Offside rule in soccer faces pushback every World Cup cycle, but here’s why it exists

You can set your watch to it. 

Every four years, there’s going to be a surprising amount of pushback against the offside rule in soccer (world football). Those who turn on the World Cup and are mostly new to the game will be surprised by it in some form.

Read more Finnish Streamer Fined as Crackdown on Gambling Influencers Continues Ahead of Market Reform

Either there’s anger at how it’s enforced, or confusion at how it works, or simply uncertainty for why it exists at all.

The reality, though, is that it’s a very logical rule. It may get a lot more scrutiny, and seem a lot more nitpicky, thanks to video replay reviews. But without offside, this sport wouldn’t look anything like it does.

MORE: With Messi, history and magic go hand in hand

How does offside rule work in soccer?

A player cannot have any part of his body that is eligible to play the ball (aka not his hands/arms) beyond the last defensive player at the moment the ball is played toward him.

They use those freeze frames on the broadcast to analyze these calls. The player can’t be past the last defender at the very instant his teammate is hitting the ball in his direction.

If he’s beyond, it’s essentially a turnover, and the opposition gets a free kick from the offside spot.

MORE: Cape Verde captures the magic of sports

Can you be offside on a throw-in?

This is one of the quirks of the rule — no, you cannot be offside on a throw-in.

Read more Eswatini Operators Push for Clear Rules on Self‑Exclusion Periods

Can you be offside on a corner kick?

You can also not be offside on a corner kick.

Other exception to offside rule

The one other main exception is when playing in your own half of the field. 

You cannot be offside in any way if the player beyond the defense is on his own side of midfield. 

This prevents the defense from pressing permanently high up.

Why does offside rule exist?

Simply put, without offside this sport wouldn’t be the same. It wouldn’t be close.

There will always be narrow margins, no matter how you redefine this rule, unless you got rid of it permanently.

And if offside was just gone entirely, it would have massive consequences. 

Offensive players could spend whole games «cherry-picking» at the far end of the field. Would defenders stay with them? Would the game become massively spread out at all times?

It would get rid of beautifully timed runs and passes. It would eliminate the need for perfectly in-sync defensive lines.

Teams would come up with all sorts of new approaches, some that we can’t even picture.

Read more Brazil Targets Influencers and Fintechs in New Crackdown on Illegal Betting Operators

It almost certainly would not be good for the game, though.

Offside is here to stay, and that’s OK.

More FIFA World Cup news:

• USA, England can’t actually play on July 4th
• Why Norway brought 600 pounds of salmon to the World Cup
• Eloy Room leads Curacao to astounding World Cup history
• It had to be Mo Salah for Egypt
• Lamine Yamal outdoes Messi, Ronaldo in historic moment for Spanish wunderkind