Pacific FC Scores First Daylight Offside Goal

In a landmark moment for football, Pacific FC forward Alejandro Diaz scored the first goal under the experimental "daylight" offside rule during a Canadian Premier League match against Halifax Wanderers, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

The goal came in the first half when a teammate's shot was saved by the Halifax goalkeeper, leaving a rebound for Diaz at the far post near the six-yard box. Under the International Football Association Board’s standard offside regulations, Diaz would have been ruled offside due to portions of his body being ahead of the last defender. However, officials allowed the strike to stand after applying the new interpretation, which requires a visible gap, or "daylight," between an attacking player and the second-to-last opponent—typically the deepest outfield defender—for an offside call. In this case, parts of Diaz's body aligned with the defender, keeping him onside.

The Canadian Premier League, operating without video assistant referee technology, became the world's first top-tier professional competition to trial the rule this season, in partnership with FIFA. Earlier experiments occurred in Italy's under-18 championship in 2023 and Dutch youth...