FIFA’s technical director  Marco van Basten has revealed that changes will be made to the rules of the game, to make football more entertaining.

This is after the world soccer governing body voted to expand the FIFA World Cup to 48 teams. The former Dutch international disclosed that these new rules will be introduced before the 2026 World Cup.

One of the most interesting suggestions Van Basten mentioned is getting rid of the offside rule. The former Ajax and AC Milan star believes the game will be much more entertaining if it was scrapped as it would allow teams to create better chances, using free-kicks as an example.

“I am very curious as to how football would work without offside,” he said. “I fear many people will be against it. I would be in favour of it, because football is increasingly resembling handball: Nine players plus goalkeeper make the penalty area dense, which is like a wall. It is very difficult to get through. All teams rely on the same effective tactics: forming a stable defense.

“Without offside, the strikers could be behind the defenders, which would be much more difficult. If they move far back in front of their goal, the attacker will have more opportunities for distance shots. This would make the game more attractive, the attackers would have better chances, more goals would be scored. That’s what the fans want to see. In field hockey, the offside has been abolished, and there are no problems. The teams would also adapt in football.”

An interesting idea put forward is that of replacing extra time and penalties with a kind of take-on challenge. Instead of hitting shots at the keeper from inside the box, players will be given the ball 25 metres from goal and given eight seconds to score. The goalkeeper has to stay inside the box and once he stops a shot, it’s over. Each team gets five attempts.

“This is spectacular for the viewers and interesting for the player,” Van Basten said. “With this idea, he has more possibilities: he can dribble, shoot, wait, and the goalkeeper responds – this is more like a typical playing situation.”