The Truth About Football Match Duration: More Than Just 90 Minutes

We all know a football match is supposed to be 90 minutes long, divided into two 45-minute halves. But have you ever witnessed a game that ended precisely after 90 minutes? It’s uncommon, to say the least. 

Football is a physically demanding sport. Unlike cricket, where breaks occur after each over, footballers constantly run, tackle, and exert themselves throughout the match. The intensity is why elite athletes are drawn to the sport.

So, how long does a football game truly last? 

While 90 minutes is the designated playing time, additional time is factored in for stoppages throughout the match. These stoppages can include:

• Injuries requiring medical attentin
• Substitutions
• Time-consuming decisions like offside checks or VAR reviews
• Player altercations or celebrations

These interruptions eat away at the actual playing time. To compensate, the referee adds extra minutes at the end of each half to ensure the active playing time reaches close to 45 minutes.

The added time can be crucial. Teams often push harder in these final moments, and a well-placed goal during stoppage time can dramatically swing the outcome of the game.

But who decides how much extra time is added? The referee holds the responsibility. They keep track of all stoppages throughout the match and determine the appropriate amount of extra time to ensure a fair and balanced playing period for both teams. 

A standard football match lasts for 90 minutes, divided into two halves of 45 minutes each. However, the clock doesn’t always stop when the ball goes out of play. To ensure a fair match with active playing time, referees add extra minutes at the end of each half – this is known as added time, injury time, or stoppage time.

So, what events contribute to added time? Referees keep track of lost playing time due to:

Stoppages in play: This includes substitutions, yellow and red cards, player injuries requiring treatment, arguments between players and officials, and delays caused by Video Assistant Referee (VAR) checks.

Excessive goal celebrations: Even enthusiastic celebrations can eat into playing time, which referees factor in when determining added time.

Time-wasting tactics: Teams sometimes intentionally delay restarts or take longer throw-ins to waste time. Referees are aware of these tactics and adjust added time accordingly.

The on-field referee or their assistants keep track of stoppage time throughout the match. Towards the end of each half, the fourth official (an official positioned on the sideline) will raise an electronic board displaying the number of additional minutes to be played. This ensures both teams have a fair chance to compete during the actual active playing time.

Ensuring a Full 90 Minutes of Play

Referees strive to ensure players have a full 90 minutes (two 45-minute halves) of active playing time. However, stoppages occur due to injuries, substitutions, yellow/red cards, VAR checks, and even excessive goal celebrations. 

Injury Time (Stoppage Time): Making Up for Lost Time

To compensate for these interruptions, referees add injury time (also called stoppage time) at the end of each half. This extra time isn’t additional playing time but rather an extension to compensate for lost active play.

The referee estimates the total stoppage time and communicates this to the fourth official, who displays it on a board for everyone to see. There’s no minimum or maximum limit, but it’s usually a few minutes. For instance, if the referee feels 5 minutes of active play were lost due to stoppages, they’ll add 5 minutes of injury time at the end of the half.

When the Score is Still Tied: Penalty Shootout

If the score remains tied after the full 90 minutes (including injury time), the game enters a penalty shootout. This doesn’t extend the overall game time, but it’s a separate procedure to determine a winner. Five players from each team take turns attempting to score a goal from the penalty spot against the opposing goalkeeper.

There’s no time limit for the shootout itself, but there’s a minimum of one minute stoppage time added after each successful or missed penalty to allow the goalkeeper to reposition and for the next player to prepare. The team with the most successful penalties wins the shootout and the game.

Understanding Stoppage Time and Extra Time in Football

Football matches aren’t always a strict 90 minutes. Stoppage time, also known as injury time, is added at the end of each half to compensate for any time lost during regular play. This can include stoppages for substitutions, goal celebrations, injuries, and other delays.  

The record for the longest stoppage time belongs to a Carabao Cup match in 2019, where a whopping 28 minutes were added due to floodlight failures! 

However, stoppage time is different from extra time. Extra time, typically lasting 30 minutes divided into two halves, is only added after the full 90 minutes (including stoppage time) have been played and the score remains tied.

This format is commonly used in knockout matches to determine a winner on the field. If the deadlock persists after extra time, a penalty shootout decides the victor.  

The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar has seen some extended matches due to a significant increase in stoppage time. This shift stems from FIFA’s new policy to combat time-wasting tactics, ensuring fans get to see more actual playing time during matches.