attacker's movement is to the inside of the defender.

The 4v3 situation starts when the central midfielder plays to the attacker and, on the coach’s call of "Man on" or "Turn", the situation moves forward. Man on = set the ball, then either dribbling forward or a pass out wide. Turn = free turn and decision-making, pass or dribble If the drill is easy, add a pass restriction before finishing.

The wide player receives the ball and goes to the byline or into the inside channel. In the penalty area, two attackers make crossing runs: one to the near post, the other to the far post. The player crossing chooses the type of cross.

Three attackers start with the ball and move towards two defenders. The aim is to create numerical superiority and finish. After a goal, the attackers receive a new ball and attack the opposite goal.

Players in a queue approximately 25 metres from goal. A passer is positioned on the side. The player plays a pass to the wide passer, makes a forward run and receives the ball back from a one-two. Finishes into the goal with one or two touches.

Attacker on the edge of the penalty area with back to goal, defender behind. The passer plays the ball to the attacker, who takes control, turns away from the defender and finishes. Check the defender’s position over the shoulder. Depending on the age group and skill level, you can make it easier at first by requiring the defender to keep their hands behind their back.

Two-phase 1v1. Starts with the attacker’s movement. The attacker asks for the pass into a square marked out with cones (the 1st defender follows), where they aim to move the ball with their first touch to either side. Once the ball is outside the square, it is the second defender’s turn to defend. Now a traditional 1v1, where the attacker aims for finishing. Rotation of roles: attacker goes to the back of the queue, 1st defender becomes the attacker and the second defender becomes the first defender. The passer becomes the second defender.

The corner is played short. The supporting player comes towards the corner flag and receives a pass, which makes the nearest defender come out of the penalty area to apply pressure. The ball is then played back to the taker, who has meanwhile moved from the corner to around eight metres away. The angle for the cross is better from there, and the ball can be delivered low between the near post and the goalkeeper. The player running to the near post finishes one-touch, and the run to the far post starts at the same time. There are two defenders: one applies pressure to the short corner, the other defends the area. Without the defender coming out, the pattern does not show why the short corner works.

The corner is played short between three players. The player closest to the flag comes short and receives the pass, which brings the first defender out. Instead of the ball being returned to the taker, it goes first touch to the third player, who has come from the edge of the penalty area into the same corner. Now the second defender also has to come out, and the third player dribbles between them to the end line. From the end line, the ball is played back low towards the penalty spot. The finisher times the run so that they move towards the ball rather than waiting for it standing still. The player occupying the near post takes the goalkeeper with them. Two defenders out means there is briefly a 2v1 in the penalty area. That is the whole idea of the move: the short corner is not looking for a cross but for numerical superiority.

Four players in a diamond: both flanks, one in the middle at the front and one in the middle at the back. The wide player starts dribbling towards goal. The deepest player calls, which stops the dribbling and the ball is played back. The deepest player switches play first time to the opposite flank, who advances and delivers a cross. The others arrive in front of goal in staggered runs to finish. Start alternately from each flank. Instead of a cross, a sharp low pass from the flank is also allowed.

A pass is played from the line to the blue player, who plays a one-two back to the first player in the line. He then chooses which cone to move to, and the yellow player moves to the opposite cone on his own line. The first player in the line passes to the yellow player, who lays off a one-two to the blue player, who aims to shoot first time from the pass into the goal.

The front three move the ball and look for the free side to attack from - the defenders switch sides and protect the centre. When the attack can go down the flank, the two attackers off the ball look for a finishing opportunity directly from the pass.

The blue player makes the initial movement away from the defender and the first player in the queue plays a pass into the movement. The blue player takes a control and immediately continues with a pass to the yellow player. The yellow player lays off the one-two behind the defender and the blue player aims to shoot the ball into the goal directly from the pass. The defender tracks the run but does not intercept the passes. Rotation: from attacker to laying off the one-two and defender to attacking. The player laying off the one-two goes to the back of the queue and the player making the first pass becomes the defender.

The red player chooses a side to move towards and calls for the pass. The first player in the queue plays the pass and the red player aims to take the first touch in the direction of travel. The red player dribbles towards the goal, beats the cone defender with a feint of their choice and shoots into the goal. Rotation: the passer becomes the finisher.

The player in front of the cones makes a movement to either side of the line of cones and asks for the pass. The first player in the queue plays a pass and the receiver takes a short dribble towards the player positioned on the opposite diagonal and plays a through pass to them. The receiving player tries to "avoid offside" (the cones represent the deepest defenders) and finish first time from the pass.

The defending team defends their own goal. When they win the ball, they have 8 seconds to attack the opposite goal. If a goal is scored within the time limit, the point counts double. The attacking team continues normal play. A quick transition from defending to attacking is decisive.