As soccer inches closer to the <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tag/world-cup/">2026 World Cup</a>, one of the most radical ideas in modern lawmaking refuses to disappear. Despite strong resistance from Europe’s power brokers,&nbsp;<a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tag/arsene-wenger/">Arsene Wenger</a> remains at the heart of a proposal that could fundamentally reshape how offside is judged. What initially looked like a decisive rejection has quietly evolved into something far more intriguing: a fresh testing ground has emerged, offering the controversial idea a possible second life.



For <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tag/fifa/">FIFA</a>, the timing is delicate. For clubs and countries across the world, the implications could be enormous. And for Wenger, the long-running battle to restore attacking freedom may not be over just yet. Midway through the annual meeting of the&nbsp;<a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tag/ifab/">International Football Association Board&nbsp;(IFAB)</a> in London, clarity finally arrived — at least on the surface. In fact, IFAB rejected Arsene Wenger’s offside rule proposal and confirmed it will not be added to the Laws of the Game for next season.



The decision was widely seen as a major setback for FIFA, which had openly supported the idea. While FIFA controls four votes within IFAB, it was <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/fifa-suffers-major-setback-ahead-of-2026-world-cup-uefa-makes-decision-on-arsene-wengers-radical-offside-rule-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">outnumbered by opposition from&nbsp;UEFA</a>&nbsp;and the four British associations — England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Those stakeholders described the proposal as&nbsp;“too radical”&nbsp;and warned it could&nbsp;“create chaos”&nbsp;in defensive organization, particularly at elite level. As a result, no major competition will adopt the rule in the immediate future. Yet the story does not end there.



Wenger’s proposal, often referred to as the “daylight” offside rule, is deceptively simple. An attacker would only be penalized if there is a&nbsp;clear gap — daylight — between them and the second-to-last defender. Any overlap, no matter how small, would favor the attacker. The aim is to eliminate the fine-margin decisions that have become common in the VAR era, where goals are ruled out by millimetres — a knee, a shoulder, or the tip of a boot.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="599" height="357" src="https://media.worldsoccertalk.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2026/01/14232511/arsene-wengers-offside-rule-599x357.webp" alt="arsene wenger&apos;s offside rule" class="wp-image-616027"></figure><figcaption>Arsene Wenger’s offside rule explained</figcaption></figure>



Wenger, now FIFA’s Head of Global Football Development, has long argued that VAR has stripped the game of its attacking spirit. Speaking after the London meeting, he acknowledged the controversy but stood firm. “We have to try the radical solution first and see if we need to come back from that,”&nbsp;Wenger said.



<h2>New new testing ground emerges</h2>



While Europe slammed the brakes on immediate adoption, IFAB quietly agreed that the idea should&nbsp;continue to be tested&nbsp;— and not just at youth level. Thus, a top <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tag/concacaf/">CONCACAF</a> league has been lined up as a potential test competition for Wenger’s offside rule ahead of the 2026 World Cup.



That mystery league is the&nbsp;Canadian Premier League, which could become the first fully professional senior competition to trial the “daylight” offside system, as per BBC Sport. If formally approved at IFAB’s annual general meeting in Cardiff on February 28, the trial would begin at the start of the 2026 season in April. This represents a significant escalation from previous experiments, which had been limited to youth soccer and lower-tier environments.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="960" height="1200" src="https://media.worldsoccertalk.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/12/30094459/arsene-wengers-offside-rule-960x1200.webp" alt="arsene wenger&apos;s offside rule" class="wp-image-612719"></figure><figcaption>Arsene Wenger’s offside rule</figcaption></figure>



<h2>Why this league matters</h2>



One of the most intriguing aspects of the trial is the context in which it would take place. The league does not use <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tag/var/">VAR</a>, meaning all decisions would rely solely on on-field officiating. For IFAB, this offers a valuable contrast to the hyper-precision of elite European competitions. By testing the rule without VAR, lawmakers can assess how defenders adapt, how attackers exploit space, and whether the game genuinely becomes more fluid — or simply more chaotic.



IFAB is also expected to encourage&nbsp;other leagues&nbsp;to join the trial, building a broader data set across different countries and playing styles. The findings would be reviewed at the end of the year. If the results are positive, a global law change could still be considered as early as the&nbsp;2027-28 European season.

