It’s time for football to move on from Extra-Time, says Adrian Clarke.
Once upon a time, goalkeepers were allowed to pick the ball up from any backpass sent their way. Yes, I know, mad, isn’t it? Snooze-inducing and painful to watch. Football rightly decided it was a rubbish rule, so we stuck it in the bin and made keepers use their feet instead. Lying in that very same trash can, you’ll also find the golden goal, silver goal, the draconian away goals rule, FA Cup replays, and more. Top-level football is always evolving. You need to move with the times. So, next up, please let ‘extra time’ be the next of football’s outdated staples to be consigned to the history books.
Let’s face it, those 30 minutes usually drift/drag along with barely a whiff of excitement anyway. Head coaches tense up tactically, players are frightened stiff to make a mistake, and crucially, they are also completely knackered. That’s why it’s consistently a non-event half-hour we’ll never get back.
Before penalty shoot-outs came into our sphere in the late Seventies, extra time used to be decent fun, with 1.5 extra-time goals averaged between 1938 and 1974. Since 1982, with the spectre of spot kicks on the horizon, the mean is closer to 0.7 goals. And here’s one more stat for you. In the UEFA Champions League knockout stages, there has been a measly average of 0.5 extra-time strikes per match since 2018/19; and that figure is grossly skewed by an astonishing four goals arriving late on when Liverpool met Atletico Madrid in 2020.
There will always be the odd exception like that, but for the most part the quality of football deteriorates miserably in front our sleepy eyes. That’s why most of us wish extra time away so that we can just crack on with the excitement of a penalty shoot-out. Tell me I’m wrong! Didn’t think so…
At this summer’s World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada, extra time could also be downright dangerous. At the end of an arduous, physically draining club campaign, international footballers may have to play 130 minutes or more (when you cater for added time) in extreme heat. How FIFA hasn’t at least given this some thought – or at least floated the idea of going straight to penalties – feels like worrying negligence. With players’ bodies struggling to cool down, some may not be able to cope with 30 minutes or so of extra game time in such torturous conditions.
They say penalty shoot-outs are cruel, but the real brutality here is extra time itself, not the spot-kick drama.
It gets worse. To cater for global audiences, FIFA has sanctioned 10 of the 16 last-32 matches to kick off prior to 6pm local time. Seven of the eight last 16 fixtures will take place before 6pm, and three of the quarter-finals, while both semis and the final itself will all be daytime fixtures too. It’s a disgrace. There should not be extra time at the 2026 World Cup. I sincerely hope it doesn’t take a tragic, devastating outcome, to realise this.
Looking at things from a broader angle, there is medical evidence that players are more likely to suffer injuries when subjected to extra time. Research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that hamstring injuries are disproportionately common late on in games, and that fatigue increases the risk of soft-tissue injuries.
A recent FIFA-supported review of extra time in elite football also found that physical performance drops significantly. Injuries, unsurprisingly, also grow in the final 15-30 minutes of extended matches.
So, weighing all this up, do we really think playing an extra 30 minutes is worth it? Of course it isn’t. They say penalty shoot-outs are cruel, but the real brutality here is extra time itself, not the spot-kick drama.
Going straight to penalties is now commonplace in many competitions, thankfully, and that is a welcome change. We now need the major club and national team tournaments to follow suit.
Often, you’ll see more excitement and intensity during the match when both sides know it’s a shootout after 90 minutes. Also, with extra time providing a clear advantage to ‘bigger teams’ with more quality on the bench, the prospects of a giant-killing are also significantly raised by eradicating extra time. And we all love an upset, don’t we?
Look, times have changed. Top-level footballers, largely through the financial greed of the governing bodies, are being asked for more and more. Physically and mentally, they are at breaking point – and the quality of football/entertainment can only suffer because of it. Banishing extra time to the history books feels like a logical no-brainer. It’s better for the players, more compelling for fans, and on top of that none of us will miss the last train home because of a late finish. Extra time, get in the bin.
Adrian Clarke played for Arsenal and is now a tactical analyst, broadcaster and writer.
