Offside rule explained: examples for new football fans

Imagine the attack moving towards the right-hand goal. The receiver has run beyond the second-last opponent, but the ball is even nearer to goal. The receiver is still onside. This often explains a square pass across the penalty area when two attackers have broken through.

Now put the ball behind the receiver. With the receiver also beyond the second-last opponent and in the attacking half, the position is offside. The diagram freezes that one moment. Its dots represent the relevant body positions, not player centres, distances in metres or a VAR measurement. All other opponents are further from the right-hand goal than the two shown.

An attacker is in an offside position when a relevant part of their body is in the opponents' half and closer to the opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent. Hands and arms do not count. Being level is onside; the halfway line itself is not in the opponents' half.

Position alone is not an offence. The attacker must then become involved, for example by receiving the pass or interfering with an opponent. That is why a player can stand beyond the defensive line while a team-mate scores a perfectly valid goal elsewhere.

Use the moment of the team-mate's play or touch, not the receiver's eventual first touch. Normally this means the first contact with the ball. A goalkeeper's throw is the exception: use the release, the last contact.

A runner who starts onside can accelerate beyond the defence before collecting the ball. Conversely, running back to receive it does not erase an offside position at the relevant earlier touch. A still image of the reception can therefore answer the wrong question.

The goalkeeper is usually nearest to goal, leaving an outfield player as the second-last opponent. But those roles can swap. If the keeper runs out and one defender stays near the goal line, the goalkeeper can become the second-last opponent. One outfield defender behind the attacker does not, by itself, keep the attacker onside.

The position test uses head, body and feet, including the scoring part of the shoulder, but excludes hands and arms for everyone. A boot can matter even when most of the player is level. A raised arm alone cannot create an offside position.

Yes. An attacker in an offside position can interfere by clearly blocking the goalkeeper's view, challenging an opponent for the ball, or making an attempt or action that affects an opponent's ability to play it. Simply standing somewhere near the goalkeeper is not automatically enough: the impact matters.

Think of a shot passing an attacker. If that attacker is uninvolved and does not obstruct anyone, position alone does not cancel the goal. If they clearly prevent the goalkeeper from seeing the ball, there can be an offence without a touch. The examples below specify the missing fact instead of asking you to guess it from a dot on a pitch.

There is no offside offence when receiving the ball directly from a throw-in, goal kick or corner. Directly is the important word: a subsequent team-mate's pass is a new situation. A free kick does not have that exemption.

A rebound off the post, an uncontrolled deflection from a defender or a deliberate save does not wipe away the earlier offside position. Deliberate play by an opponent is different, provided it is not a save and the attacker has not already interfered. A defender's controlled but misplaced pass can therefore produce a different outcome from a ball that merely strikes their leg.

Do not reduce that distinction to 'the defender touched it'. Officials assess control and the opportunity to play the ball. An unsuccessful deliberate action can still count; an instinctive stretch at a fast, unexpected ball may be only a deflection.

For a close judgement during a clear scoring opportunity, the assistant may delay the flag so an incorrectly stopped attack is not lost. A delayed flag does not mean the player became offside later. The earlier position and subsequent involvement still decide the incident.

Premier League semi-automated offside technology helps identify the relevant contact and produce the positional lines. Officials still check the decision and judge subjective questions such as interference. It supports the existing rule; it is not a separate rule that makes any advanced player automatically guilty.

An angled television screenshot is not the same as a calibrated offside view. Watch for the official explanation and the completed review before treating the apparent goal as a confirmed change to the score. This guide follows the reviewed 2026/27 Laws, not proposals for a different offside test.

Look for the team-mate's touch first, then locate the ball and the two opponents nearest to goal. Ask whether the attacker actually became involved and whether the delivery was an exempt restart. This order is more useful than searching for the player who looks furthest forward in a replay.

Match XI's team sheets tell you who starts; its match records provide the recorded result and events. Neither a predicted formation nor an event minute contains the precise tracking needed to judge an offside. Use the official incident explanation for that decision, and the links below to follow the players and match.