FIFA World Cup 2022: Why is there so much added time in the games?

With the FIFA World Cup 2022 underway in Qatar, one thing that has caught the eye is the amount of added time being put on in all the matches so far. There have been many matches which have gone beyond 100 minutes after time was added on.

Well, fans worldwide are a bit confused about why there is so much time that is getting plied on in each of the matches. But, the warning was already there. FIFA's referees' committee chairman Pierluigi Collina said recently that we might witness this kind of lengthy added times in the tournament for more active time in the games.

"We told everybody to not 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," Collina told ESPN.

"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," he added.

He said that the main aim is to calculate the added time precisely and the 4th official may have the responsibility for that. FIFA is happy with the way they have implemented this so far in Qatar and continue to do so.

There were 26 minutes of added time in England's 6-2 win over Iran. It was this huge mostly because of two injuries that were suffered by Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand and English defender Harry Maguire, along with a lengthy VAR check during the flag end of the second half. It has been similar in the Senegal-Netherlands and the USA-Wales matches where 8 and 9 minutes were added respectively.

Late Goals:

Iran's Mehdi Taremi also scored a goal on the 103rd minute, which is the latest goal ever scored in a 90-minute World Cup match. It was followed by a Davy Klassen goal for Netherlands against Senegal in the 99th minute, the second latest in the list.

France's 4-1 win over Australia saw 13 minutes in total added to both halves combined, mainly due to an injury in the early stages which made Lucas Hernandez substituted by his brother Theo.

Collina and his team will be implementing this same in the upcoming games and it has both sides in it. As we may get the proper playing minutes in a match, it can also create controversy if a team concedes late in a match.

But in hindsight, this looks like an apt method to give the game its full course. Teams will now have a bit longer active playing time and that is only a fair reflection of the game. Only unless you concede a late goal, perhaps in the 99th or 100th minute!

But all in all, be prepared to have these long minutes in every game.