Soccer is a terrific game to play. It is full of action, movement and there are very little breaks in the action. Some people may find soccer to be boring to watch, but it is a thrill to play.
Outside of the break at half time, there are no other time outs or actually stoppages in the game. If you are heading to a game, you might be wondering how long is a soccer game. The good news is that the length of the actual playing time for the game or the match is very similar to the total amount of time the game will take.
Below we will provide a comprehensive overview answering many of the questions related to how long is a soccer game.
We also provide some viewing tips to help you better enjoy the game and some basic rules that help you understand what the officials are calling or when other fans are getting excited.
Finally, we break down the length of the soccer game at various levels from young kids to the professional level. Whether you play or are a fan, the game of soccer can bring a lot of enjoyment to your life. Here at sportswarrior365, we can help answer all your sports questions and provide more assistance if you coach the sport as well.
So, how long is a soccer game?
Soccer at the professional level takes around 100 minutes to play the game. The actual time on the field is around 90 minutes, plus extra playing time at the end of each half. Each half consists of 45 minutes plus stoppage time, which usually doesn’t exceed 10 minutes.
This differs from other professional sports where timeouts due to coaches calling timeouts or television timeouts can greatly increase the overall amount of time it takes to complete a game.
Baseball has no time limit and truly the game could go on all day. With sports like baseball there is the constant debate about how to speed the game up, this doesn’t take place in soccer. It is the purest form of a game that just keeps moving. It is actually quite refreshing.
Factors Influencing how long a soccer game lasts?
Like we noted above, one of the major advantages to playing or watching soccer is the very limited time that is spent in timeouts or halftime. In fact, there are no timeouts in soccer.
As a result, the ball is in play a high percentage of time you are at a game. Only on the occasional injury will the flow of the game stop. In our opinion at sportswarrior365, this makes the game highly entertaining.
Unlike baseball or football, where the action seems to drag or with the amount of timeouts between possessions in football, at the professional level the plays continue on. One of the battles for televised soccer games is how to make money off of commercials.
A major benefit is that when you sit down to watch a World Cup game, one has an excellent idea of when the game will be over. At the end of a basketball game you have a ton of timeouts.
At the end of a football game there are also plenty of timeouts. And at the end of a baseball game you frequently get pitching mound visits by the coaches or players and change of pitchers that can take 3-5 minutes. This causes breaks in action and a break in the viewing.
One of the crazy things about the annual Super Bowl in football is that people actually watch the game for the timeouts. Isn’t it crazy to think that there are so many stoppages in plays that people tune in to the game to watch the commercials?
The flow of the game is often interrupted at the professional football level due to all of the timeouts.
“Stoppage Time” or “Injury Time” in soccer
One of the unique things about a soccer game is the stoppage or injury time that is added on at the end of each halp. At the professional level, you will see the official timekeeper at the centerfield point, hold up how much additional time the referee has added to each half.
This is based on the amount of delays that occurred during that specific half. This adds extra intrigue to the game, especially at the end. During this extra time, if a team is down by 1 or even 2 goals there is an all out effort to score a goal to hopefully tie the game.
This brings about a high level of entertainment and excitement to the end of the game.
Overtime in Soccer
In the world cup level games you will see two overtime periods, typically of 15 minute time periods and then penalty kicks if the game remains tied. The shootout can be quite exhilarating.
The teams have played 120 plus minutes of soccer and now it comes down to the free kicks. This can make for a really long soccer game, but one filled with tension as the overtime period brings about some major excitement. The extra overtime period is played, and sudden death is not utilized.
This obviously adds time to the game, but the entertainment value is pretty high. At the high school and youth levels a tie frequently is the result if the score is tied at the end of regulation. Unless it is a tournament game, you will not see overtime periods and then a shootout.
How Long is a High School Soccer Game?
A high school soccer game will generally last around 90 minutes. You have 2 – 40 minutes halves with a 10 minute halftime. Once again, there are no timeouts or major stoppages in play other than injuries.
