Almost everything in the Laws of the Game is a rule. In 14 places across Law 11 the authors do something else: they describe a situation and give the answer. 7 of them are offside and 7 are not, and the pairs that come out opposite look nearly identical.
They are in IFAB’s order, not sorted by answer, because the contrast is the point.
What the drawings claim
The wording under each position is IFAB’s, and the clause it comes from is cited beneath it. The drawings are ours. Each one states only what its caption states, which is who was nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent when the ball was played and where the ball went. Positions across the pitch are schematic, and no drawing here is a record of a real match.
01Offside
In an offside position, and touches the ball
The moment the ball is played
Attacking upward, toward the goal. The small dot is the ball.
Positions across the pitch are schematic. The drawing states only what the caption states: who was nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent when the ball was played, and where the ball went.
An attacker in an offside position (A), not interfering with an opponent, touches the ball. The assistant referee must raise the flag when the player touches the ball.
Touching the ball is interfering with play, and it is the whole of the offence. Nothing else has to happen.
The clause
Practical guidelines for match officials · Interfering with play
In an offside position, and does not touch the ball
The moment the ball is played
Attacking upward, toward the goal. The small dot is the ball.
Positions across the pitch are schematic. The drawing states only what the caption states: who was nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent when the ball was played, and where the ball went.
An attacker in an offside position (A), not interfering with an opponent, does not touch the ball. The player did not touch the ball, so cannot be penalised.
The same position, one fact different. An offside position is not an offence and never becomes one on its own.
The clause
Practical guidelines for match officials · Interfering with play
Attacking upward, toward the goal. The small dot is the ball.
Positions across the pitch are schematic. The drawing states only what the caption states: who was nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent when the ball was played, and where the ball went.
An attacker in an offside position (A) runs towards the ball and a team-mate in an onside position (B) also runs towards the ball and plays it. (A) did not touch the ball, so cannot be penalised.
Running towards the ball is not playing it. The player who touched it was onside, and the one who was offside touched nothing.
The clause
Practical guidelines for match officials · Not offside
Attacking upward, toward the goal. The small dot is the ball.
Positions across the pitch are schematic. The drawing states only what the caption states: who was nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent when the ball was played, and where the ball went.
A player in an offside position (A) may be penalised before playing or touching the ball, if, in the opinion of the referee, no other team-mate in an onside position has the opportunity to play the ball.
The one case where the flag goes up early: no onside team-mate has the opportunity to play the ball, so waiting to see who touches it decides nothing.
The clause
Practical guidelines for match officials · Offside
Runs for it, does not touch it, and the ball runs out
The moment the ball is played
Attacking upward, toward the goal. The small dot is the ball.
Positions across the pitch are schematic. The drawing states only what the caption states: who was nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent when the ball was played, and where the ball went.
An attacker in an offside position (1) runs towards the ball and does not touch the ball. The assistant referee must signal ‘goal kick'.
The signal is for the restart the ball earned, not for the position the attacker was in.
The clause
Practical guidelines for match officials · Interfering with play
Attacking upward, toward the goal. The small dot is the ball.
Positions across the pitch are schematic. The drawing states only what the caption states: who was nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent when the ball was played, and where the ball went.
An attacker in an offside position (A) is clearly obstructing the goalkeeper's line of vision. The player must be penalised for preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball.
Interfering with an opponent needs no touch at all. Being in the way of the goalkeeper's sight of the ball is enough.
The clause
Practical guidelines for match officials · Offside (A)
Attacking upward, toward the goal. The small dot is the ball.
Positions across the pitch are schematic. The drawing states only what the caption states: who was nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent when the ball was played, and where the ball went.
An attacker in an offside position (A) is not clearly obstructing the goalkeeper's line of vision or challenging an opponent for the ball.
The other side of the same test, and the pair is why this one is drawn. Offside position plus nothing is still nothing.
The clause
Practical guidelines for match officials · Not offside (A)
Runs for it without preventing the opponent playing it
The moment the ball is played
Attacking upward, toward the goal. The small dot is the ball.
