228 Sessions: The Training Volume That Separates Good Youth Teams from Great Ones
Semi-finalists at the FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025 trained an average of 228 sessions per year. Group-stage exits managed 180. That 48-session gap is the widest FIFA has ever recorded in its TDS research.
The Biggest Training Gap FIFA Has Ever Recorded
Players whose teams reached the semi-finals trained an average of 228 sessions per year. Players whose teams went out in the group stage? 180 sessions.
That's a difference of 48 sessions — nearly one extra session per week, every week, across an entire year.
The Compound Effect of More Training
48 extra sessions per year. Over a 10-year development career from age 7 to 17, that's 480 additional sessions. At an average of 90 minutes per session, that's 720 additional hours of structured football development.
The IDPs Connection
50% of semi-finalist players had individual development plans in place, compared to just 13% of group-stage exits. More sessions + more structure = significantly better outcomes.
What This Means for Your Club
You probably can't add 48 sessions to your calendar. But you can ask: are we training as consistently as we could be? Are sessions planned in advance?
Source: FIFA Talent Development Scheme Insights — FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025
