In soccer, a player is in an offside position when, at the exact moment a team-mate plays or touches the ball, any part of their head, body or feet is in the opponents' half and closer to the opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent. Position and offence are not the same thing, and that distinction is the key to the whole rule.

The second-last opponent is usually the last outfield defender, because the goalkeeper is normally the last opponent. Hands and arms never count, for any player, including the goalkeeper: the arm is treated as starting at the bottom of the armpit, so a shoulder can put you offside while an outstretched hand cannot.

Being Offside Is Not Always an Offence

Standing in an offside position is not an offence by itself. The flag only goes up when that player then becomes involved in active play: playing or touching a ball passed by a team-mate, interfering with an opponent, or gaining an advantage from a rebound or a deliberate save.

Interfering with an opponent covers more than touching the ball. It includes blocking the goalkeeper's line of vision, challenging an opponent for the ball, or making an obvious action that clearly affects an opponent's ability to play the ball. If an offside player stands still, well away from play, and never affects anyone, play correctly continues.

A Worked Example: Read the Line in Metres

Picture the goal line as zero metres, with distances measured back from it, so a smaller number means closer to goal. The goalkeeper stands 2 metres from the goal line and the last outfield defender stands 12 metres from it. The goalkeeper is the last opponent, so the defender at 12 metres is the second-last opponent, and 12 metres is the line every attacker must watch. The passer has the ball 25 metres out.

Now place three attackers. Striker A stands 10 metres out: 12 minus 10 equals 2, so she is 2 metres ahead of the second-last defender and ahead of the ball at 25 metres. She is in an offside position. Striker B stands exactly 12 metres out: 12 minus 12 equals 0, so she is level with the defender, and level is onside. Striker C stands 15 metres out: nearer the goal than the ball, but 3 metres behind the defender (15 minus 12 equals 3), so she fails one test and is onside. Both tests must be passed at the same moment: nearer than the ball AND nearer than the second-last defender.

Count the attackers ahead of the line in three scenarios. Scenario one, a through ball with the defender on 12 metres: attackers at 10, 9 and 14 metres, so 2 of the 3 are ahead of the line, while the player at 14 metres is onside. Scenario two, a well-timed run: attackers at 12, 12 and 13 metres, so 0 of the 3 are ahead of the line and all three are onside. Scenario three, the goalkeeper rushes out to 18 metres while the defender stays at 12 metres, so the second-last opponent is suddenly the goalkeeper at 18 metres. An attacker at 15 metres is now 3 metres ahead of that new line (18 minus 15 equals 3) and in an offside position.

When You Cannot Be Caught Offside

You cannot be in an offside position in your own half, no matter where the defenders are. You also cannot be penalised for receiving the ball directly from a goal kick, a corner kick or a throw-in. Those three restarts are exceptions only for that first touch; once a team-mate plays the ball again, the normal rule returns, so a player standing beyond the defensive line at a corner can be caught offside by the next pass.

Edge Cases the Simple Guides Skip

Timing is judged when the ball is played, not when it is received. A striker who starts onside and sprints past the defender while the ball is in the air is still onside, and a striker who starts offside and runs back onside before receiving it is still offside, because the snapshot was taken at the pass. A rebound does not rescue an offside player: if you were offside when your team-mate shot and the ball comes back off the post, the crossbar, the goalkeeper or a deliberate save, playing it is gaining an advantage and the offence stands.

The one rebound-like case that resets things is a defender's deliberate play. If an opponent deliberately controls, passes or clears the ball, even badly, an attacker who was previously offside is no longer penalised for gaining an advantage from that touch. A mere deflection, or an instinctive stretch with no real control, does not count as deliberate play. The restart is an indirect free kick from where the player became involved, even back in their own half, and no card is shown for offside itself.

Why VAR Still Argues About It

At the 2026 World Cup, which ended with Spain beating Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the final, tight offside calls were again part of the story. Video review can freeze the moment the ball is played, but it cannot remove judgement calls about interference or deliberate play. Remember the two-step test, position first and involvement second, and most flags start to make sense.