The offside rule in soccer, explained

Most offside arguments on the sideline come from mixing up two separate questions. The referee asks them in order, and the second one only matters if the answer to the first is yes.

1. Where was the player when the ball was played? Think of it as a photo taken the instant a team-mate kicks, heads or touches the ball. Where the player ends up afterwards doesn’t matter. A striker who is onside when the pass is struck can sprint five metres past the last defender before the ball arrives and is still onside.

In that photo, the player is in an offside position only if all three of these are true:

• Some part of their head, body or feet is in the opponents’ half. The halfway line itself counts as their own half.
• That part is closer to the opponents’ goal line than the ball.
• It is also closer to the goal line than the second-last opponent.

Hands and arms don’t count, for anyone, goalkeepers included. The Law draws the line at the bottom of the armpit: a shoulder can be offside, a fingertip can’t. Level counts as onside, whether that’s level with the second-last opponent or level with the last two. That’s been the rule since 1990, and it’s why “level is onside” is still the most useful thing a young striker can learn.

The “second-last opponent” is usually the last outfield defender, because the goalkeeper is normally the last one. It isn’t always. When the keeper has come out for a corner or rushed off their line, count the two deepest opponents, whoever they are. If a defender is on the goal line and the keeper is at the edge of the box, the keeper is the second-last opponent.

2. Did the player then get involved? Being in an offside position is legal. A striker can stand there all afternoon. It only becomes an offence if the player does one of three things, covered in the next section.

Notice what’s missing from that table: running. A player in an offside position who chases a ball but doesn’t touch it, and doesn’t affect a defender, hasn’t committed an offence. That’s why a good assistant referee waits. The flag goes up when the player becomes involved, not when the pass leaves the boot.

For a pass or a shot, the moment that counts is the first contact with the ball. For a goalkeeper’s throw, it’s the last contact, when the ball leaves the hand.

These are the situations that come up most weekends. The verdict assumes the referee saw what you saw.

This is where the hardest calls are, at every level. The question isn’t whether the defender touched the ball. It’s how.

• A deliberate play resets offside. If a defender has the ball under control and chooses what to do with it (pass, clear or keep it), and it ends up with an attacker who was in an offside position, there’s no offence. It still counts if the defender makes a mess of it. A sliced clearance is still a deliberate play.
• A deflection doesn’t. A ball that strikes a defender who had no real chance to play it (a shot that hits a shin from two metres, a cross that clips a heel) leaves the original offside position in place.
• A save doesn’t either. A save is stopping, or trying to stop, a ball that’s going into or very close to the goal. A defender blocking a goal-bound shot on the line is making a save, not a deliberate play, so a striker who was offside can’t score the rebound.

To tell a deliberate play from a deflection, referees look at four things. Did the ball travel some distance with a clear view of it? Was it moving slowly? Was it going where you’d expect? Did the defender have time to set their body? The more of those that are true, the more likely it was deliberate. A ball on the ground is easier to control than one in the air, so it gets judged more harshly.

MiniRoos (under 6 to under 11): no offside. Football Australia’s junior formats leave it out on purpose. A six-year-old trying to hold a line is a six-year-old not learning to dribble. Instead, the other team retreats on restarts, as set out in our MiniRoos rules by age guide.

From under 12, the full Law applies once players move to 11-a-side, although the age varies by association. Expect that first season to be full of flags. Players who have spent six years drifting forward have to learn to check the line before every run.

The referee is often on their own. In a lot of junior and lower senior grades there are no appointed assistants. The referee judges offside from wherever they’re standing, often well behind play and at a bad angle, and will get some wrong. Where clubs supply volunteer linespeople, many associations only let them flag for the ball going out, and leave offside to the referee. Check your association’s rules before you shout at the person holding the flag.

Teaching strikers. The best forwards move across the line, not just along it. Start level or a step behind the last defender, and curve your run so you’re moving sideways while the passer looks up, then straight when the ball is struck. Watch the passer’s standing foot, not the defender. And one habit saves more flags than any other: when a team-mate shoots and you’re in an offside position, get out of the keeper’s eyeline. You can’t score the rebound anyway.

Teaching defenders. A back line only steps up together. One player decides when (usually the centre-back with the best view), and calls it early and loudly. The trap fails when one defender hangs back, and in community football without an assistant referee it’s a gamble even when it works. With a referee working alone, holding a slightly deeper line usually costs you less than the goals a missed flag gives away.

You can sketch both on the 11-a-side lineup builder: set out the back four’s shape and the strikers’ starting spots, then share the picture with the team before training.

Not for 2026/27. Law 11 came through the latest edition of the Laws of the Game, in force from 1 July 2026, without any change. The proposal people have heard of, the “daylight” rule backed by Arsène Wenger, would only make a player offside if there were clear space between them and the defender. It was trialled in the Canadian Premier League in 2026, with fewer offside calls and more goals. In late October 2026 the IFAB’s football and technical advisory panels gave it little support, so it’s unlikely to come in soon.

At the top level, technology changes how it’s judged, not what the Law says. Competitions may now use semi-automated offside technology, and VAR can check offside before a goal is given. Neither is in community football, where it’s still the referee’s eyes and the assistant’s flag.