How Long Is a Football Match?

If you’re new to the game (and yes, we mean football as in soccer, not the American kind), you might be wondering about something that seems simple: how long is a football match?

You’ve probably heard that a match is 90 minutes, but then someone mentions half-time, or games going into extra time and penalties, and it all gets a bit confusing.

We’re about to break down exactly how long a football game lasts under different situations, so you’ll know the football game length from kickoff to final whistle, including all the added bits in between.

How Long Does a Football Game Last?

How long is a football match? A standard football match lasts 90 minutes, split into two halves of 45 minutes. There’s a 15-minute half-time break in between.

But that’s just the base. In reality, the full time you see on the clock will almost always go beyond 90 minutes – that’s where stoppage time, extra time, and penalties can come in, depending on the context.

So how long is a football match including half-time and all these extras?

The short answer: roughly 1 hour 45 minutes (105 minutes) for a normal match, but it can stretch to around 2 hours 30 minutes or more if extra time and penalties come into play.

According to official football rules during each 45-minute half, the clock keeps running even when the ball is out of play. Unlike some sports, there are no time-outs in football and no commercial breaks. The game clock doesn’t stop for minor interruptions.

Play generally flows continuously, aside from the occasional pause for fouls, injuries, or the ball going out of bounds. This means you pretty much get 45 minutes of continuous action, then a break, then another 45 minutes of action.

After the first 45 minutes, if there’s no stoppage time, the referee blows for half-time, and everyone disappears down the tunnel for their team talk and a rest. Once the 15 minutes are up, the teams come back out, switch sides of the pitch, and kick off the second half, which is another 45 minutes.

But if some time was wasted during the game, stoppage time comes in, which we’ll explain next.

Stoppage Time (Injury Time)

Stoppage time, also known as injury time or simply added time, is additional minutes added at the end of each half to make up for time lost during play.

This could be for:

• Injuries
• Substitutions
• VAR reviews
• Goal celebrations
• Disciplinary incidents (red/yellow cards)

Any time play is stalled, that needs to be compensated. The referee is the timekeeper: they’ll decide how much extra time to add by tracking all the little delays.

Stoppage time is often between 1 and 6 minutes, but can vary. You’ll know how much is added because as the 45th or 90th minute approaches, an official on the sideline (the 4th official) will hold up a board with a number – that’s the number of minutes of stoppage time to be played at minimum. You’ll often see it reported on your TV screen as well.

Example: If the first half ends with +3 minutes, they’ll play 45:00 to 48:00 before the whistle.

In recent years, there’s been a trend toward more generous stoppage time. During the 2022 World Cup, some halves had extraordinarily high added time – sometimes 8, 9, or even 10 minutes extra – because officials were instructed to account for every second lost to goal celebrations, VAR checks, and so on.

One match even totaled 27 minutes of stoppage time across both halves! England vs Iran had an unusually long delay for an injury, plus other stoppages, leading to about 14 minutes added in the first half and another 13 in the second.

For most regular matches, you won’t usually get that extreme. The exact length of stoppage time is at the referee’s discretion.

As we said before, the number shown (say “+4”) is the minimum. Referees can let play go on a bit longer if time is wasted again during stoppage time. So a “90 + 4” could end up being 90 + 5 minutes in reality. The final whistle blows only when the ref is satisfied that the lost time has been properly compensated.

Extra Time in Knockout Matches

So far we’ve discussed the standard league or group-stage match where a draw (tie) can be an acceptable result. But what about matches where you must have a winner?

Enter extra time.

Extra time is used in knockout matches (like tournament finals, semi-finals, or cup games) when the scores are level after the regular 90 minutes. In that case, the solution is to play an additional 30 minutes of football, split into two halves of 15 minutes each.

There’s usually a very short break right after the 90 minutes before extra time begins. Once extra time starts, it runs for 15 minutes, then teams briefly swap ends and immediately play another 15 minutes.

These 30 minutes of extra time are played in full. No sudden-death golden goal nowadays, so even if someone scores, they play out the entire period.

Of course, just like in normal time, the referee can add a bit of stoppage time to the end of each 15-minute extra period if there were injuries or delays. Usually extra time halves don’t see a ton of added time – maybe a minute or two – unless there’s a significant pause.

So how many minutes are there in a football game that goes to extra time? Roughly 2 hours 15 minutes in total game time. That would be 90 + 15 half-time break + 30 extra + a bit of wiggle room.

