Offside rule explained: Law 11 in plain English

Under Law 11 of the Laws of the Game, a player is in an offside position if all three of these are true at the moment a teammate plays or touches the ball:

1. Any part of their head, body or feet is in the opponents' half (the halfway line itself counts as their own half).
2. That part is nearer to the opponents' goal line than the ball.
3. That part is nearer to the goal line than the second-last opponent.

Arms and hands don't count, for attackers or defenders, goalkeepers included. The upper limit of the arm is the bottom of the armpit. A player whose knee, shoulder or head is ahead of the defender can be offside; a player whose hand is ahead can't.

The rule says second-last opponent, not "last defender". Usually the last opponent is the goalkeeper, so the second-last is the deepest outfield defender. But if the goalkeeper has come out and only one outfield defender is behind the attacker, the goalkeeper doesn't count as the "last" any more: you still need two opponents level with or behind you.

An offside position is only an offside offence if the player then becomes involved in active play by:

• Interfering with play: playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a teammate.
• Interfering with an opponent: blocking the goalkeeper's line of sight, challenging an opponent for the ball, clearly trying to play a ball close to them, or making an obvious action that affects an opponent's ability to play the ball.
• Gaining an advantage: playing a ball that rebounds or is deflected to them off a post, the crossbar, the referee or an opponent, or from a deliberate save by an opponent.

If a player is in an offside position but doesn't do any of these, there's no offence. That's why you often see a flag stay down while a player stands offside on the far side. The basic restarts that follow are covered in football rules for beginners.

When a defender plays the ball

If an opponent deliberately plays the ball (a controlled pass or clearance, not a save), any attacker who was offside when it was last played by a teammate is no longer penalised for that phase. A deliberate save, or a deflection or rebound, doesn't reset offside.

There is no offside offence if a player receives the ball directly from:

• a throw-in,
• a goal kick,
• a corner kick.

You also can't be offside in your own half at the moment the ball is played, or if you're behind or level with the ball. If a goalkeeper throws the ball out, offside is judged at the moment the ball leaves the goalkeeper's hand (the last point of contact), a clarification added in 2025/26.

Offside is judged at the moment the ball is played or touched by a teammate, not when the attacker receives it. A forward who is level at the pass and then sprints clear is onside, even if they're well behind the defence by the time they collect the ball. For a pass, the moment is the first point of contact with the ball.

That timing is why offside decisions are so hard for assistant referees: they have to watch the passer and the line at the same time.

The referee awards an indirect free kick to the defending team from the place where the offence happened (where the offside player became involved), even if that's in the player's own half by then.

Offside is a technical offence, so there's no card for it, unless the player also commits another offence.

VAR can check offside on any goal or penalty incident. In many top competitions, including the Champions League (since 2022/23) and the Premier League (since April 2025), semi-automated offside technology tracks players' limbs with cameras and generates the lines and a 3D image within seconds. The rule itself hasn't changed; only the way it's measured. More detail is in VAR explained.

The IFAB is still running trials on possible changes to the offside rule, but none has been added to the Laws as of 2026/27.

Offside shapes the whole game: defenders step up to catch forwards, and attackers time their runs on the shoulder of the last defender. Teams that defend with a high line give up fewer chances in midfield but more one-on-ones, which shows up in their shot and xG numbers; see xG and football stats. If you bet on goals markets, remember that a goal ruled out for offside, even after a long VAR check, never counts for settlement. Learn how those markets work in over/under goals, and follow the numbers on our stats page or watch decisions as they happen on live scores.