With the 2026 men’s World Cup kicking off on June 11, we asked some of The Athletic’s writers who don’t normally cover soccer for the one thing they would like to know about the beautiful game.
And that’s the thing about The Athletic — we have the experts to answer those questions!
We know this summer’s tournament across the United States, Canada and Mexico will not just be for the committed soccer fan; it will be a window into the game for casual followers of other sports, too.
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So we lined up Carl Anka, Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, Caoimhe O’Neill, Liam Tharme, Adam Hurrey and former Premier League referee Graham Scott to answer questions from their colleagues Marcus Thompson, Ken Rosenthal, Michael Silver, Chantel Jennings, Bruce Feldman, John Hollinger and Hannah Vanbiber.
Got a burning question you’ve always wanted to know about soccer? Let us know in the comments below.
Make sure you don’t miss a thing by following the best of our 2026 men’s World Cup coverage here.
Ken Rosenthal: How extra time is calculated!
Extra time is the 30 minutes (15 minutes each way) played in a knockout game if it is tied after 90 minutes. But Ken is asking about additional or stoppage time, the number of extra minutes played at the end of each half to compensate for breaks in play. Here’s The Athletic’s officiating expert Graham Scott to explain more…
Graham Scott: In the Premier League, and most professional soccer, some stoppages are recorded accurately. These are:
- Substitutions, from the moment the game stops to the moment it restarts
- Red cards, from the moment the game stops to the moment it restarts
- Penalty kicks, from the moment of the award to the moment it is taken
- Injury assessments, from the moment the referee authorizes medical staff to enter the field to the moment the match restarts
- VAR checks that delay the game, from the moment the match is paused to the moment it restarts
- Goals, from the moment the ball enters the goal to the moment the match restarts, minus 30 seconds.
The 30-second allowance at goals is essentially because without the goal, there would be a goal kick, and they take 25-30 seconds on average anyway.
Time is also allowed in the unusual event that a decision is changed after a VAR check that takes place while play is continuing. Any time played between the incident and the VAR would be replayed.
Other stoppages can lead to additional time at the referee’s discretion. There will always be some allowance if a player receives a yellow card for delaying the restart, or if a team generally is slowing down the match at every opportunity.
The fourth official and the assistant VAR keep a log of all stoppages and feed in the amount of time that should be allowed to the referee, who makes the final decision on how much time should be displayed to the stadium at the end of each half.
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The number shown is a minimum, and any stoppages, such as those in the list above, during this period will lead to further time being allowed.
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Michael Silver: Why the hell the powers that be would allow VAR to infiltrate the sport in such a comprehensive manner?
Seb Stafford-Bloor: Unfortunately Michael, it’s because we all spent decades moaning about refereeing decisions and grew so intolerant of mistakes that we became wilfully ignorant of the issues that VAR could create. Video replays were welcomed as a panacea and that was hopelessly naive.
As you mention, the overreach is dreadful. That’s partly because the vast majority of soccer’s laws were written and codified in the 1800s and were never meant to survive micro-second by micro-second inspection. A degree of human error was built into the game.
To be slightly conspiratorial, one of the reasons why there is so little pushback against VAR at executive level, where it really matters, is because while fans love the bounce-of-the-ball variance in the game, stakeholders, club owners and those with a financial interest in where teams finish each season do not. Essentially, VAR — even at the cost of disrupting the game’s flow and curbing its natural emotion — serves as yet another safety net.
John Hollinger: Why do they always use their subs on the forwards when the wing-backs are the ones doing all the running? I’ve asked a couple people who actually work in soccer this question and was never totally satisfied with the explanation.
Liam Tharme: This is a fantastic tactical question. The short answer is: goals. Soccer being a low-scoring sport means coaches favor forwards when chasing games because they are the most likely — or have the best qualities — to score.
The second part is conditioning. Wing-backs and full-backs tend to be some of the most gifted physical profiles in the game. The same goes for central midfielders who typically cover the most distance in total, but full-backs or wing-backs do more high-intensity, straight-line work.
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They aren’t subbed because they rarely need to be. Clubs employ sports scientists for this very reason and, with their GPS vests, meticulously track the physical output of players in matches and training. They know everyone’s upper limits and when they will redline or be at injury risk. If they are not subbed, it’s because they can keep playing, or because coaches don’t think it’s going to turn the game around.
Hannah Vanbiber: Dumb question that is honestly my most burning one: How badly does it hurt when they do that victory slide on their knees? And don’t tell me, “If the grass is wet enough, it doesn’t hurt.” I just dislocated a kneecap from just thinking about it!
Carl Anka: Not a silly question at all! A good knee slide celebration is an art form that requires a few key ingredients. Slick turf helps, and most players tend to aim for around the corner flag for their slides, as that area of the pitch hasn’t been churned up by players’ boots as much (at the top level, there’s normally a photographer close by that section of the field too, helping matters.) Many practitioners also take a small gather step to prepare themselves before going for the slide. It takes the edge off before you attempt to jubilantly skim across the pitch.
