Where is all the added time coming from?
The World Cup is only 5 games old and already we have seen almost 85 minutes of additional time! That’s about 17 minutes added on per game – effectively a half of extra time added onto each match.
Those that watch football regularly will know this is far from the norm. First half added time is normally 1 to 2 minutes; on occasion it can be zero.
So far at this World Cup an average of 382.4 seconds or more than 6 minutes has been added on at the end of the first half! In total, the five first halves to date have seen an extra 32 minutes added on. That’s two periods of extra time.
The second half figures are even higher. Almost 53 minutes have been added on already in total in just 5 games. That’s more than a half of football!
England vs Iran is the standout. More than 27 minutes were added yesterday. England and Iran have effectively played a game with extra time already in the Group Stage.
Even though the World Cup is only 5 games old, the tournament minutes are almost six matches. I wonder what broadcasters and advertisers think of these extended halves…
Those that want to read more about added time in football can check out our paper from 2017 "Fergie Time and the Allocation of Additional Time: Evidence from the English Premier League 2009 to 2013" available here.