The Offside rule explained in soccer

For new players and spectators alike, the offside rule can be a confusing one to understand at first, but its actually very easy to learn.

What is offsides?

The definition of "offside" in soccer with when a player receives the ball in their opponents half of the field, when they are behind the 2nd to last defender (the goalkeeper being the last defender) at the time the ball was kicked.

In simpler terms, a pass cannot be made to an attacker when they are closer to the goal than the defending teams second to last player as this is ruled as an "unfair advantage" of play. In violation of this rule, the defending team will receive an indirect free kick at the location where the attacking player was ruled offside.

The above image showcases a scenario where player red 11 is offside at the time player red 8 passes the ball to them. The yellow line represents the offside line made at the second to last defend on the field which is player blue 4. For this case player red 11 is in an offside position because they are behind the yellow line, and when the ball is passed to them, an offside call is made.

In this image, you can clearly see player red 11 is in front of the second to last defender, player blue 4. If player red 8 passes the ball to player red 11 in this position, they are deemed onside because they are in front of the yellow line at the time the ball is kicked, and play continues.

Offside calls are made for scenarios including free-kick passes, same-team deflections, header passes etc. Even multiple players can be offside all at once. An important factor to remember of the offside rule is that players are considered offsides at the time the ball is kicked, not before or after (or when receiving the ball).

However, backwards passes are not considered offsides even if the involved players are past the second to last defender (i.e ball passed backwards is okay). Other scenarios where offsides is not called is throw-ins, corner kicks, and direct goal kicks, assuming another teammate doesn't touch the ball first.

In the highest levels of soccer, offside calls can come down to an attacker's foot, shoulder, or head being in a marginally offside position versus the defender. This required the Assistant Referee to keep up with the last defender (the second to last player on the field) to visualize the offside line. In professional soccer, calls have gotten so tight that the use of semi-automated offside and Video Assistant Referees have been implemented to make sure the correct calls get made quickly and accurately.