The offside rule came into much discussion at the Qatar World Cup. Especially after Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside against Saudi Arabia. Two of those three goals came from Lautaro Martinez, one from Messi.
They were still stuck in the offside trap. But against Switzerland, Vinicius Jr. scored for offside. That too was cancelled. It was later revealed that his teammate Richarlison was offside at that time.
The question arose, Richarlison did not touch the ball. Why was Vinicius' goal canceled due to offside? When the main attack was composed before the goal, Richarlison moved from his position before Vinny touched the ball. If Vinnie moves or runs after touching the ball it is no longer offside.
A similar incident happened in Manchester United's match against Manchester City yesterday. Marcus Rashford was in an offside position at the start of the attack that Bruno Fernandes scored to level the team at 1–1. Despite not touching the ball, he almost ran from midfield to the front of the City box. On the other hand, Fernandez ran from the left side. He took the shot at the last moment and scored the goal.
First, the assistant referee raised the offside flag. But immediately Fernandez and Rashford protested about the matter. At the same time, other United players also joined the protest. After seeing the VAR, the referee changed his decision and canceled the offside and upheld the goal. Discussions are still going on for and against this decision of the referee.
England legend Alan Shearer tweeted, 'Marcus Rashford did a brilliant job letting Bruno Fernandes score the goal to level the score at 1-1.' Former Chelsea goalkeeper Piotr Cech had the opposite tone, 'United's first goal proves that those who make the rules don't understand the game.'
Now let's see what is written in the rule book of the International Football Association Board (IFAB). Why did the referee see the VAR and not rule it offside?
IFAB Rule 2022–23 on Offsides states at the outset that when a team player touches or releases the ball, a player in an active offside position is considered offside if 1) that particular player obstructs the view of opposing players from catching the ball; makes or 2) challenges the opponent for the ball, or 3) actively tries to play when the ball is too close to the opponent or 4) his movement affects the play of the opposing players.