Positions across the pitch are schematic. The drawing states only what the caption states: who was nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent when the ball was played, and where the ball went.
An attacker in an offside position (A) runs towards the ball but does not prevent the opponent from playing or being able to play the ball. (A) is not challenging an opponent (B) for the ball.
Movement towards the ball is not a challenge. The opponent got to play it, so nothing was interfered with.
The clause
Practical guidelines for match officials · Not offside
Attacking upward, toward the goal. The small dot is the ball.
Positions across the pitch are schematic. The drawing states only what the caption states: who was nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent when the ball was played, and where the ball went.
An attacker in an offside position (A) runs towards the ball, preventing the opponent (B) from playing or being able to play the ball by challenging the opponent for the ball. (A) is challenging an opponent (B) for the ball.
The same run, arriving. Challenging an opponent for the ball is interfering with an opponent, and the ball is never touched.
The clause
Practical guidelines for match officials · Offside
Attacking upward, toward the goal. The small dot is the ball.
Positions across the pitch are schematic. The drawing states only what the caption states: who was nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent when the ball was played, and where the ball went.
An attacker in an offside position (B) is penalised for playing or touching the ball that rebounds, is deflected or is played from a deliberate save by the goalkeeper, having been in an offside position when the ball was last touched or is played by a team-mate.
A save is not a reset. The position that counts is the one held when the team-mate last played the ball, and the rebound does not clear it.
The clause
Practical guidelines for match officials · Offside
Attacking upward, toward the goal. The small dot is the ball.
Positions across the pitch are schematic. The drawing states only what the caption states: who was nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent when the ball was played, and where the ball went.
An attacker in an offside position (B) is penalised for playing or touching the ball that rebounds or is deflected from a deliberate save by a player from the defending team (C), having been in an offside position when the ball was last touched or is played by a team-mate.
Same answer with an outfield defender making the save, which is the half people expect to be different and is not.
The clause
Practical guidelines for match officials · Offside
Attacking upward, toward the goal. The small dot is the ball.
Positions across the pitch are schematic. The drawing states only what the caption states: who was nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent when the ball was played, and where the ball went.
The shot by a team-mate (A) rebounds from the goalkeeper, (B) is in an onside position and plays the ball, (C) in an offside position is not penalised because the player did not gain an advantage from being in that position because the player did not touch the ball.
The offside player is still standing there and still has not touched the ball. Who played the rebound is what decides it.
The clause
Practical guidelines for match officials · Not offside
The moment the shot is struck, before the deflection
Attacking upward, toward the goal. The small dot is the ball.
Positions across the pitch are schematic. The drawing states only what the caption states: who was nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent when the ball was played, and where the ball went.
The shot by a team-mate (A) rebounds off or is deflected by an opponent to attacker (B), who is penalised for playing or touching the ball having previously been in an offside position.
A deflection is not a deliberate play, so it resets nothing either. This is the pair to the deliberate-play question the trees ask.
The clause
Practical guidelines for match officials · Offside
Offside at the first pass, onside at the one that counts
The first pass. C is in an offside position, and this is not the moment that decides
Attacking upward, toward the goal. The small dot is the ball.
Positions across the pitch are schematic. The drawing states only what the caption states: who was nearer the goal line than the second-last opponent when the ball was played, and where the ball went.
An attacker (C) is in an offside position, not interfering with an opponent, when a team-mate (A) passes the ball to player (B1) in an onside position who runs towards the opponents' goal and passes the ball (B2) to team-mate (C). Attacker (C) was in an onside position when the ball was passed, so cannot be penalised.
Two passes and only the second one is asked about. Position is judged at the moment the ball is played to the player, not at some earlier moment in the move.
The clause
Practical guidelines for match officials · Not offside
Every one of these is a question the offside walk asks in its own words. Walk an offside decision and the tree will ask you the same things in the same order.
The rule the positions illustrate is on the offside page, and the clauses themselves are in Law 11.