All of the 2022 World Cup matches have lasted 100+ minutes so far due to the amount of added time.
The England-Iran encounter broke records with 14 minutes added to the first half and 10 to the second.
What is the reason behind this?
"What we already did in Russia [2018] was to more accurately calculate the time to be compensated," famous former referee and the chairman of the FIFA referees committee, Pierluigi Collina, has told ESPN.
"We told everybody to don't be surprised if they see the fourth official raising the electronic board with a big number on it, six, seven or eight minutes.
“If you want more active time, we need to be ready to see this kind of additional time given. Think of a match with three goals scored. A celebration normally takes one, one and a half minutes, so with three goals scored, you lose five or six minutes.
“What we want to do is accurately calculate the added time at the end of each half. It can be the fourth official to do that, we were successful in Russia and we expect the same in Qatar," he concluded.
Thus, every little stop - as well as the amount of time a goal was celebrated - is counted now.
While it makes complete sense to experiment with this, players look uncomfortable playing such lengthy matches mid-season. Especially in the USA-Wales game, we've seen several players picking up minor injuries and suffering from overload in the stoppage time.
For us, of course, it is better as it means watching football for some extra 10 or 20 minutes.
❓ What is your take on this?
