Key takeaways
- Being in an offside position is not an offence. The offence occurs only if the player becomes involved in active play.
- The position is judged at the moment a teammate plays the ball, not at the moment the player receives it.
- The reference point is the second-last opponent, which is usually but not always the last outfield defender.
- A player level with the second-last opponent, or in their own half, is not in an offside position.
- There is no offside from a throw-in, a goal kick or a corner kick.
Being in an offside position is not an offence. Doing something from there is. Almost every argument about offside comes from collapsing those two ideas into one, and separating them makes the rule far easier to follow.
The authority is Law 11 of the Laws of the Game, published by IFAB. What follows is a plain-language reading of it.
Part one: the position
A player is in an offside position when all of the following are true:
- Any part of the head, body or feet that can legally play the ball is in the opponents' half; and
- That part is nearer to the opponents' goal line than the ball; and
- It is also nearer than the second-last opponent.
Three details that trip people up:
"Second-last opponent", not "last defender". The goalkeeper counts as an opponent. Normally the goalkeeper is the last one, which makes the last outfield defender the second-last. If the goalkeeper has come out, the reference point changes.
Level is onside. A player level with the second-last opponent is not in an offside position. So is a player level with the ball.
Own half is always onside. A player in their own half cannot be in an offside position, no matter where the defenders are.
Arms and hands do not count, because they cannot legally play the ball.
Part two: the offence
Being in an offside position is legal. The offence is committed only if, at the moment a teammate plays or touches the ball, the player is in an offside position and then becomes involved in active play by:
- interfering with play — playing or touching the ball;
- interfering with an opponent — blocking their line of vision, challenging them for the ball, or making an obvious action that clearly affects their ability to play it;
- gaining an advantage — playing the ball after it rebounds off a post, crossbar, opponent or match official, or after a deliberate save.
This is why a striker standing offside on the far side of the pitch, doing nothing, does not stop play. They are in an offside position and not committing an offence.
Part three: the moment
Offside is judged at the moment the ball is played by a teammate, not when it is received.
This one sentence resolves most disputes. A forward who is level with the defensive line when the pass is struck, and who then sprints beyond it to collect the ball, is onside — because they were onside at the only moment that counts.
The reverse is also true. A forward who is beyond the line when the pass is played does not become onside by running back.
The exceptions
There is no offside offence from:
- a throw-in;
- a goal kick;
- a corner kick.
That is the complete list. A player can be in an offside position from any of these and it does not matter.
Why the rule exists
Without offside, the optimal strategy would be to leave a forward permanently by the opposition goal and pass the ball there. The rule forces attacking play to be built rather than launched, and it produces the specific choreography of forward movement — runs across defenders, dropping short before spinning, timing a run to arrive with the ball rather than before it.
That is why understanding offside makes forward play legible. Soccer positions explained covers what each role does; the offside line is the reason forwards spend so much of a match apparently doing nothing and then moving all at once.
It also shapes defending. A defensive line pushing up to compress the pitch is using the offside rule as a weapon, which is a large part of why soccer formations explained treats defensive line height as a system-level decision rather than a personal one.
In a simulation
In 38-0-0 Pro Football GM Soccer and Football Career Soccer XI Sim, offside is part of the model that resolves attacking moves rather than something you adjudicate frame by frame. What it means practically is that a forward's value depends partly on timing and movement attributes rather than only on finishing — the same distinction the rule creates in the real sport.
The Football Career Soccer XI Sim guide covers how forward decisions are presented from the player's side, and how soccer league tables work covers how the seasons those goals contribute to are scored.
The Laws are revised periodically, and IFAB publishes each edition — the Laws of the Game documents page is the authoritative source for the current text. Every club, competition and player in our games is fictional. The catalogue is under sports career and GM games.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
When is a player in an offside position?
Is being in an offside position an offence?
At what moment is offside judged?
Can you be offside from a throw-in?
Why is it the second-last opponent rather than the last defender?
Sources
- Law 11 — Offside (opens in a new tab)The International Football Association Board (IFAB) — accessed
- Laws of the Game documents (opens in a new tab)The International Football Association Board (IFAB) — accessed
