How to Measure Foot Width for Football Boots

How to measure foot width for football boots: all you need is a sheet of paper, a pen and a ruler. Do it at the end of the day in the socks you play in, and measure both feet. Go by the longer and wider foot. Whether your foot is genuinely wide is clearest when you put those numbers next to where your boots pinch.

This page walks you through the method step by step, explains what “wide” means in football boots and tells you what to do with the result. If you would rather get advice straight away, use the football boot adviser. Once you have your numbers, the foot width calculator tells you instantly how wide your foot is.

How to measure foot width: when and how?

Every source agrees on a few ground rules.

• Measure in the evening or after training. That is when your feet are at match size, a little fuller than in the morning.
• Wear the socks you play in. Thick football socks make a difference.
• Measure both feet. Feet are rarely exactly alike, so use the longer length and the greater width.
• Stand up straight with your weight spread evenly. A foot is longer and wider standing than sitting, and with a flat foot the difference is bigger still.

How do you measure the length of your foot?

You need a sheet of A4, a pen and a ruler or tape measure.

• Put the sheet on a hard floor, up against a wall. Stand with your heel against the wall.
• Make a mark at the tip of your longest toe. That is the big toe or the one next to it.
• Measure from the wall to the mark. Repeat with your other foot.

How to measure foot width, step by step

For the width it helps to have someone else do it, or you can manage on your own if you take care.

• Stand on the paper and trace around your foot, keeping the pen upright.
• Mark the widest point of the foot on each side. That is usually across the ball of the foot.
• Measure the distance between those two marks with a ruler.

You now have two numbers: length and width. Note them down for each foot. If you want to turn your length into a boot size, the size converter does that for UK sizes.

Optional: ball girth, instep and the wet footprint test

Ball girth. Standing up, wrap a tape measure around the widest part of your forefoot. Width fittings on everyday shoes are based on this girth. Football boots do not use those fittings, so it is only useful if you want to compare with your normal shoes.

Instep. There is no set home measurement for instep height, but you can get a rough idea: measure the circumference over the highest point of your instep and compare it with your ball girth. If the instep figure is clearly bigger, a high instep is likely. The practical test is more telling: can you get your laces done up without pressure on top of your foot?

The wet footprint. Step onto a piece of card with a wet foot. A nearly complete print with no gap along the inside edge can point to a low arch. It is a rough guide at home, not a diagnosis.

How do you read length and width?

Length and width go together. A foot that is 280 millimetres long is wider than one that is 250 millimetres long, without being wide for its size. That is why you judge width in relation to length, rather than looking at a width figure on its own.

No international standard says at what width a foot becomes “wide”. ISO 9407 describes how to record length and width but sets no fixed width classes, so brands follow their own conventions. In the United States they use letters: D is standard, E is wide and 2E (or EE) is extra wide. The gap between two letters is a few millimetres and varies by maker. In British shops you will mostly see the label “wide fit”, sometimes alongside a width fitting letter.

That is why we give no threshold values: they would paper over the uncertainty. Use your measurement like this instead:

• Compare your width with your everyday shoes. If you always struggle for width in them, your foot is wide for its length.
• Compare with other people of the same foot length, for example in a shop where staff can measure your feet.
• Look at your symptoms. They are more reliable than any number.

Which symptoms point to a wide foot?

Where the pressure builds tells you a lot about what you need.

The fixes for each symptom are covered in our pages on football boots for a high instep, football boots for flat feet and football boots for narrow feet. If you have ongoing pain or keep getting blisters, have your feet looked at by a podiatrist or your GP.

Common mistakes when measuring foot width

• Measuring in the morning, before your feet have reached their daytime size.
• Measuring barefoot or in thin socks when you play in thick ones.
• Measuring only your right or only your left foot.
• Measuring sitting down. Your foot then comes out smaller than it is in the boot, especially if you have flat feet.
• Holding the pen at an angle when tracing, which makes the outline too generous.

What do you do with the result?

• Pick your size on length first. Foot length decides the size. For toe room and growing room, read how football boots should fit.
• Go wider, not longer. Going up a size to gain width gives you extra length, heel slip and a worse feel on the ball. Choose a wider last or leather instead.
• Use the width chart. The width chart rates every boot on width, instep and heel.
• Let the adviser choose. The football boot adviser combines your symptoms, playing surface and budget.

Measuring foot width for kids

Measure your child standing up, in the evening and in football socks, and go by the bigger foot. Children’s feet grow quickly, so measure young children every few months. Growing room and more explanation are in football boots for kids with wide feet. Kids often do not complain, so look out for red marks on the toes or heel.