Can the goalkeeper be offside?
Yes. Technically, a goalkeeper can be offside.
But in practice, it almost never happens. The goalkeeper is usually the last defender, which means they are the player who sets the offside line for the opposing team, not the one who gets caught by it.
That said, the offside rule applies to every player on the pitch, including the goalkeeper.
How a goalkeeper offside would actually happen
For a goalkeeper to be offside, two things would need to be true at the moment their teammate plays the ball:
The goalkeeper is in the opponent's half
There is only one outfield player between them and the opponent's goal line
This is theoretically possible if a goalkeeper charges forward during a corner kick or a desperate late attack and ends up ahead of most of the opposing team.
It has happened, but it is extraordinarily rare at any level of football.
A real goalkeeper offside scenario
Imagine this situation:
Your team is losing in the final minute and your goalkeeper sprints forward for a corner kick
The corner is cleared and played back quickly
Your goalkeeper is now in the opponent's half, ahead of all but one defender
A teammate plays the ball forward to the goalkeeper
Offside. Even though they are the goalkeeper, the offside rule treats them exactly like any other player the moment they cross into the opponent's half.
Why it almost never gets called
There are a few reasons goalkeeper offside is so rare in practice.
First, goalkeepers almost never venture into the opponent's half during open play. When they do go forward, it is usually for set pieces, and offside is suspended for corner kicks and free kicks taken from the attacking half.
Second, even when a goalkeeper does push forward, teams rarely play the ball to them in a position that would trigger the rule.
Third, linesmen are trained to flag based on the second-to-last defender. In nearly every situation, the goalkeeper is one of those two last defenders, not the player being flagged.
What about the goalkeeper in their own half?
The same rule that applies to every other player applies here too.
A goalkeeper standing in their own half cannot be offside, no matter what.
If the goalkeeper joins an attack and stays behind the halfway line when the ball is played, they are completely safe from the offside rule.
The most famous goalkeeper offside moments
While rare, there have been a handful of occasions where a goalkeeper pushing forward in desperate circumstances has been flagged, or just barely avoided being flagged.
These moments tend to happen in the dying seconds of cup matches, when a goalkeeper joins the attack for a corner and the ball is cleared quickly.
It is one of those situations where everyone in the stadium suddenly looks confused, including sometimes the referee.
How this connects to the offside rule more broadly
The goalkeeper offside question is a good reminder that the offside rule has no special exemptions based on player position or shirt number.
Every player on the pitch is subject to the same rule. The only things that matter are where you are standing at the moment the ball is played and whether you are actively involved in play.
A striker, a midfielder, a defender, and a goalkeeper are all treated identically by the offside rule.
Test a goalkeeper offside yourself
Want to see exactly how the offside rule works? Try our interactive offside simulator and drag any player into different positions to see the line react in real time.