An extraordinary match, in every sense of the word.
England swept Iran (6-2) Monday for their entry into the running in this World Cup in an extended meeting.
Because English and Iranians, who expressed their political opinions before kick-off, clashed well beyond the 90 minutes regulation.
The two teams played 27 minutes of added time on the lawn of the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.
A mind-blowing total, close to the time of an extension.
How did we get here?
From the first period, the Brazilian referee Raphael Claus decides to play 14 additional minutes.
The main reason: the injury of Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand from the eighth minute.
Victim of a KO after a clash in the face with his defender Majid Hosseini, the goalkeeper remained on the ground, hard hit, before gradually regaining his senses.
Play resumed in the fifteenth minute, after the player changed his bloody shirt.
Beiranvand, diminished, ended up leaving in the 19th minute.
These two facts of the game can explain a significant additional time, even if the 14 minutes seem particularly long.
[🎞️Video] 🏆 #COUPEDUMONDE2022 🏴🇮🇷 #Engirn
😳💥 𝗢𝗼𝗵𝗵𝗵 𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗰 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗰 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗰 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗰 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗰 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗰 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗰 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗰 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗰 between Hosseini and Beiranvand!
💢 The Iranian goalkeeper remained on the ground for many minutes before being replaced#beINFWC2022 https://t.co/Va8GL9W3zd
— beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) November 21, 2022
In the second half, the referee estimates this time the stoppages of play at 10 minutes.
Yet those 45 minutes were marked only by the injury of England defender Harry Maguire, as well as two substitutions for Team Melli and five for the Brits.
In short, nothing crazy.
We are already heading towards an astronomical total of 24 minutes, when at the end of the second period, Raphael Claus awards a penalty to the Iranians after calling the VAR.
That Mehi Taremi transforms in the 90th + 13, which gives us this total of 27 minutes.
“The times of celebrations will have to be compensated”
It's a lot, but it's in line with recent instructions from Fifa to the whistles of the World Cup.
“We want to avoid games with 42, 43, 44 minutes of effective time.
So the times of substitutions, penalties, celebrations, medical care or of course VAR, will have to be compensated, ”warned the president of the Fifa Referees Committee Pierluigi Collina on Friday.
"You can expect longer halves," Dutch referee Danny Makkelie warned.
This is one of the topics we talked about.
It won't be strange to see six, seven, eight minutes of added time.
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Monday's meeting did not dethrone what seems to be the record in this area.
In 2019, an English League Cup match between Burton Albion and Bournemouth ended after 28 minutes of added time.
But we are talking about a meeting marked by multiple power cuts.