Crossing and finishing
Soccer drill · Under-10 and up
A winger runs the ball down the line and crosses, and two strikers attack the box: one to the near post, one to the far. It is the most common way goals are scored from open play, and a drill that rehearses the runs as carefully as the cross.
Adding it to a session puts it on your run sheet with its time and cue. It does not use up one of your saved plays.
- Time
- 15 minutes
- Players
- 3 at a time plus a keeper, with a queue on each wing
- Equipment
- 1 goal and a keeper
- 4 cones to mark the crossing zone
- 10 or more balls
Setup
- Mark a crossing zone in the wide channel between the edge of the area and the goal line.
- Wingers queue on the touchline 35 yards from goal, with the balls.
- Two strikers start around the edge of the penalty area, one central and one slightly wider.
- The winger dribbles into the zone and crosses; the strikers time their runs to arrive as the ball does.
- Alternate wings each rep, so both feet cross and both sides of the box are attacked.
Coaching points
- Winger: get your head up before you cross and pick a runner, rather than hitting the area and hoping.
- Cross into the space between the keeper and the defenders, where neither can attack it first.
- Strikers: one near post, one far post. Never both to the same place.
- Arrive late and at pace. A striker standing in the box waiting is easy to mark; one running onto the ball is not.
On the run sheet: Winger: head up before you cross. Strikers: one near post, one far post, arrive late and at pace
Progressions
- Add a defender in the box, then two.
- Add a third runner arriving at the edge of the area for the cut-back.
- Make the winger beat a full-back in a 1v1 before they are allowed to cross.
How it runs
The winger takes the ball down the line at speed and into the crossing zone. While they do, the two strikers start their runs from the edge of the area: the first attacks the near post, pulling the keeper and any defender with them, and the second curves wide and then attacks the far post. The cross goes to whoever has found the space, and they finish first time. The animation shows the version with the cross to the far post, where the near-post run has already dragged the keeper across.
Keep the balls coming. With a queue on each wing and a pile of balls, a rep every twenty seconds is easy, and strikers learn timing by repetition rather than explanation.
Why the runs matter as much as the cross
Most young teams cross well enough and attack the cross badly: both strikers stand on the penalty spot, or arrive in the same place at the same time. Giving each runner a post to attack is the simplest fix in coaching, and once players have done it fifty times in training they do it without thinking in a match.
The mistakes to watch for
Wingers crossing from too deep without looking, strikers running too early and having to stop, and finishes struck with power rather than placement from six yards out.
More soccer drills
Put Crossing and finishing in Tuesday's session
It lands on your practice plan already timed, with the coaching cue printed under it, next to your own plays.
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