Football fans were left baffled after Norway Women were awarded a penalty in their Women’s Euro 2025 match against Italy, despite their player, Ada Hegerberg, clearly being offside when she was fouled. Now, though, an explanation has been provided. Norway faced off against Italy in the Euro quarter-finals on Wednesday night, with a spot in the semi-finals up for grabs.
They fell behind shortly after the second half got underway, with Cristiana Girelli putting Andrea Socin’s side in front in the 50th minute. 10 minutes later, though, Norway had the chance to equalise from the penalty spot. They failed to make it count, with Hegerberg, who’s considered to be one of the greatest women’s footballers ever, missing the spot-kick, but many fans were surprised to see that it had even been awarded after the Lyon striker was spotted to have been offside when she was fouled. A rules expert has since explained why that was the case.
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It cleared up some fan confusion
Ten minutes after they fell behind, Norway were awarded a penalty when Hegerberg was brought down inside the Italy area. The decision left fans baffled, though, as she was clearly offside at the time. Some supporters took to X (Twitter) to share their confusion about the incident. One said: “How was that even a penalty in the Norway v Italy game when she was offside when the ball was crossed into the box?” Another posted: “The Norway player was offside though anyway, no penalty surely?”
While a third fan also stated: “That penalty miss for Norway is 100% karma. That should not have been a penalty with the offside of that player.”
Now, though, rules expert Dale Johnson has explained why awarding the penalty was the correct decision. He took to X and addressed the penalty, saying:
“Ada Hegerberg offside but awarded a penalty? Yep, it’s possible in law. If an offside player is fouled before they commit an offside offence (attempting to play the ball / challenging an opponent) there is no offside, and the foul has precedent.
“It’s a little subjective in nature. But as Ada Hegerberg is not looking to engage with Elena Linari, and the Italy player pulls her down from behind, it can be argued that Hegerberg is not active.Being stood offside isn’t an offence, it’s your actions which determine that.”
The decision to award the penalty ultimately didn’t matter much anyway, with Hegerberg missing from the spot. The first ever Women’s Ballon d’Or winner redeemed herself six minutes later, equalising for Norway. In the end, though, it wasn’t to bad for the nation and Girelli scored her second goal of the game and Italy’s winner in the 90th minute to send them through to the next round.