FIFA World Cup in Qatar: Fans say the new approach to stoppage time has worked well

Thanks to a new approach to stoppage time, the FIFA World Cup in Qatar has seen games last a lot longer – with England’s group-stage victory over Iran running for over 117 minutes.

But are fans enjoying the extended matches, or can you have too much of a good thing?

New YouGov research suggests that the changes to stoppage time have gone down well with football fans who have followed this year’s World Cup, with 75% saying the new approach has worked well, and just 16% saying it has worked badly.

Beyond whether it’s functioned as intended, fans are more likely to say the stoppage time directive has improved the football than not. Some 45% say it has made the World Cup more enjoyable, with 34% saying it has made no difference and 13% saying it has made the tournament less enjoyable.

That said, just a third of fans (32%) think stoppage time is the best way to decide how much time to add on to a football match – while two in five (42%) think it’s better to stop the clock every time the ball goes out of play. One in five say both systems are equally fair (20%).

Methodology

YouGov RealTime Omnibus provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. This study was conducted online on 5-10 October 2022, with a nationally representative sample of 2,000 British adults, using a questionnaire designed by YouGov.

Data figures have been weighted to be nationally representative of all adults in Britain by age, gender, social class, region and level of education, and reflect the latest ONS population estimates.

Get quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences using YouGov RealTime Omnibus