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If you’ve been enjoying the soccer festival in the Middle East, one thing above all others might have caught your attention: the matches are long. Really long.
When England beat Iran 6-2 in their opening game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the game lasted an incredible 117 minutes and 16 seconds. In other words, there were over 27 minutes of stoppage time added to the group game, making it the longest group match in World Cup history.
Granted, the Iranian goalkeeper required substantial treatment for a bloodied nose and was eventually substituted in the first half, but it still seems like so much time to be added to a soccer match!
The crazy thing about England’s marathon match is that it’s not the only game of this year’s tournament that has exceeded 10 minutes. Here are the stoppage time statistics from the first four matches of this year’s tournament:
- Qatar vs. Ecuador – 10.18 minutes.
- England vs. Iran – 27.16 minutes.
- Netherlands vs. Senegal – 12.49 minutes.
- United States vs. Wales – 14.34 minutes.
Now, compare the above to the opening four matches of the 2018 World Cup in Russia:
- Russia vs. Saudi Arabia – 06.45 minutes.
- Egypt vs. Uruguay – 07.15 minutes.
- Portugal vs. Spain – 05.51 minutes.
- Morocco vs. Iran – 08.00 minutes.
With the above data considered, it begs the question – why are the World Cup matches so long in Qatar?
The reason for the long matches in Qatar
The main reason why the matches at the Qatar World Cup are so long is that FIFA announced that they would be doing more to ensure that stoppages are accurately documented and that an appropriate amount of time is added to each half.
Before the FIFA World Cup started in Qatar, the Chairman of the Referees’ Committee – Pierluigi Collina – warned fans that they should get used to 100-minute matches. FIFA is cracking down on time-wasting on the soccer pitch and is keen to ensure that the full ninety minutes of soccer are actually played.
But some context is needed to fully appreciate what FIFA is getting at here.
VAR-induced stoppages
In the world before VAR, it was common to see three or four minutes added to a soccer half that didn’t have any major stoppages. As such, it became normal for referees to stick to the status quo, and it was unusual if soccer matches extended past the 95-minute mark.
However, with the introduction of VAR, stoppages have become much longer, as the match officials take a considerable amount of time to come to their on-the-field decisions. As such, VAR’s use at the World Cup is one of the main reasons for the lengthy matches in Qatar.
Time wasting
Soccer players are master time wasters. When the ball goes out for a goal kick toward the end of the game, it’s not uncommon for it to take the goalkeeper several minutes to restart play. The same is true for throw-ins.
Understandably, time-wasting infuriates fans, players, and coaches alike, and it’s something that FIFA is really keen to stamp out of soccer. With the new FIFA directive, referees are told to monitor exactly how much time players take to restart the game and for that time to be added to the end of each half.
Whether it will successfully stamp out time-wasting remains to be seen, but it certainly has potential.
Injuries
There’s an overlap between time wasting and injuries. While some soccer players do get injured on the field and require treatment, others go down pretending to be injured in an attempt to waste time.
But regardless of whether an injury is sincere or not, the referees at this World Cup are keeping track of exactly how much time a player spends on the turf. Again, this might deter players from going down injured when there’s nothing wrong with them, but we will need to wait until after the World Cup to see how successful the new mandate has been.
Recap: Why are the World Cup matches so long in Qatar?
To those of us used to ninety-minute soccer matches, the fact that so many World Cup matches in Qatar have already gone past the 100-minute mark is surprising, to say the least.
From a neutral’s perspective, it’s undoubtedly a good thing, as there is more time for each team to score! However, if your team is defending a narrow lead, 100 minutes of soccer could be disastrous.
Qatar’s long matches are a direct result of FIFA’s directive to ensure that exactly ninety minutes of soccer are to be played in every game of the tournament.
So, as every player becomes aware of the fact that their time-wasting shenanigans of old will no longer work at this tournament, it could be of significant benefit to the beautiful game.