# Offside in soccer, step by step

Nearer the goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent, and involved in play. Every step shown, including the ones that did not decide it.

**Offside** — Offside: in an offside position and played or touched the ball.

Decided under IFAB Law 11 — Offside.

> Not an official ruling. This works through a published decision procedure from the inputs you supplied; it cannot see the play. In a real call the hard part is almost always judging the inputs — where a foot was at the exact frame, whether a touch was deliberate — rather than applying the rule. Match officials decide, and competition-specific variations and video review protocols are outside what this models.

## How it got there

| # | Step | Finding | Decisive |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Restart | Open play, so offside can apply. | no |
| 2 | Nearer the goal line than the ball? | Yes, by 10.00m (measured at the foot). | no |
| 3 | Nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent? | Yes, by 5.00m (measured at the foot). | no |
| 4 | Offside position | In an offside position. This is NOT an offence on its own — it is a position, and about half of what gets shouted at referees stops being an argument here. | no |
| 5 | Involvement in active play | Involved: played or touched the ball. That converts the position into an offence. | yes |

## Read before relaying this

### Hands and arms never count for offside (info)

For every player including goalkeepers, only parts that could legally score are considered — head, body and feet — and the upper boundary of the arm is the bottom of the armpit. A shoulder in front can decide a call; an outstretched arm cannot.

### Level is onside (info)

The test is NEARER to the goal line than the ball and than the second-last opponent. A player exactly level with either is onside, which is why the tightest calls come down to which side of a line a toe was on.

### The picture freezes when the ball is played, not when it is received (caution)

Position is judged at the moment a team-mate plays or touches the ball. Where the attacker was when the ball ARRIVED is irrelevant, and running onto a ball from an onside position is exactly what the law permits.

### An offside position is not an offence (caution)

A player can stand in an offside position all afternoon without committing anything. The offence requires involvement in active play — interfering with play, interfering with an opponent, or gaining an advantage — at the moment the ball is played.

### Applying the law is the easy half (caution)

This computed a verdict from positions and judgements you supplied. In a real match the argument is almost never about the procedure — it is about where a shoulder was in the frame the ball was struck, and whether a touch was deliberate. Change those inputs and the answer changes with them.

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