However… For all of that advice, players can still get it wrong. Kylian Mbappe, Romelu Lukaku and Darwin Nunez are some names at the World Cup who have previously bungled a knee slide celebration by diving into the ground, rather than trying to sling themselves along it. Towards the end of his time at Chelsea, Eden Hazard joked with club media that he’d stop sliding, saying, “My knees — they are on fire! No more of this celebration.”
Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer once admitted he tweaked his medial ligament because of his knee-slide celebrations after scoring the winner in the 1999 Champions League final.
“I missed two or three weeks and a couple of internationals for Norway,” he said in a 2019 interview with ESPN. “But it was worth it. The celebration was worth it.”
Marcus Thompson: Why can’t players who sub out come back in?
Adam Hurrey: The first thing to note here is that substitutes are, relatively speaking, a recent innovation in soccer since its laws were first drafted in 1863. They weren’t formally introduced until the 1950s, the English league didn’t embrace them until the 1960s, and the first World Cup substitution — Anatoly Puzach for the Soviet Union against Mexico — didn’t happen until 1970. Before then, the custom was simply to play through the pain and the fatigue; most notably, German goalkeeper Bert Trautmann continued with a broken neck in the 1956 FA Cup final.
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Over the last 30 years, during which time the permitted number of substitutions has increased to three and then five (a mid-Covid measure that has been adopted permanently), the tactical aspect of a coach using their substitutes effectively has been as important as the physical side.
I would say the idea of allowing a substituted player to return, refreshed, to the game is some sort of unconfronted taboo, but they actually do allow it at the very amateur depths of the sport. At the elite level, though, once you’re out, you’re out — and we have enough stoppages of play as it is.
By the way, even worse than being substituted is the ultimate soccer indignity: a player being substituted after they have come on as a substitute themselves. It’s rare and it’s awkward.
Bruce Feldman: There’s two things that always bugged me about soccer: all the flopping and stoppage time… So, why don’t they give out more yellow cards to discourage it?
Carl Anka: Being a referee has, at times, been compared to being a schoolteacher. You don’t want to hand out punishments too early, as that can spoil your relationship with those you’re in charge of, but you don’t want to let too many things slide, otherwise you risk letting things get unruly.
At this summer’s World Cup, you will likely see referees hand out sanctions for the most egregious attempts at cheating, such as deliberate handballs to score (or prevent) goals. Anyone caught diving in an attempt to win a free kick or penalty will be given a yellow card.
Yes, referees have the power to give yellow or red cards for every infraction, but such is the way of things that you run the risk of handing out a dozen cards per game and sending off multiple players, spoiling the matchday spectacle. Again, like an experienced teacher, some referees prefer to have a calming word after the first offence rather than hand out early sanctions that could escalate things.
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We must also admit that, over time, you get used to the diving or simulation, especially when performed well by a player on your team. If you’ve seen the David Beckham documentary on Netflix, you will have seen Diego Simeone explain why he exaggerated his fall after Beckham kicked the back of his leg during a knockout match in the 1998 World Cup.
“Football is about deception,” said the former Argentina midfielder, now the long-time head coach of Atletico Madrid.
There are particular moments where very particular players will decide it is better to deceive match officials, rather than risk cheating their team out of a chance to win.
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Chantel Jennings: If players are going to wear their socks over their knees, why don’t they just wear leggings instead? Feels more convenient in terms of access to the shin guards.
Caoimhe O’Neill: Leggings aren’t really common, unless you are a goalkeeper. Running around in leggings, even in the height of winter, can be a hot and sweaty experience. And they aren’t always viewed as “cool” even if you are strutting out in them like Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson does when playing for Liverpool in the Premier League.
For goalkeepers, they can be helpful when diving around on hard turf. But for outfield players, it can be seen by some as a fashion faux pas, unless you want to wear them to protect an injury, stay warm or — and this is a crucial point — keep covered for personal or religious reasons.
When it comes to sock length, that is a divisive topic. Socks are a uniform requirement and every player wears them differently. Some like their socks to sit above the knee for comfort or an extra bit of compression. Some like to cut holes in the back. And some prefer their socks as low as possible.
@theathleticfc Why do footballers cut their socks? ✂️🧦🤔 Let’s find out 🤝 #premierleague #pl #soccertiktok #footballtiktok @The Athletic FC ♬ original sound – The Athletic FC
As for shin guards, ask any footballer and you’ll find preferences are as stark. The younger generation tend to prefer lightweight, credit card-sized shin pads which offer very little protection to the shin bone. But there are still some players running about in big, bulky shin pads as if it’s 1998.
If it was up to Germany and Bayern Munich star Michael Olise, he wouldn’t wear any at all – and did famously try to sneak onto the pitch without them but was quickly caught out.