How long is a soccer match, including stoppage time and extra time?
A soccer match is 90 minutes: two 45-minute halves with a 15-minute halftime break. The referee adds a few minutes of stoppage time to each half. In knockout games that end level, two 15-minute periods of extra time follow, and a penalty shootout decides it if still tied.
- 1A match is two halves of 45 minutes, with a halftime interval of no more than 15 minutes[1]
- 2The referee adds 'stoppage time' to each half for time lost to injuries, substitutions and delays[1]
- 3Stoppage time can be increased but never reduced, and is signalled by the fourth official[1]
- 4In knockout matches level after 90 minutes, extra time is two periods of 15 minutes[2]
- 5If still tied after extra time, the match is decided by a penalty shootout[2]
The official answer is 90 minutes — but the clock-on-the-wall answer is almost always longer.
What makes up the 90 minutes?
Two 45-minute halves separated by a halftime break of up to 15 minutes. The clock never stops for fouls, throw-ins or goals.
Why do games run past 90?
The referee tracks lost time and adds it back as stoppage time at the end of each half, so a "90-minute" game often runs to 95 or 100 minutes.
What about knockout games?
If the score is level after 90-plus minutes in the knockouts, teams play two full 15-minute halves of extra time, then a penalty shootout if still tied — so a single match can run roughly two hours of game time. In the group stage, a level game simply ends as a draw.
A regulation soccer match is far shorter in real time than an NFL game, because the clock barely stops — there are no commercial timeouts breaking up play. Extra time is like overtime, but with a fixed 30 minutes played all the way through rather than first-score-wins. And the penalty shootout is soccer's version of a tiebreaker like the NHL shootout or college football's overtime from the goal line: a dramatic, slightly artificial way to force a result.
- IFAB — Law 7: The Duration of the Match(accessed 2026-06-13)
- IFAB — Law 10: Determining the Outcome of a Match(accessed 2026-06-13)