UEFA and IFAB said no, but Arsene Wenger’s offside rule could still debut before 2026 FIFA World Cup: Idea refuses to die as CONCACAF league lined up for shock test

UEFA and IFAB said no, but Arsene Wenger’s offside rule could still debut before 2026 FIFA World Cup: Idea refuses to die as CONCACAF league lined up for shock test - World Soccer Talk

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Canada has a growing soccer structure, but many people only know of their biggest teams. But there is more to the soccer scene in Canada than just their three Major League Soccer sides. Here’s where clubs from Canada play.



<h2>Pro Soccer in Canada: Origins</h2>



A couple of names you’ll recognize from today actually date back to well before the existing leagues in Canada. The Vancouver Whitecaps were actually started originally in the 1970s, playing in the North American Soccer League. That league also had teams in Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, and Montréal over the years. However, none of those other teams lasted long nor inspired future team names.



After the NASL collapsed, a new team came to Vancouver in 1986, aptly named the 86ers. Eventually, this team would adopt the Whitecaps name, and later, join Major League Soccer in 2011. 



Today’s CF Montréal got their start in 1993 as the Montréal Impact, playing in American lower division leagues until joining MLS in 2012. 



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Toronto FC was the first Canadian team in MLS, however, starting from scratch as a brand new team in 2007. 



Since no true Canadian professional league existed at the time, these clubs all joined American leagues at their start.



<h2>Today’s Canadian league setup</h2>



But that situation has changed. In 2019, the Canadian Premier League debuted, officially recognized as Canada’s division one professional league.



The three <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/mls-tv-schedule/">MLS</a> teams have been grandfathered into the American system, and allowed to continue playing there by US Soccer and CONCACAF. This is similar to clubs like <a href="https://www.swanseacity.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Swansea City</a> and Wrexham AFC who are based in Wales but play in the neighboring English pyramid.



Both MLS and CanPL sides also participate in the Canadian Championship, the country’s national knockout tournament.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="1280" height="715" src="https://ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https://images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/full/WST_20231217_WST_472295_CanadianLeague2_f62b103c.webp&amp;width=1280&amp;height=715" alt="Canadian Championship" class="wp-image-472305" srcset="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/11/CanadianLeague2.jpg 1280w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/11/CanadianLeague2-300x168.jpg 300w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/11/CanadianLeague2-1200x670.jpg 1200w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/11/CanadianLeague2-768x429.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px"></figure><figcaption>The Whitecaps celebrate the 2023 Canadian Championship title</figcaption></figure>



<h2>There’s more than one soccer league in Canada</h2>



At the lower levels, League 1 Canada consists of three provincial semi-pro leagues: League 1 Ontario, League 1 Québec, and League 1 British Columbia. The champions of these three leagues earn a spot in the Canadian Championship. Occasionally Canadian amateur sides will compete in American leagues like USL League Two, but they do not partake in the Canadian Championship.



Previously, teams like the Ottawa Fury, FC Edmonton, Impact, and Whitecaps played in American Division Two pro leagues like USL or NASL, but this is no longer sanctioned by CONCACAF. 



The winner of the Canadian Championship, as well as the top two CPL teams, earn a place in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The three MLS teams in Canada can now also qualify for the Champions Cup via MLS league play and Leagues Cup. 



In the Champions Cup, Montréal impressively made the quarterfinals in 2008, when they were still a second-division side.



As of 2023, no professional or nationwide amateur leagues exist for women’s soccer in Canada. However, the League 1 provincial leagues include women’s divisions.



That’s just about everything there is to know about soccer in the great white North. And the game in the country will only continue to get bigger. 



Photos: Imago.

What league do soccer teams in Canada compete in?

Canada has more than one league where soccer teams play. We've got a breakdown of the Canadian soccer system.

What league do soccer teams in Canada compete in? - World Soccer Talk

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UEFA and IFAB said no, but Arsene Wenger’s offside rule could still debut before 2026 FIFA World Cup: Idea refuses to die as CONCACAF league lined up for shock test

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What league do soccer teams in Canada compete in?