# Law 7: The Duration of the Match (IFAB Laws of the Game)

Football · Law 7: The Duration of the Match · Insporta Book (https://book.insporta.app/football/laws/law-7-the-duration-of-the-match/)

Law 7 fixes the match at two equal halves of 45 minutes, reducible only by agreement between the referee and both teams before kick-off and in accordance with competition rules. Players are entitled to a half-time interval of no more than 15 minutes, whose duration is set by competition rules and altered only with the referee's permission. In each half the referee allows for all playing time lost through substitutions, assessment and removal of injured players, wasting time, disciplinary sanctions, medical stoppages such as drinks and cooling breaks, VAR checks and reviews, goal celebrations and any other significant delay to a restart; the fourth official shows the minimum added time at the end of the final minute of each half, and the referee may increase but not reduce it. A first-half timekeeping error is not corrected by changing the length of the second half. If a penalty kick must be taken or retaken as time expires, the half is extended until that kick is completed. An abandoned match is replayed unless the competition rules or organisers determine otherwise.

## 7.71 Periods of play, the interval and added time

The match as two equal halves of 45 minutes and the narrow conditions under which they may be shortened, the players' entitlement to a half-time interval of no more than 15 minutes and how that duration is set and altered, and the referee's allowance in each half for playing time lost - substitutions, injuries, time-wasting, disciplinary sanctions, medical stoppages, VAR delays and goal celebrations - shown by the fourth official at the end of the final minute as a minimum the referee may lengthen but not cut, with a first-half timekeeping error never carried into the second half.

### Test 1: The halves and the half-time interval

- Law 7 sets the match at two equal halves of 45 minutes; a reduction is possible only by agreement in advance and within competition rules. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- Shorter halves are valid only when agreed by the referee and both teams before the match and permitted by competition rules. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- Players are entitled to a half-time interval that does not exceed 15 minutes. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- Whatever length the rules set, the half-time interval may be altered for a given match only with the referee's permission. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- The entitlement is to a rest between the halves; simply switching ends, or a pause granted only sometimes, does not meet it. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- Football is played to a running clock: rather than stopping time during a stoppage, the referee lets it run and lengthens the half afterwards. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- A short drinks break, which should not exceed one minute, is permitted at the half-time interval of extra time. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- Law 7 allows the halves to be reduced only if agreed in advance, but they remain two equal halves. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- Law 7 requires the competition's own rules to state how long the half-time interval is. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- The right to a half-time break cannot be withdrawn as a punishment; only its length may be adjusted, and only with the referee's agreement. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)

### Test 2: Allowance for time lost and added time

- The referee allows, in each half, for all playing time lost in that half; the fourth official only displays the minimum the referee has decided. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- Law 7 lists assessment and/or removal of injured players among the causes for which allowance is made for time lost. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- Delays relating to VAR checks and reviews are one of the listed causes for allowance for time lost. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- Any significant delay to a restart, including goal celebrations, is a listed cause for allowance for time lost. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- Law 7 gives drinks breaks and cooling breaks as the examples of medical stoppages permitted by competition rules. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- Medical stoppages permitted by competition rules, such as drinks and cooling breaks, are a listed cause for allowance for time lost, with no cap on what is added. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- The minimum additional time may be increased by the referee but not reduced, so a further stoppage can lengthen it beyond the amount shown. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- The fourth official indicates the minimum additional time decided by the referee at the end of the final minute of each half. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- The referee must not compensate for a first-half timekeeping error by changing the length of the second half. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- The displayed figure is the minimum additional time; the referee may play more but not less. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)

## 7.72 Stoppages, breaks and an abandoned match

The extension of a half so that a penalty kick awarded as time expires can be taken or retaken and completed - lasting only as long as that one kick and not becoming a fresh period of play - together with the basis for drinks breaks (no more than one minute) and the longer cooling breaks (ninety seconds to three minutes) as medical stoppages permitted by competition rules, and the treatment of an abandoned match, which is replayed unless the competition rules or the organisers determine otherwise.

### Test 1: The penalty extension, breaks and abandonment

- If a penalty kick has to be taken or retaken, the half is extended until the penalty kick is completed. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- Because the extension runs until completion, a retake ordered inside it is covered too, rather than being waved away as time-expired. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- The half is extended until the penalty kick is completed; a kick is not complete while the ball is still moving toward goal, so a rebound from the bar or a post into the net counts. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Laws 7 and 14)
- Once the ball stops moving, goes out of play, or the goalkeeper controls it, the penalty kick is complete and the extended half ends. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Laws 7 and 14)
- The half is extended only for completion of the penalty kick; play does not continue afterwards, and this is not extra time. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- An abandoned match is replayed unless the competition rules or the organisers determine otherwise. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- The power to set a different outcome sits with the competition's rules or its organisers, not with a post-match report or a deal between the clubs. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- Such breaks happen only where the competition's rules provide for them; no team can call one, and they are not triggered automatically by the clock. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- A cooling break lasts ninety seconds to three minutes for player welfare in heat; a drinks break is shorter and should not exceed one minute. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)
- The half is extended until the penalty kick is completed; only then does the interval before extra time, and extra time itself, follow. (Source: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7)

Sources: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7 (paraphrased in original wording; original questions authored from the Law, not reproduced)

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