On matchday two of the 2022 World Cup, referees added a total of 59 extra minutes across the three games, with FIFA aiming to make up for the lack of time the ball is in play at the tournament.
England’s game against Iran lasted 29 extra minutes, although much of that time came as Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand spent a long spell injured in the first half. The game also had eight goals, including a VAR check for a penalty, which explains why so much time was added.
With the precedent, however, time continued to be added in both the Netherlands against Senegal and Wales against the United States. Indeed, the former had an additional 14 minutes, while the latter had 16 additional 60-second batches.
However, these games don’t provide such clear reasons as to why so much time was added. After all, only two goals were scored in the two matches, and neither suffered from an injury that kept them out for long periods.
So why is so much extra time being added to the 2022 World Cup?
Well, before the tournament kicked off, FIFA Referees Committee Chairman Pierluigi Collina warned players to be prepared for much longer downtime in matches in order to catch up. lost every half.
“Celebrations can last a minute or a minute and a half,” he said. “It’s easy to lose three, four or five minutes, and it has to be made up for at the end.
“We want to avoid matches that last 40-45 minutes of active play. This is unacceptable.”
Therefore, this crackdown on wasting time presents a welcome change from FIFA, with the organization making a concerted effort to give fans the full spectacle they paid for – in other words, achieving the most near possible 90 minutes of play.
Matches therefore last over 100 minutes for this reason, and will continue to do so for the rest of the tournament.
Collina also referenced the 2018 World Cup, suggesting efforts were made at the time to ensure more time was added at the end of each half.
“What we have already done in Russia is to calculate more precisely the time to be compensated. We told everyone not to be surprised if they see the fourth referee holding up the electronic board with a big number on it, six, seven or eight minutes.
“If you want more active time, we have to be ready to see that kind of extra time granted. Think of a match with three goals scored. A celebration normally takes a minute, a minute and a half, so with three goals scored you lose five or six minutes.
“What we want to do is accurately calculate added time at the end of each half. This may be the fourth official to do this, we succeeded in Russia and we expect the same in Qatar. .”
