How to Play Against Bigger Players in Soccer: 5 Smart Tips
While the majority of soccer coaches scout for the biggest, strongest players on the field, especially American coaches, some of soccer’s greatest legends—Messi, Maradona, and Modric— have proved that size is often the least important factor in dominating a soccer game. Soccer is known as the beautiful game because any soccer player, regardless of age, size, or body type, can be successful.
Unlike other sports, like basketball or American football, where a specific body type is required to be successful, soccer allows smaller players to shine by using their talent, athleticism, fitness, speed, skills, game IQ, and smart decision-making. However, even with a large amount of talent and skills playing against bigger opponents can sometimes be challenging especially if they are aggressive players who know how to use their strength to their advantage.
Also if you’re a youth player facing older bigger players, it can feel intimidating and you might struggle to keep up with the physical demands of the game. The key is understanding that physical size is just one aspect of soccer, and smaller players actually possess natural advantages that bigger players can never replicate—superior agility, quicker acceleration, a lower center of gravity for better balance, and faster change of direction.
If you’re a short soccer player do not worry about it or overthink it because the truth is there are players at all levels of football, from the MLS to the Champions League, that are shorter than you succeeding. In this guide, I’ll share the best tips and strategies to help smaller players compete, stay confident, become better players, get in better shape, and succeed against bigger, taller opponents.
How do You Play Soccer Against an Opposing Team With Bigger Players?
Play Faster Physically and Mentally
When playing against bigger players, you need to make the game quicker, physically and mentally, because you don’t want these players to play to their physical strengths. The moment you allow bigger opponents to slow down the pace and engage in physical battles, you’re playing into their hands and letting them use their strengths.
Think ahead, move the soccer ball around with fast passes, avoid unnecessary physical battles, and be quick and effective with your dribbles and off the ball movements.
Play to Your Strengths and Towards Their Weaknesses
In soccer, smaller players usually have better speed, agility, and balance, compared to bigger players, which can be used to their advantage to get past defenders and create space where bigger players can’t keep up. Instead of trying to outmuscle your opponents, focus on technical skills like dribbling, passing, and positioning.
The best way to win a soccer game is by playing smarter, not harder, and remember that there are countless players at the highest levels of professional soccer who are succeeding despite being smaller than their opponents.
Acknowledge Their Strengths, but Focus on What You Can Control
Bigger players might be stronger and more physical, and it is important to acknowledge that, but that doesn’t mean they’re unbeatable. Stay confident, communicate with your teammates, and use smart positioning to avoid unnecessary contact.
Focus on your own skills, like first touch, passing, and movement, rather than worrying about size differences. The game is won through talent, strategy, effort, and execution, not just physical size.
Train Your Mind and Body
To compete against aggressive players, you need to develop your physical and mental strength to improve your overall confidence and resilience on the field. The stronger and calmer you are, the easier it will be to stay focused, stay on your feet, and play your game without fear no matter who you’re up against.
The best way to do this is by training your fascia system, doing breath work, using sports psychology techniques, training soccer regularly, and prioritizing recovery off the field to improve your mind-body connection. This will lead to better proprioception, balance, coordination, force production, and force absorption, or overall athleticism, which is what you need to stay on your feet, have a strong core, and not get taken down easily by bigger opponents.
Improve Your Technical Skills and Tactical Understanding
Developing superior technical skills like ball control, passing accuracy, and first touch becomes even more crucial when facing bigger opponents because these abilities allow you to maintain possession and create opportunities even under physical pressure. Focus on mastering quick decision-making and tactical awareness to anticipate plays before they develop, giving you the mental edge needed to position yourself advantageously and avoid direct confrontations with stronger players.
The more refined your technical abilities and game intelligence become, the less you’ll rely on physical attributes to succeed, allowing you to dictate the pace and style of play that favors your natural strengths as a smaller player.
Final Thoughts
To summarize, playing soccer against bigger, taller, stronger opponents can be challenging, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t compete at the highest levels of soccer if you’re a shorter player. At the highest levels of the game the truth is the only thing that matters is if you could play the game at a high level because height, weight, ethnicity, and size are not as important as ball control, mental speed, reaction time, explosive speed, and overall talent.
In this blog post, I went over five main tips to help you succeed against bigger opponents—playing faster physically and mentally, leveraging your strengths while targeting their weaknesses, focusing on what you can control, developing both your mind and body, and improving your technical soccer skills and tactical understanding to maximize your overall performance on the field.
FAQs
How do you beat bigger players in soccer?
To play against and beat bigger players in soccer it is very important to develop your talent, soccer IQ, mindset, confidence, athleticism, and fitness to build a strong soccer foundation that allows you to compete at any level regardless of size. It is also important to follow the tips on this list to maximize your natural advantages by playing faster physically and mentally, playing to your strengths, focusing on what you can control, developing both your mind and body, and improving your technical soccer skills and tactical understanding.
What positions favor shorter players in soccer?
Shorter players excel in positions like winger, attacking midfielder, and full-back where explosive speed, superior ball control, quick reaction time, and the ability to change direction rapidly are crucial. Although any player could play any position in soccer, these are some of the positions where you will usually find the shorter players on the field.
What positions favor taller players in soccer?
Taller players typically excel as center backs, goalkeepers, and target strikers where height provides natural advantages in aerial duels and physical presence. Just like mentioned above, although any player could play in any position in soccer, these are some of the positions where you will usually find the taller players on the field.
