The World Cup has prompted many questions from first-time soccer watchers. We’re here to help answer them.

Offside Rule

A player is offside if they are closer to the opponent’s goal line than the ball and the second-to-last opposition player when the ball is passed by a teammate.

Red Cards

A red card means a player has been ejected and must leave the field. The team will play with one less player for the rest of the match, and the player must serve a one-game suspension for the following match.

Referees

World Cup referees are chosen and vetted based on their quality and consistency of performances over the previous three years in international and domestic competitions.

Player Escorts

The children accompanying players at the beginning of matches are called player escorts. They are given the chance to walk players onto the field through a program sponsored by Quaker, a food company and one of FIFA’s sponsors.

Why ‘Soccer’?

The term ‘soccer’ was coined in Britain, derived from ‘association football.’ It is used in the US to differentiate it from American football.

Weather Delays

Soccer can be played through heavy rain, but the referee can halt or abandon a match due to poor weather conditions. A rule pauses games for 30 minutes if lightning is detected within 8 miles.

Penalty Shootouts

If teams are still tied after five penalty kicks, the shootout goes to ‘sudden death,’ where teams take extra rounds of penalties until one scores and the other doesn’t.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.