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Occasionaly in a football match, you will see a pass made after the attacking team are past the last defender. You might be wondering why these passes are not ruled as offside.
So, what’s the offside rule when you’re past the last defender? There’s no difference to the offside rule when you’re past the last defender. Like at any other time, you can pass the ball to a player who is behind the ball, but a pass to any player in an offside position is an offside offence.
Clarifying the offside rule
Most football fans are aware that a player must be behind the second last defender when the ball is passed to him to be onside.
But a player is also onside as long as they are behind the ball.
If an attacking player makes it past the last defender in a counter-attack, he can play a pass to his team-mate, as long as the team-mate is behind the ball. This will be onside even though he isn’t behind the second last defender.
You can be offside when you’re passed the last defender
There’s nothing in the rules that states there is any exception to the offside rule when you’re past the last defender. If his team-mate is infront of the ball when a player makes a pass, this will be offside.
Hopefully this clears up this aspect of the offside rule.
Thanks for reading!