Overall, an hour and a half will allow you to watch the entire soccer game. For the soccer purists, the ball is in constant motion and there are plenty of scoring opportunities, especially at the high school level.
High school soccer is an excellent sports due to the team aspect of the game and it is great conditioning for other sports as well. One must be in excellent shape to play at a high level in the game of soccer.
How Long is a Youth Soccer Game?
Typically, depending on the age level you will have anywhere between 20-40 minutes halves. Depending on the format of the tournament or the league you will see various times.
Around the age of 11 the game does increase to 2 – 30 minute halves as compared to below that where they play 2 – 25 minutes halves. This is a good amount of time to play soccer and players benefit from the numerous opportunities to have action involved and to work up their conditioning to a quality level.
We have also experienced 30 minute games at the indoor level. Maybe due to limited space and a high number of teams, they will have 30 minute games. The game is intense due to short amount of time and is still fun to play.
At the youngest of levels, you may see teams play more quarter based games to allow for easier substitutions. These 6-10 minute quarters maximize the time players can play and encourages the coach to play all the players and at various positions.
Youth soccer is often a child’s first sport because the action is constant and kids get to run around and learn a wonderful game. The foot work involved in soccer is a great skill to transfer over to all sports.
Many of today’s NFL players, especially in the skilled positions, started with playing soccer, which greatly helps produce quality foot work.
Viewing Tips – Soccer
If you have an opportunity to attend a youth soccer game or even a professional soccer game, sitting at half court and a little higher up can give you a greater appreciation of the game.
Another great seat is the end zone seat as you can see the action taking place. Take note of the movement of the players and how there are constant triangles being formed to provide options to pass the ball around the field.
You will see teams work from the outside in on offense to try to score off of the crossing pass
Basic Rules to Increase Your Viewing of Soccer
Offsides: The basis of this rule is that the offensive player can be on the goal side of the last defender until the ball is kicked into that area. This pretty much prevents a player from hanging out at the offensive end of the field waiting for the ball to be released.
You will see the better teams push up and hold that line in hopes of getting someone offsides. This results in a free kick at the spot of the offsides.
Handball: Obviously in soccer the only person allowed to use his or her hands is the goalie and someone throwing the ball in from out of bounds. You will see the official call the hand ball more tightly in the box.
If a hand ball occurs in the box, the offensive team would receive a penalty kick.
Throw Ins: The player throwing the ball in has to raise both hands above his or head and throw the ball over the top of his or head while keeping both feet on the ground.
A player is not allowed to jump and throw the ball at the same time.
Corner and Goal Kicks: If the ball goes out of bounds on the baseline a team is given either a corner kick (when by their scoring goal) or a goal kick (when by their defending goal).
This is in place of a throw in. The corner kick is an excellent scoring opportunity if the player making the corner kick has a strong enough leg to get the ball towards the mouth of the goal.
Why We Love Soccer
We have coached and played soccer here at sportswarrior365. It is a great first sport for kids because of the exercise, teamwork and the overall footwork development that occurs which transfers great to many other sports.
It is an easy game for the beginner level player because the ball is in constant motion. While it is very difficult to become an expert, the game is still fun early on for kids.
Adults often play the game well into adulthood even if just recreational. Once again the exercise is excellent and the team camaraderie can be enjoyable.
The tensions do rise every now and then as soccer can become a little bit of a rough, contact sport. People from all over the world enjoy the game and the mixing of different cultures can be a major benefit.
We highly recommend soccer for people of all ages and believe it can be a lifetime sport that encourages and helps us stay healthy and active.
Take Action…
What is next for you? Soccer is a great sport, find a way to get better if you are a player or find a way to help someone you know get better at soccer. They say in order to develop at a high level, that players should work on getting 2,000 touches a day.
Soccer is a highly skilled game that takes a high level of coaching, but more importantly commitment from the player to ensure they are getting their touches in daily to improve their skill. The better the footwork, typically the better the player.