Grassroots football categories by age in Spain: 2026/27 guide

Spanish grassroots football is organised into two-year categories by natural birth year, from prebenjamín to juvenil. This is the reference table for the 2026/27 season:

The category is worked out by subtracting the birth year from the year the season starts, regardless of birth month: 2026 minus the birth year gives the age that sets the group. The formula holds for any season, not just 2026/27.

For example, a child who is 12 in 2026 is infantil: born in 2014 (2026 minus 2014 is 12) and that age falls in the infantil band (12-13). The table below converts every birth year between 2008 and 2020 into its 2026/27 category.

Your category does not depend on when your birthday falls in the school year, but on the year you were born (1 January to 31 December). A child born in January and one born in December of the same year play in the same category.

Each category groups two birth years (juvenil groups three). That is why coaches talk about first year and second year: a first-year alevín (10) competes against second-year alevines (11), which at these ages means large physical differences the coach has to manage.

Before prebenjamín there is an introductory stage (querubín, 4-5) that not every federation runs as official competition; it is usually school and play, with no league table.

The big step in grassroots football is moving from small-sided play to 11-a-side. In most federations it happens at infantil (age 12): full pitch, full-size goals and offside applied across the whole opponent's half. Many federations, though, keep the size-4 ball in first-year infantil (12) and move to size 5 in the second year (13) or at cadete.

Before that (prebenjamín, benjamín and alevín) the game is small-sided (7-a-side or 8-a-side) with a smaller pitch, fewer players and an offside line pushed up near the box. The point is for every child to touch the ball and take part more.

That change of space is what forces coaches to introduce width and depth before the jump. We cover it in how to coach alevín (U-12), the age where the move to 11-a-side is prepared.

The RFEF sets the category names and ages but delegates the competition format to the regional federations. That is why the same alevín plays 8-a-side across most of Spain and 7-a-side in the Madrid region.

Some federations bring the move to 11-a-side forward or push it back, or keep 8-a-side in the first year of infantil. Before planning the season, check your regional federation's competition rules: that is where the exact format, pitch dimensions and ball size for your league are set.

To find the federation you belong to, use the regional federations list.

The team's category sets the coach's minimum licence. For grassroots football, from prebenjamín to cadete, a UEFA C is usually enough, although the top divisions of each age group require UEFA B in several federations (in Madrid, from 1ª División Autonómica Prebenjamín upwards); from juvenil and the national categories the requirement rises to UEFA B or higher.

The full map of what each licence qualifies you for is in what you can coach with UEFA C, B, A and Pro. If you do not yet know which course suits you, the assistant recommends one in 60 seconds based on your goal and region.

To start from scratch, the usual route is the course catalogue, either the federation pathway (UEFA) or the academic one (Sports Technician).

Coaching is not the same in every category: what works at benjamín bores or overwhelms at cadete. The general rule is not to rush content (individual technique first, collective concepts later) and the same progression logic applies to playing time: sharing minutes between winning and developing carries different weight at prebenjamín than at cadete. And when the group switches off, there are concrete ways to keep kids motivated without boring them.

The detail of what to train at each age band is in grassroots football exercises by age, and a full session template for the pivot age is in how to coach alevín (U-12).

Respecting the age progression is what prepares a healthy jump to 11-a-side and, later, to senior competition. To go deeper into the methodology for each stage, our selection of books for football coaches includes age-specific manuals.

Federated futsal (fútbol sala) uses the same birth-year categories as 7, 8 and 11-a-side football: from prebenjamín to juvenil, with the same age bands. Each regional federation sets those categories in its futsal competition rules; the RFFM (Madrid) rules, for example, mirror the outdoor football ones. Coaching futsal requires its own licence, explained in the Nacional C futsal course guide.

What changes is the format: teams play five players a side (four outfield plus goalkeeper) on an indoor court, with a futsal ball (smaller and with a lower bounce than the 7, 8 or 11-a-side ball) whose size varies by category depending on the federation. Substitutions can also be made at any point in the match and a substituted player can return, unlike in 11-a-side football.