What does dive mean in soccer?

Answer 1

It happens when a player with the ball is challenged by a member of the opposing team. If the opposing player is careless or times their challenge badly, then they might bring the player down and cause a foul. Sometimes, the person with the ball might see this as an opportunity to win a foul, especially around the penalty area, as a penalty could be given. That player may dive intentionally when challenged to try and fool the referee into thinking the challenge was a bad one. This sometimes backfires though as the referee may see that the player with the ball has dived and so may give a yellow card to that player.