Disputed Offside Call on US vs Iran
 

I am not a fan nor expert in Soccer, but my son played in kids soccer about 50 years ago. My recollection was that Offside was when an Offensive player was closer to the goal than any defensive player and the ball was kicked to him from behind. Even though he waited for the ball to pass him before he touched it, I thought it was offside. That was what was called today as offside but some are calling that a bad call in the IRAN US game.

Any experts here?

Hmmm. If your talking about the offside by the USA player in extra time, then, yeah, he was offside. I'm not sure what the debate is. It was very close, but they can review this with digital technology and there really isn't any argument. Usually the line ref doesn't call it when it's this close and lets VAR handle it. I bet he was sweating a bit.

In some cases there can be a bit of controversy when offsides is called on a player that didn't touch the ball, but obscured the keeper. This is a bit subjective.

When the call is in your favor, just take it.
There will be plenty of other times when the call costs you.
The result stands!
Well done USA.

Offside Rule: There must be two players ( last defender and goalkeeper ) between the attacking player and goal when the ball is played into the defending half or received.

Does soccer not have challenges and replay?

Thank the Gods, no challenges.
Bl**dy Prima Donna mangers will challenge every call
Referee's can review a decision, (VAR) which IMHO is a retrograde step.
Play to the ref and linesman's decisions, why slow the flow of the game at all.
Over the season the calls, good or bad, will even out.
Get on with the game, and get us down the pub earlier!

Couple of fine points. The two defenders are any 2 and does not require that one be a goalie, although almost always the goalie is back. And the offsides rule is only applied when the ball is passed not when it is received.

IMO they ought to scrap the rule. It would open up play and more scoring which all fans enjoy. Maybe something like hockey's blue line where the ball must cross before the player 25 yards out.

The offsides is the only ruling which is weird and odd to me, a rookie ‘football’ watcher. I’ve seen the VAR call on video and stop motion.

I agree with a Blue Line change. And that would increase scoring. And interest in watching the sport.

But a change like that would be like our football, 8 yards for a first down, baseball no double plays, tennis singles play on the doubles court rules, basketball hoop is 1/2” larger. ETC. it will never happen. So soccer will remain a sport of drying paint.

Thanks for posting this. It keeps me from having to watch "football". I get enough sleep at night, don't need any more.

Correct.
I was just stating the usual/obvious configuration for those who are not familiar with soccer rules.
Passed is also correct. Don't know why I put received.
Maybe that's why I never passed the referees exam!

There was a take-away of a score in the French-Tunisia game by the French because a couple of players were offside. Tunisia 1-0 France: Tunisia upset France but fail to qualify - BBC Sport

As an aside it is nice to see the various women referees in the World Cup in 2022. World Cup 2022: Germany vs. Costa Rica to feature all-female refereeing crew

Problem is, they'll call penalties on things that happened in the LAST World Cup!

Or, they'll hold up a Yellow card and say, "You know what you did!"

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Sexism and denigration of women is so funny. Ha Ha

The emphasis seems to be about keeping people from scoring rather than putting up big scores.

Some exciting games today as far as low scoring games are concerned.

Offside
 

I agree they should ditch offside - at all levels it is called badly and with VAR brilliant paly is penalized by what I call fingernail offside. Soccer should also use rolling substitution and stopped time like every other time sport.

In essence, rolling substitution is in effect at the high levels as extra time is tracked by the fourth referee for substitutions, injuries and score celebrations.
The offside rule has been amended by FIFA a couple times over the past 25 years in an attempt to increase scoring. IMHO, what you are witnessing the tournament is the development of national football programs around the globe so there is no longer a huge gap between the elite country programs and others. The athleticism and understanding of how to play the game at a high level is amazing.

If only they would encourage more scoring. 0-0 and 1-1 games just do not do it for me.

Sorry

VAR is causing microscopic offside-problems in hockey when coaches CAN challenge a goal when the infraction is unrelated and had no effect on play.

I coached youth level, high school level, premier club level (including a state championship team) and still consider myself a “student” of the game, and no expert. I read through all the responses to this question and IMO, some were partly correct, some incomplete, and some responses used imprecise words e.g. (ball) “passed” instead of correct word “played” (as the ball does not have to be passed to be played).

There are important exceptions to the offside rule and nuances to it; and the final authority is ALWAYS the referee, not the rule book. Soccer 101. World Cup matches now have great technology, and video reviews available to the referee in real time to get it right. Well done! A very good explanation of the offside rule can be found at the following source. The club explanation is thorough and provides good explanations on the exceptions to the rule. Go USA!!
Understanding FIFA Law 11: Offside

I know a good proctologist who can remove that stick for you...

What if one needs to have it put back in? Asking for a friend.

Interesting no beer. No beer fewer drunks, fights etc. But this also equals less incomes. I am not a follower of this sport but wonder about concussions from the headers? Amazing how players can generate so much speed and distance from a header in this game.

I guess the offsides rule is to prevent "Goal-hanging" by the offense, but I'd like to see them play with only that rule being applicable inside the box and not outside.

So great to see all this soccer talk! I think the introduction of computer assistance (VAR) on significant calls is great. This removes possible erroneous judgement calls from the Ref. (Would love to see this for baseball ball and strike calls.) I appreciate the challenge of how difficult it is to score goals, but I agree that it would probably make the game more attractive to open things up to allow more scoring. Go USA!!!

When the player in an offsides position touches the ball is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is where that player is at when the ball is kicked to him or her.

The real action at a soccer game is in the stands…..

To me they’re mad about it because it wasn’t in their favor. But if the shoe was on the other foot it would of been OK. That’s sports for you!

Last World Cup! They should be that lucky. Probably more like the last 10 World Cups!