What is the offside rule in soccer?
You can't be behind the last defender when your teammate passes the ball to you.
The longer version
When a player passes the ball forward, the player receiving it must have at least two opponents between themselves and the goal — usually the goalkeeper plus one defender. If there's only one opponent (or zero), they're offside.
The key moment is when the ball is kicked — not when the player receives it. So even if you sprint past a defender after the pass, you were onside when the ball left your teammate's foot. That's what matters.
You can only be offside in the opponent's half of the field. And you have to be actively involved in the play — just standing there doesn't automatically make you offside.
A concrete example
Think of it like a fast food drive-through. You can't drive up to the window before you've ordered — you have to wait your turn in line.
In soccer: if you sprint ahead of everyone and plant yourself right in front of the goalkeeper while waiting for your teammate to kick it to you — that's offside. You got to the window before ordering.
The rule exists to stop players from just camping out by the opponent's goal all game. It forces the attack to build up and work through defenders.
Common misconception: you need the ball
You cannot be offside if you don't have the ball and aren't involved in the play. A player standing in an offside position doesn't get called unless their team passes to them or they interfere with play. This trips up a lot of American viewers.
Why do they stop play to review it?
The 2026 World Cup uses Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology. When a goal is scored and there's a possible offside, officials freeze video and draw a line from the attacker's shoulder back to check if any part of their body was past the last defender.
This can take 2–3 minutes and involves measuring fractions of inches. It's controversial — plenty of soccer fans hate it too. But it's the standard at the World Cup level.
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