Offside, completely explained
The whole rule comes down to one frozen instant: the moment a teammate plays the ball. Step through the scenarios to see every wrinkle of Law 11 in motion, then build your own situations in the sandbox.
The offside rule in 60 seconds
The whole of Law 11 in eight cards: the two-part test, offside position, the moment, involvement, the deliberate-play reset, the three restarts with no offside, the sanction, and the myths.
1 · The two-part test
Offside is judged in two steps. First: was the player in an offside POSITION at the exact instant a teammate touched the ball? Second: did they then get INVOLVED in play? Only position plus involvement makes an offence. Position alone is never punished.
2 · Offside position
You are in an offside position when all three are true: any part of your head, body or feet is in the opponents' half (the halfway line itself does not count), you are nearer their goal line than the ball, and nearer than the second-to-last opponent. Level with the second-last opponent, or with the ball, is ONSIDE. Arms and hands never count, for attackers or defenders.
3 · The moment
Everything is frozen at the first point of contact of your teammate's pass, shot or touch. Where you are when you receive the ball is irrelevant. That is why every scenario here drops ghosts at the pass: the ghosts are what the assistant referee is actually judging.
4 · Getting involved
Three ways to turn a position into an offence: interfering with PLAY (touching a ball a teammate played), interfering with an OPPONENT (blocking their line of vision, challenging them for the ball, or clearly affecting their ability to play it), or GAINING AN ADVANTAGE (playing a ball that rebounds off the post, the crossbar, a match official or an opponent, or one an opponent deliberately saved).
5 · The reset, and the trap
If an opponent DELIBERATELY plays the ball (a controlled pass, clearance or interception made with time and a clear view), any offside position is wiped clean: you are treated as receiving the ball from them. But a deliberate SAVE, a block, or a deflection does NOT reset it. This one distinction decides a huge share of modern VAR calls.
6 · The three freebies
There is no offside directly from a goal kick, a corner kick, or a throw-in. The immunity lasts one touch: once the ball is played on and the move continues, normal rules resume.
7 · The sanction
An indirect free kick to the defending team, taken where the offence happened. That can even be inside the offender's own half, if they started in an offside position and ran back to play the ball.
8 · Myths, busted
A defender on the goal line does not keep you onside: you need TWO opponents goal-side of you, or to be level with the second-last. The keeper is not special: any opponent can be last or second-last. And you can never be offside from your OWN touch: following up your own shot off the post is legal, as long as no teammate touched it in between.
Companion to IFAB Laws of the Game, Law 11 (Offside), including the 2021 clarification of “deliberate play”.