7v7 Soccer Corner Kick Tactics — Youth Coaching & Scoring Tips
How to Set Up Corner Kicks in 7v7 Youth Soccer
Turn your team’s corner kicks into goals with this simple, youth-friendly play that creates multiple scoring options.
Key Takeaways
- Striker Near-Post Run – Use the striker’s decoy run to pull the center defender away and open space for the center midfielder’s shot.
- Cleaning Up – Give the far outside midfielder a cleanup role with a looping backside run to finish loose balls.
- Create Better Numbers - Drop the nearest defender low to force the other team to step out of the box, creating extra scoring chances.
Full Video Transcript
How can we score on a corner kick? If our team has an outside midfielder who can kick the ball long enough, here's a simple play for you that gives many different players a chance to score.
Start with your striker, center midfielder, and far outside midfielder standing at the top of the ark and have the nearest defender drop down low a few yards away from the big goal box. After receiving the signal to go, our center midfielder will run to the center area just outside of the small goal box, but there will be a defender there.
How do we move them to give us a free chance on goal? Easy. Our striker will make a run to the goalpost nearest to the ball. If they bend their run in front of the center defender, there is a good chance that defender will follow them. And our center midfielder has a free shot.
But this isn't the only way we can score on this play. Our far outside midfielder makes a wide looping run to the backside of the farthest defender. Their job is simple. Kick any ball into the goal that rolls past our striker or center midfielder.
But wait, how does the striker score on this play? If we drop our nearest defender down low, the other team often will have one of their players step out of the goal area to mark our defender. This gives our striker a free chance to bounce a low pass in. If no defender steps forward to mark our defender, we can pass it to them for a chip shot on goal while the rest of the team looks for a rebound.
For this play to work, we will need our corner kick taker to raise their arm when they are ready. They should drop their arm when they want our striker to start their run. The other players should begin their run once they see the striker running. This forces a defender to make a decision about covering the striker.
As the corner kick taker, make sure you aim your kick outside the small goal box to avoid the goalkeeper from grabbing the ball. Now that we have a plan, let's see if we can score a goal from a corner kick in our next game. Good luck.