1
Faking to go one direction with your body to send a defender the wrong way, then going the other. Simpler than skill moves but effective - you just drop a shoulder or shift your weight and the defender reacts. Good dribblers do it constantly at speed, barely even thinking about it. Less showy than stepovers or elasticos but more reliable for actually getting past people.
Messi's body feints are subtle but devastating - he'd drop his left shoulder, the defender would shift their weight, and he'd already be past them on the other side before they could recover.
Robbie
Feb 4, 2026
Have a different take?
Think there's another way to define Body Feint? The Football Dictionary is built by the community — submit your own definition and let others vote on it.
Submit Your Definition