The little-known penalty law that left fans baffled

When Norway were given a penalty in their Women’s Euro 2025 quarter-final against Italy, it prompted plenty of confusion.

As the ball was crossed into the Italy box by Lisa Naalsund, Norway captain Ada Hegerberg was brought down by Italy centre-back Elena Linari.

A penalty was awarded, and Linari was booked. But, as replays quickly showed, Hegerberg had been standing in an offside position when the ball was crossed.

So why – even after the video assistant referee (VAR) checked – did the penalty stand?

BBC presenter Alex Scott explained during the post-match analysis on BBC One, saying: “If an offside player is fouled before they commit an offside offence, there is no offside and the foul has precedent.”

That explanation was taken from the International Football Association Board’s (Ifab) Laws of the Game.

Though Hegerberg was standing in an offside position, she had not committed an ‘offside offence’ at that point, so the penalty was awarded.

As it was, Hegerberg missed from the spot – though she did score from open play six minutes later to make it 1-1.

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