Extra time facts for kids

Extra time is extra playing time added to a game if the score is tied when the normal game time ends. Some sports do not allow games to end in a tie. This extra time helps decide a winner. In score notes, you might see it written as ET or a.e.t. The letters "a.e.t." stand for "after extra time."

Extra Time in Different Sports

Football (Soccer)

In professional association football (soccer) tournaments, where a winner must be decided, 30 minutes of extra time are added. This extra time is split into two periods of 15 minutes each. If the game is still tied after these 30 minutes, the winner is usually decided by a penalty shootout.

Other Popular Sports

Many other sports use extra time to decide a winner:

• In rugby union and rugby league, extra time is usually 20 minutes long.
• Australian rules football uses two five-minute extra time periods. This happens in important knockout matches if scores are tied at the end of the game.
• In Gaelic football and hurling, two halves of ten minutes are played after a draw. In major tournaments, extra time is only used if a replay game also ends in a tie.
• Field hockey matches have extra time periods of 7½ minutes each way.

North American Sports

In North American sports, extra time is often called "overtime".

• For ice hockey, it's usually called "sudden death". This means the overtime period ends as soon as the first team scores.
• In college football, a special system is used. Each team gets a chance to score from the opponent's 25-yard line. This is similar to extra innings in baseball, where both teams get a turn to bat. If the game is still tied, they keep going until one team wins.

Related pages

• Penalty shootout