The 2026 Canadian Premier League season may change how soccer is played across the world.
During the league's eighth season, it is hosting a global trial of a new offside rule, proposed by legendary Arsenal manager (and FIFA Chief of Global Football Development) Arsène Wenger, that could have a significant impact on matches.
Under the previous rule, a player was considered offside if any part of his head, feet or body was in the opposing half and nearer to the opposing goal than both the ball and the second-last opponent.
As per the new rule, a player is only offside if the entirety of the head, body and feet of a player are in the opposing half and nearer to the opponents' goal than both the ball and the second-last opponent.
Essentially, there is clear 'daylight' between the attacker and the defender. As part of the trial, the league will also introduce Football Video Support (FVS) to ensure correct calls are made.
So when the season kicks off on April 4, it will force players and coaches into a new line of thinking.
"Every great tactical trend that happened in the history of the game, 99 per cent of the time happened for a change in the rules," Halifax Wanderers head coach Vanni Sartini told CPLSoccer.com.
He mentions, for example, that until 1992, goalkeepers could pick up the ball when a player on their team passed it back to them. Now that they are forced to use their feet, keepers become like an 11th outfield player, and are often involved in the buildup of play when teams are in possession.
Like most modern rule changes in the sport, the new offside rule is designed to increase offensive actions, giving attackers an extra step, essentially, on their defenders.
"For offensive players, I think it makes our job easier because we don’t have to overthink about making sure we’re not offside," said FC Supra du Québec forward David Choinière. "You just start your run a bit earlier, and even if your foot is behind the defender, you’re still onside, so you have the advantage. For defenders, are they going to adjust their line? Are they going to drop to playing a lower block? It’s going to be interesting to see."
His former Forge teammate, central defender Daniël Krutzen, anticipates that the new rule is going to be a little bit less forgiving for defenders. Without the ball, teams will have to be incredibly communicative in terms of knowing where opposing attackers are, and how they drop and step forward as a defensive line.
"It's probably a lot more running," said Krutzen. "From a defensive perspective, it's probably going to be a little tougher, kind of getting used to, how do you adjust defensively. Not just as a backline, I think as a whole team. You really have to be aware of those little details."
Clubs around the league have been implementing and experimenting with the new rule in training sessions and tactical plans. In some cases, it will be a unique, innovative and experimental race to discover how to best capitalize on the change.
"I think all coaches, all teams, all players, are going to be challenged," said Pacific FC head coach James Merriman. "Challenged to figure out how to be most effective using it as an advantage, to how you attack, how you defend with it, it's in all moments of the game.
"It's going to be the team that figures it out quickest, and the players that figure out quickest how to use it to create advantages, that are going to see the most success from it."
Merriman's Pacific teams have used that offside line to great effect over the years. No team forced their opponents offside more in 2025 than the Tridents (72 times). But with that line shifting, so will his team's defensive approach.
How exactly the rule will look in practice remains to be seen. As with any big change, there will likely be some unexpected results. But by and large, across the league, there is real excitement about being on the cutting edge of soccer innovation.
"I'm really happy that we're going to be on the forefront of this," said Sartini. "I'm really happy that maybe two or three years from now, we're going to say that we've been the first league in the world playing the new version of the game, and being at the forefront not only on laws innovation, but also tactical innovation."
The eyes of the footballing world will already be on Canada as a co-host of the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer. Now coaches, players, fans and technical staff around the globe will be tuning in to the Canadian Premier League to see what could be the future of the sport.