Extra time can be thrilling, as players are often tired and one mistake or moment of brilliance can decide the outcome.

If it’s still a draw after 120 minutes, then…

Penalty Shootouts

A penalty shootout is the ultimate tie-breaker to determine a winner in knockout football. If the score remains level after both full-time and extra time, the match doesn’t continue with more play. 

Instead, it’s resolved by a competition of penalty kicks. While a shootout is not part of the 90-minute game time (it’s a separate phase), it does add to the overall duration of the event.

Typically a shootout lasts around 10 to 15 minutes. The procedure is simple but nerve-wrecking: each team takes turns shooting from the penalty spot (11 metres from the goal), one kick at a time, usually best-of-five kicks per side.

That means a minimum of 5 kicks for each team (so 10 in total) are taken, unless one team gains an insurmountable lead earlier. If after those five rounds the teams are still tied, it goes to sudden-death rounds (one kick each until someone leads). The drama can extend a bit if many rounds are needed, but most shootouts conclude by around 5 to 7 kicks each.

From a time perspective, the referee will usually allow a short break after extra time ends for players to compose themselves and for officials to set up the penalty shootout.

Each penalty attempt may take about a minute when you consider the walk-up, the referee’s whistle, the kick, and perhaps the goalkeeper celebrating or the player despairing afterward. With at least 10 kicks in a full shootout, plus any additional sudden death kicks, you can see why it adds up to roughly 10+ minutes.

What Affects Match Length?

Goals and celebrations

Every time a goal is scored, the game pauses. Players celebrate (often with elaborate dances or running to the corner flag to hug the fans!), and it takes a moment to restart play.

Injuries and treatment

If a player gets injured and needs attention on the pitch, the clock keeps running, but the game is stopped. Minor injuries might only waste 30 seconds, but serious ones – like if a stretcher is needed or a concussion has to be assessed – can take several minutes. All that time will be tacked onto stoppage time.

Substitutions

Every substitution means the game pauses briefly while one player jogs off and another jogs on. Some players will milk this, especially toward the end of a match if their team is winning, slowly walking off to burn a few extra seconds. A little cheeky gamesmanship.

VAR checks

Modern football has Video Assistant Referees (VAR) to review contentious decisions (goals, penalties, red cards, and so on). When the referee goes to review a play on the pitch-side monitor or waits for VAR confirmation, the game is on hold.

These reviews can last anywhere from 30 seconds to multiple minutes, depending on how complex the situation is. It’s great for getting decisions right, but it does eat up time.

All VAR-related pauses should be compensated in – you guessed it – stoppage time. If you see the ref stand around with a finger to their earpiece, or make that TV-shaped hand gesture to indicate a review, expect some extra minutes added later.

General time wasting

Players have all sorts of sneaky ways to waste time when it’s advantageous – taking a long time to retrieve the ball for a throw-in, goalkeepers holding onto the ball as long as allowed, feigning cramps, slowly lining up free kicks, etc. 

While referees try to discourage this (they can even give yellow cards for blatant time-wasting), some of it inevitably happens, especially in close games. All those little delays contribute to the overall football game length. Good refs will keep track and add time back on, but not every second can be reclaimed.

Weather and external delays

Sometimes Mother Nature or other external factors interfere. Heavy rain can waterlog the pitch, slowing everything down (or in extreme cases the match might be temporarily suspended if the conditions become unplayable). 

Very hot weather might prompt cooling breaks, short pauses around the middle of each half for players to rehydrate. These breaks, usually a minute or two, are mandatory in some tournaments when temperatures are scorching.

Then there are freak occurrences: a sudden hailstorm, a partial floodlight failure, or even an animal on the pitch (it’s happened!). 

For significant delays, officials might even halt the clock entirely or suspend and later resume the match, but that’s an exceptional scenario.

Crowd or venue issues

Football matches are usually smooth events, but very occasionally there are crowd-related delays. If a fan runs onto the pitch (naughty and strongly discouraged, but it does happen), security has to sort it out while the players wait.

Or if there’s an incident in the stands that needs attention (like someone feeling sick and needing an ambulance), the referee might momentarily stop the match.

In high-profile games, you might also see ceremonies or remembrance silences before kickoff that push the actual start a minute or two later than scheduled. That doesn’t change the match length, but it can affect your timing if you’re watching live.

Plan for at least two hours when watching a match, just to be safe. The beauty of football is that it’s continuous and action-packed. Time can fly when the match is exciting!

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