Receiving and finishing session: receive to score

Session

England Football Learning

2 mins - May 5, 2026

Session intentions

This is week four of the receiving and finishing to score session programme. Check out the whole six-week programme here.

This session will help players:

learn how to receive the ball to score
improve confidence and bravery to receive and finish
develop decision-making when receiving the ball.

If you're short on time, this programme can be used as it is. But it’s a template you can build on. So, to make the session or programme more effective, adapt it to suit your players and their needs, as well as the numbers and space you have. If you want to skip, repeat or amend individual practices or the whole session – that's fine. It’s up to you how you use this resource.

Any pitch sizes in this programme are shown as how long the pitch is x how wide it is, but these are just suggestions.

If you like this idea, download the session plan and give it a go. And don't forget to share your experience on the England Football Community. We'd love to know how you got on.

If you’re coaching U7s, please note that from the 2026-27 season, changes will be made to the formats to improve the experience young players get across the country. Check out the Future Fit digital content hub to find out more and alter training plans accordingly.

Session setup

Here’s an example setup for this session. But adapt it to suit your team and the space available to you.

Third of a pitch

6-18 players

Mini-goals

Flat cones

Spots/flat markers

Bibs

Receive to score

Wave arrival: Create an area suitable for your players. Split it into thirds and put a goal at each end. Players are unopposed in an arrival wave practice. In groups of three or four, players combine to progress up the pitch before finishing into the empty goal.
Finishing through the thirds: Use the same pitch. Two defenders and an attacker start in each final third with a 2v2 in the middle. Players are locked in. Have a bounce player on each touchline. Players combine to score but the ball must be played on the floor. Remember to rotate the bounce players.
Finishing under pressure: Use the end thirds for these 3v3 games. The defenders start in there. Have two attackers on the end line and one in the area. The attackers pass to their teammate in the middle to start. Attackers try to score. Defenders try to get the ball to the end line.
Finishing through the thirds: Return to the ‘whole’ part of the practice. You can progress this by allowing the players from the middle zone to join the attack once the ball is in the final third. You can also unlock all players to allow them to go anywhere on the pitch

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On the pitch

Wondering what this could look like? Check out the video to see how a coach took this session idea and adapted it for a group of players.

Make it easier

Using the STEP framework (Youth Sports Trust, 2002) can help keep things fun, engaging, and appropriate.

To make this session easier, you could:

unlock the in-possession team during ‘finishing through the thirds’ so they can go anywhere when they’re on the ball
give the attackers an overload for the ‘finishing under pressure’ practice.

Make it harder

To make this session harder, you could:

add in defenders as interference or opposition during the arrival activity
remove the bounce players from the ‘finishing through the thirds’ drill
give the defenders an overload for the ‘finishing under pressure’ practice.

Coaching points

Challenge players to be brave enough to try different things when it comes to finishing. For instance, they could shoot early and bend it around a defender, or through their legs, to catch the keeper off guard.

Make sure your players learn how to use a variety of receiving and finishing techniques to help with any situation.

Highlight the importance of support and team shape when working as a team to finish. The more danger the defender has to consider, the easier it might be for attackers to get a shot on goal.