The offside rule
Offside stops attackers from just hanging around the goal. In short: when a team-mate plays the ball, you must not be ahead of both the ball and the second-to-last defender in the attacking half.
The three things that make it onside
An attacker is not offside if any one of these is true at the moment the ball is played:
- In their own half. You can never be offside in your own half of the pitch.
- Level with or behind the ball. Being in line with or behind the ball is always onside.
- Level with the defender. Being level with the second-to-last defender (usually the last outfield defender, since the goalkeeper is the last) counts as onside.
And one more thing: being in an offside position is only punished if the player is then involved in the play — receiving the ball, challenging an opponent, or gaining an advantage.
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