what is an offside goal in soccer

An offside goal in soccer is a goal that gets disallowed because the attacking player was offside when the ball was played to them, or was active from an offside position. Offside is judged at the moment the pass is made, not when the player receives the ball, and a player is offside if any legal scoring part of their body is beyond the second-last defender and the ball in the opponent’s half.

Simple example

If a forward is standing behind the defense and a teammate passes the ball to them, the goal won’t count if they were offside at the moment of the pass and then take part in the play. If they are level with the second-last defender, they are not offside.

What does not count

A player cannot be offside directly from a throw-in, corner kick, or goal kick. Also, simply being in an offside position is not a foul by itself; the player has to interfere with play or an opponent, or gain an advantage from that position.

Quick rule of thumb

• Offside is about position at the instant of the pass.

• The player must be nearer to the goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent.

• If they are offside and involved in the play, the goal is disallowed and the other team gets an indirect free kick.

Bottom line: an “offside goal” is really a goal that was scored from an illegal offside position, so the referee cancels it.