Two halves
A standard match has two equal periods of 45 minutes. The referee keeps the official time, even when a stadium clock or broadcast clock is visible.
Football basics
How long a match lasts, and why it still runs over.
Football's standard match length is simple, but the real answer often depends on stoppage time, extra time, substitution procedure, competition rules, and whether the match is an adult professional game, youth match, friendly, or knockout tie.
Timing
The standard match clock
For adult 11-a-side football, the default structure is two 45-minute halves with a half-time interval, plus time added for delays.
Interval
Half-time is normally no more than 15 minutes unless competition rules allow otherwise. The second half starts when the referee restarts play.
Stoppage time
The referee adds time for substitutions, injuries, disciplinary delays, goal celebrations, VAR checks, time-wasting, and other significant interruptions.
Extra time and penalties
If a knockout match must produce a winner and the score is level, competition rules may require extra time, kicks from the penalty mark, or another tie-breaking method. Extra time is usually two 15-minute periods, but the competition rules control the exact procedure.
- Normal time ends after the referee completes the second half and added time.
- If required, extra time is played in two periods.
- If still level and the competition requires a winner, kicks from the penalty mark may decide the match.
How many subs are allowed?
The Laws set the framework, but the competition sets the number of substitutes, replacement opportunities, and whether special concussion substitutions are available. Many senior competitions allow five substitutions in a limited number of stoppage windows, while youth and friendly matches may allow more.
- Named substitutes: only listed substitutes can usually enter.
- Referee control: the substitute enters only after permission and at the correct location.
- Competition rules: the permitted number of substitutes is not identical everywhere.
- Concussion protocols: some competitions allow additional permanent concussion substitutions.
Fast answers
- How long is half-time? Usually up to 15 minutes in standard adult football.
- Why did the match pass 90 minutes? The referee added time for stoppages and delays.
- Can the referee add more after announced stoppage time? Yes, the displayed number is a minimum.
- Are youth matches always 90 minutes? No, youth formats often use shorter periods set by competition rules.
- Can a substituted player return? In senior elite football, usually no. Some grassroots and youth competitions allow return substitutions.
The referee decides when each period ends
A stadium or broadcast clock helps spectators, but the referee keeps the official match time. Each standard adult period lasts 45 minutes unless the teams and referee agree a shorter duration before the match where the competition permits it. Play does not stop merely because the visible clock reaches 45 or 90. The referee completes the allowance for time lost and can extend a period for a penalty kick that must still be taken or retaken. Once the referee signals the end, an ordinary restart cannot be taken simply because the ball went out moments earlier.
Added time is calculated, then updated
The referee allows for substitutions, assessment or removal of injured players, disciplinary action, deliberate delay, medical stoppages, VAR checks and reviews, goal celebrations, and other significant causes. The fourth official displays the minimum additional time decided near the end of the period. It is not a maximum. If another substitution, injury, celebration, review, or delay occurs during that allowance, the referee may add the newly lost time as well. Small interruptions that are part of normal play are treated differently from clear time losses, so added time is a judgment rather than a stopwatch total of every pause.
Half-time and knockout periods follow different rules
Players are entitled to a half-time interval of no more than 15 minutes, with the exact duration stated by competition rules and changed only with the referee's permission. A brief drinks break may be permitted under the competition framework but is not an extra half-time. Extra time is used only when the competition needs a winner and selects that method. Its common form is two equal periods of no more than 15 minutes, each with its own allowance for time lost. The short interval between those periods normally allows players to remain on the field and change ends.
A replacement counts only after the entry procedure
The competition determines how many named substitutes may be used and how many substitution opportunities are available. A player being replaced leaves with the referee's permission, normally at the nearest boundary point, and the substitute enters at the halfway line during a stoppage after the player has left. Under the 2026/27 Laws, a player has ten seconds to leave once instructed; if that limit is exceeded, the replacement must wait until the first stoppage after one minute has elapsed before entering. The substitution is completed when the substitute enters, and the removed player ordinarily cannot return unless return substitutions are authorised for that level.
Five substitutes is common, not universal
Many senior competitions permit five replacements within three opportunities, with half-time changes not using an opportunity, but the competition rules supply the exact system. The 2026/27 Laws permit up to eight substitutes in a senior “A” international friendly, or up to eleven when both teams agree and notify the referee in advance, while retaining the opportunity limit. Competitions may also use additional permanent concussion substitutes under the approved protocol. Youth, veterans, disability, grassroots, and friendly football can modify period lengths, return substitutions, squad sizes, and other organisational details within the variations authorised by IFAB.
Normal time, extra time, and shootouts stay separate
Imagine a knockout match level after the second 45-minute period and its announced minimum of six added minutes. An injury during that allowance can push the whistle beyond 96:00. If the competition then requires extra time, the teams play two further periods, commonly 15 minutes plus any separate allowance in each. A goal during extra time changes the match score; kicks from the penalty mark are needed only if the score remains level after the required periods. Those kicks determine the winner but are not added to the match score as ordinary goals. Substitutions during extra time depend on the competition's allocation and whether it grants an additional replacement or opportunity.