Last reviewed: June 2026
The offside rule is one of football's most discussed and frequently misunderstood laws. Law 11 of the Laws of the Game, administered by the International Football Association Board, defines when a player is in an offside position and when being offside becomes an offside offence resulting in a free kick.
Key points
- A player is in an offside position if any part of their head, body or feet is nearer to the opponent's goal line than both the ball and the second-to-last opponent.
- Being in an offside position is not itself an offence - it only becomes an offence if the player becomes actively involved in play.
- Hands and arms are excluded from the offside calculation - only body parts that can legally play the ball are considered.
- The offside law applies at the moment the ball is played by a teammate, not when the receiving player touches it.
- VAR and semi-automated offside technology are used at the World Cup to check offside in goal situations.
The Offside Law: The Basic Principle
The offside law is contained in Law 11 of the Laws of the Game, the authoritative rulebook published and maintained by the International Football Association Board. IFAB is the body that governs the Laws of the Game, with FIFA as one of its four members alongside the English Football Association, the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of Wales, and the Irish Football Association.
The basic principle of the offside law is straightforward: a player is in an offside position if they are nearer to their opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second-to-last opponent at the moment a teammate plays the ball to them. The second-to-last opponent is usually, but not always, a defender other than the goalkeeper. If the goalkeeper is positioned outfield or has advanced, the calculation changes accordingly.
The offside position is assessed at the moment the ball is played by the teammate, not at the moment the receiving player receives or touches the ball. This distinction is important: if a player is onside when the ball is played but moves into an offside position by the time they receive the ball, they are not offside. Conversely, if they are offside when the ball is played but move onside before receiving it, they are still offside based on their position at the moment the ball was played.
What Parts of the Body Count for Offside?
A critical element of the offside law is that not all parts of the body are included in the offside calculation. The law specifies that a player's hand and arm up to the bottom of the shoulder is excluded from the offside assessment. Only body parts that can legally play the ball are considered in the offside determination.
This means that if an attacking player's torso is fractionally ahead of the last defender but their arm extends even further, only the torso position matters. If the arm extension creates an apparent lead but the torso is level or behind, the player is onside. Conversely, if the torso is marginally ahead of the last defender, the player is in an offside position even if their arms are not.
In practice, this distinction matters most in tight, marginal offside checks where the attacking player is very close to the line of the last defender. The semi-automated offside technology used at major tournaments tracks 29 specific body points and applies the legal definition to determine which body part represents the furthest forward position that is legally relevant to the offside calculation.
Offside Position Versus Offside Offence
Being in an offside position is not itself an offence. A player can be beyond the second-to-last defender without any violation of the law unless and until they become actively involved in play. The law distinguishes between an offside position and an offside offence.
A player in an offside position becomes guilty of an offside offence only if, at the moment the ball is played or touched by a teammate, they are involved in active play. Active play is defined as: playing or attempting to play the ball; challenging an opponent for the ball; or clearly attempting to play the ball in a way that impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball.
A player who is in an offside position but who does not receive the ball, does not challenge any opponent, and does not create any interference with an opponent or with play, has not committed an offside offence. This element of the law creates the concept of an "passive offside" position, which referees and assistant referees must assess continuously.
Exceptions to the Offside Rule
Law 11 provides specific exceptions to the offside rule. A player cannot be offside if they receive the ball directly from a goal kick, a throw-in, or a corner kick. These three restarts cannot produce an offside offence regardless of the receiving player's position on the pitch at the moment the ball is played. This is a fixed rule that applies in all football at all levels.
A player is also not in an offside position if they are in their own half of the pitch at the moment the ball is played by a teammate. Being behind the halfway line means a player cannot be offside even if they are ahead of the last defender in positional terms, since the second-to-last opponent and ball conditions cannot simultaneously produce an offside position from the attacking team's half.
How VAR Applies the Offside Rule at the World Cup
At major tournaments including the World Cup, the VAR system checks all goals for potential offside as part of the standard review of goal incidents. Before VAR, offside decisions were made in real time by the assistant referee on the touchline, who had to judge the position of multiple players simultaneously and signal immediately. Marginal offside decisions were frequently difficult to call correctly in real time.
With VAR and semi-automated offside technology, the video team can pause the footage at the precise frame when the ball is played and assess the positions of all relevant players using multiple camera angles. The semi-automated system uses player tracking data rather than video frames, producing a three-dimensional assessment that is both more accurate and faster than frame-by-frame video analysis.
The introduction of these technologies has led to offside decisions being overturned in significant moments that would previously have been missed. The precision of the technology means that marginal offside positions measured in centimetres can now be detected, whereas an assistant referee judging in real time could only distinguish clearly offside positions. This has generated debate about whether the technology is applied at an appropriate level of precision or whether marginal offside margins should be treated differently from clear offside violations.
Common Misconceptions
Several misconceptions about the offside rule are commonly circulated. The idea that a player must have two opponents between themselves and the goal line is not quite accurate: the law specifies the second-to-last opponent as the relevant reference, which in most situations is the last outfield defender. But if the goalkeeper is one of the two opponents, then the last outfield defender is the second-to-last opponent and the relevant line. If there is only one opponent between the attacking player and the goal, and that opponent is the goalkeeper, the attacking player is offside if they are ahead of the goalkeeper's position.
Another common misconception is that a player receiving a long ball over the top is onside as long as they are behind the last defender when the ball arrives. As explained above, the relevant moment is when the ball is played, not when it arrives. A player may be offside when a long ball is played even if the pass takes several seconds to arrive and the player has moved position during that time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a player offside if their arm is ahead of the last defender?
No. Arms and hands up to the bottom of the shoulder are excluded from the offside calculation. Only body parts that can legally play the ball count. If only a player's arm extends beyond the last defender but their torso is level or behind, they are not in an offside position.
Can a player be offside from a throw-in?
No. A player cannot be in an offside position if they receive the ball directly from a throw-in. The same exception applies to goal kicks and corner kicks. These three restarts cannot produce an offside offence.
When exactly is offside assessed: when the ball is kicked or when it is received?
When the ball is played by the teammate. The offside position is assessed at the precise moment the ball leaves the kicking player's foot, not when the receiving player touches it. A player who is in an offside position when the ball is played but moves onside before receiving it is still offside.
Does being in an offside position automatically mean a free kick?
No. A player must be in an offside position and become actively involved in play before an offside offence is committed. Active involvement means playing or attempting to play the ball, challenging an opponent, or interfering with an opponent's ability to play the ball. A player who is in an offside position but does not become involved in play has not committed an offence.
Why do VAR offside checks sometimes use a three-dimensional graphic?
The three-dimensional graphic is produced by the semi-automated offside technology introduced at the 2022 World Cup and continued at 2026. The system tracks 29 body points per player using multiple cameras and creates a three-dimensional model of each player's position at the moment the ball is played. This graphic is displayed to show both the accuracy of the assessment and which specific body part has been determined as the forward-most legally relevant point.
