One aspect of football betting that really confuses punters is the 90-minute betting rule. In this quick article, I’ll attempt to clear up any confusion you might have.
The first distinction we need to make is between League Games and Cup Competitions, a league match in the United Kingdom cannot enter ‘Extra-Time’.
The result between the two teams stands at the end of 90 minutes PLUS any time the referee has added. So when you see a bet advertised as ’90 Mins Only’ what this really means for UK League games is: 90 minutes plus time added on by the referee for stoppages.
If your team is drawing 1-1 at 90 mins but grabs a 94-minute goal with the last kick of the game, then the bet is settled as a 2-1 win. If you’ve backed your team to win the match, you’ve landed the bet.
WHY THE CONFUSION?
The confusion over the 90 Minute Rule starts when you place a bet on a Cup game or International knockout tournament like the World Cup. Let’s say you’ve backed England to win a World Cup quarter-final, which is now a genuine possibility! These games CAN go into extra time and penalties.
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So if you’ve backed England in the standard ‘Win Market’ (this is how most people bet), then the result at the end of the 90 minutes PLUS injury time (time added by the ref for stoppages) will be the final result for the official 90-minute game. Bets will be settled by the bookmakers accordingly. That is regardless of what happens in Extra-Time (2×15 min halves) or a penalty shootout.
So you need to be wary of backing your team to win in the F.A. Cup and later stages of the Champions League. Your team could win in extra time or on penalties, and you’ll still lose that bet. For example, the 2016 FA Cup final was the last one that went to extra time. Jesse Lingard scored for Man United in the 110th minute, and United went on to win. If you backed United to win the game, your bet would have lost. But if you had them to win in extra time or lift the FA Cup, then your bet would win.
AVOID FALLING FOUL OF THE 90 MINUTE RULE
What most people don’t realise is that you can easily avoid the 90 min problem. Instead of backing your team in the standard ‘win market’ just look for different types of bets which remove the possibility of a match ending as a draw.
Betfred Bookmakers offer a number of these bets. You can back your team to ‘Qualify’ for the next round, guaranteeing a winning bet no matter how your team scrapes through. Or you select the ‘Draw No Bet’ option. This guarantees your original stake back if the match ends in a draw after 90 mins (plus stoppages). It’s also worth noting that Betfair allows you to cash out football bets anytime during a match.
FAMOUS LAST MINUTE WINNERS
The final seconds of a big game can be excruciating to watch, especially if you have a bet on the outcome. Over the years, fans have witnessed some incredible drama in the dying seconds of a match.
Who can forget the Champions League Final in 1999 when Ole Gunnar Solskjear sealed a dramatic victory for Manchester United with a last-second strike that will go down as one of the greatest goals of all time for United fans? Nevertheless, spare a thought for those Bayern Munich fans who came within 60 seconds of winning the Champions League final.
The most famous last-minute winner in Premier League history is Aguero’s against QPR in 2011/12. QPR won 2-1 with six minutes of added time left to play. Dzeko pulled one back to make it 2-2, and City needed to win to secure their first Premier League title. As time ran out, Sergio Aguero smashed one in the bottom right corner of the goal in the 94th minute to win City the game and beat their rivals Man United to the title.
More recently, the comeback from Spurs in their 2019 Champions League semi-final against Ajax was incredible. They were 3-0 down on aggregate at halftime and needed to score three in the second half to get to their first-ever Champions League final. Lucas Moura scored two goals, and right on the stroke of the 95th minute, he scored a third and sent Spurs to Madrid for the final.
WHERE TO WATCH THOSE FINAL MINUTES
Watching the final minutes of a match can age any football fan 10 years. But who would want to miss those agonising 60 seconds? We all remember that sheer bliss of our team scoring a last-minute winner. Ensure you don’t miss out on the agony or ecstasy by visiting Live Football on TV Guide for full match listings and channel guides.
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The Introduction of Extra Time
During the early years of football, a match would be replayed in the event of a draw. However, this was not always possible, especially during cup competitions when time constraints were a significant issue.
In 1875, during the FA Cup Final, an additional 30 minutes were added to the game as the Royal Engineers aimed to win their first-ever cup against the Old Etonians. This marked the first significant game to include extra time in football.
It’s important to note that the additional 30-minute period was not a fixed standard during the early days of extra time. In many matches, teams would continue playing until a goal was scored, leading to some games lasting for several hours.
Extra Time in International Competitions
Extra time has been used in World Cup games since 1934 when Austria beat France with a winning goal in the round of sixteen. In 1998 and 2002, FIFA changed the format of extra time to include the Golden Goal rule. This rule stipulated that the game would be decided by the first team to score a goal during extra time. However, after much debate, this rule was scrapped in 2004.
Extra Time in Modern Football
Today, extra time is an integral part of football and is used in several competitions worldwide. It’s interesting to observe that in both the Copa America and the Copa Libertadores, extra time is only used in the final stage of the competition. This eliminates the possibility of one team having an unfair advantage over another due to having played extra time in a previous round.
In club football, extra time is used in cup competitions such as the English FA Cup, the UEFA Champions League, and the Copa del Rey. In league competitions, such as the MLS, extra time is used in the playoffs to determine a winner.
Conclusion
Extra time has become an integral part of football and is used in several competitions worldwide. The concept of extra time was first introduced in the English FA Cup in 1871, and it has undergone several changes over the years. Today, extra time is played for a maximum of 30 minutes, and if the score is still tied after extra time, the match may be decided by a penalty shootout.
