Added time explained: how stoppage time is calculated

A football match lasts 90 minutes on paper and almost never on the clock. The rules that decide how long it really runs sit in Law 7 of the Laws of the Game, and they are short enough to read in a minute. What they leave to the referee is the interesting part.

What is added time in football?

A match is two equal halves of 45 minutes, with a half-time interval of no more than 15 minutes. The referee is the timekeeper, and at the end of each half they add the playing time that was lost during it. The Laws call this additional time; on television it is added time, stoppage time or, out of habit, injury time. They are all the same thing.

Each half is settled separately. Time lost in the first half is added at the end of the first half, and the Law says outright that the referee must not make up a first-half timekeeping error by changing the length of the second.

What does the referee add time for?

Law 7 lists the causes. The referee makes allowance in each half for all playing time lost through:

• substitutions
• the assessment and removal of injured players
• wasting time
• disciplinary sanctions, the cautions and sendings-off
• medical stoppages the competition allows, such as drinks breaks of no more than one minute and cooling breaks of 90 seconds to three minutes
• delays for VAR checks and reviews
• goal celebrations
• any other cause, including a significant delay to a restart, for example when someone from outside interferes with the match

Goal celebrations have been a separate item only since the 2023/24 laws. The IFAB, which writes the Laws, moved them out of the catch-all to stress that celebrations often cost a significant amount of time. The official questions and answers make the same point about a team protecting a lead: a player who deliberately kicks the ball hard over the touchline with no opponent pressing is not cautioned, since the ball was in play, but the referee must allow for the time lost.

What does not count as lost time?

Not every pause. The practical guidelines printed with the Laws say that many stoppages are entirely natural, giving throw-ins and goal kicks as examples, and that allowance is made only when delays are excessive. Pierluigi Collina, chairman of FIFA's Referees Committee, put it the same way in 2023: goal kicks, corners and throw-ins are part of the match, and a game played without significant stops needs no extra minutes.

How is added time calculated?

There is no formula in the Laws, only the list above and the referee's watch. For years referees used rules of thumb instead. Collina wrote that they would add one minute for each injury and 30 seconds for each substitution, plus something for VAR, and that this often did not match the time really lost.

At the 2022 World Cup, referees were told to calculate added time more strictly and accurately, and Collina reported an average of 10 minutes 30 seconds per match in total. In March 2023 the IFAB's annual meeting agreed that this stricter approach should be adopted by competitions worldwide, for consistency and a fair amount of playing time. Collina's summary of the idea: it is not about adding minutes, but about giving back the time when nobody was playing.

Why does the board show only a minimum?

At the end of the final minute of each half, the fourth official holds up the number of minutes the referee has decided on. The Law is precise about what that number means: it is the minimum additional time. A board showing four means at least four minutes, not exactly four.

Can the referee add more than the board shows?

Yes. The additional time may be increased by the referee but not reduced, so a half with four minutes shown can run to five or six, but it cannot end after three.

That matters because time keeps being lost after the board goes up. The allowance covers all the playing time lost in the half, and added time is still part of the half, so a substitution, an injury, a VAR review or a goal celebration in added time is made up as well.

One case runs the other way. If a stoppage near the end lasts longer than the playing time that was left, the IFAB says the added time played is the remaining playing time, not the length of the stoppage. Its own example: three minutes decided, a five-minute injury stoppage a few seconds before the end of normal time, and the three minutes are still shown and played.

What happens if a penalty is awarded as time runs out?

The penalty is taken. If a penalty kick has to be taken or retaken, the half is extended until it is completed, and this applies at the end of each half and each half of extra time.

What counts as completed is narrower than in open play. Once the kick is taken, it is over when the ball stops moving, goes out of play, is played by anyone other than the defending goalkeeper, kicker included, or the referee stops play for an offence by the kicker's team. So there is no rebound to follow up: if the goalkeeper saves and the kicker gets to the ball again, the half is over. If a defender or the goalkeeper commits an offence and the kick is missed or saved, it is retaken. If it goes in at the end of a match, the IFAB adds, the goal stands and the final whistle follows, with no kick-off.

Is there added time in extra time?

Yes. Extra time is two equal periods of no more than 15 minutes each, with a drinks break of up to one minute allowed between them, and the fourth official shows the minimum added time at the end of each half including extra time.

A penalty shoot-out is different. It is taken after the match has ended, so it is not part of the match and has no added time of its own.

On ScoreTable, a goal or card in added time is shown with both numbers: 90+3 is the third minute of added time in the second half.

Sources: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7, Law 14, Law 10, Laws of the Game 2026/27 (PDF), IFAB law changes 2023/24, IFAB Circular 27, Pierluigi Collina on FIFA.com.