History beckoned the USMNT, but Christian Pulisic and company could not answer. The current U.S. squad could have become the first USMNT ever to win three games at a World Cup. Then, the added time arrived, Turkey produced a late goal and broke American hearts with a 90+8-minute winner. It sparked a rather intense discussion on X as Skip Bayless issued his latest soccer hot take. Unfortunately for him, fans didn’t take it well.

The former ESPN and Fox Sports commentator took to social media after the USMNT’s 3-2 loss to lament about the lack of clarity on stoppage time.

“Still the craziest thing about soccer is that the announcers (and in turn viewers) aren’t sure how much stoppage time is left in a game,” Bayless wrote on X. “Imagine watching a down-to-the-wire NFL game in which you weren’t exactly sure how much time was left and waited for refs to wave their arms.”

Bayless is, unfortunately, both wrong and right at the same time. He perhaps missed the fourth official holding up the board to signal seven minutes of stoppage time. What he did get right was the uncertainty of the fact that the game went into eight added minutes. But that, too, was made clear as Aaron Trusty went down injured in the very first minute of stoppage time.

Furthermore, Turkiye used that stoppage to make two substitutes, which further ate up time. It does mean that the on-field referee decided on the extra minute of stoppage time in collaboration with the fourth official. That eventually allowed Turkiye to sneak in a late, late winner, costing the US team’s chance at making history.

It didn’t really matter in the big picture as the game was a dead rubber since Mauricio Pochettino’s side had already qualified for the knockout stages. However, Bayless is not the first to complain about stoppage time at the World Cup.

For many, 6+ minutes of stoppage time (up to 12) has been met with widespread groans. That’s not just from fans inside the stadium but those on social media as well.

It’s largely because of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, where time-wasting and stoppage time were at an all-time high. On average, a game at Qatar 2022 ran over 100 minutes long, with stoppage times edging into double figures consistently. Even then, many fans reacted poorly to Bayless’ comment and decided to put the commentator in place for his ‘hot take’.

One fan even wrote, “Watching a guy try to translate his understanding from one sport onto another and thinking that’s enough for him to give a hot take.” It opened the floodgates with quite a few fans in the comments reacting to the American television personality’s X post.

Fans react to Skip Bayless’ comments

“[Brother], i’ve watched NBA games with 30 seconds left that subsequently took 30 mins to finish….Let’s not pretend you don’t understand that it’s at the referees discretion,” one fan wrote.

That is entirely true, as the on-field referee and the fourth official decide the amount of stoppage time. The hydration breaks play a large part in that because they last for three minutes, and the clock continues running during that time. 

It means, at the bare minimum, all 104 games at the 2026 World Cup will have six minutes of stoppage time (three per half). Still, the fact remains that the game time at the 2026 World Cup has reduced compared to the 2022 tournament.

In the current iteration, the 50-plus group-stage games have averaged around 96 minutes, which does mark an improvement. That has largely been down to adjustments made by IFAB, which include reducing time-wasting during substitutions, corners, and more.

The debate continued, though as one fan pointed out, “Give it up, man. The game is smooth. Our sports are time outs interrupted by the games.”

That is, in part, true; even if the hydration breaks have often killed teams’ momentum, the overall flow of the game has remained smooth. If anything, the stoppage time has led to extra chaos and drama as Turkey proved rather expertly against the USMNT. They weren’t the only ones, as Ghana, Mexico, and Colombia have all done the same thing in this tournament.

One fan pointed out the obvious, ‘Of course they know…its on the screen lol. Usually its 6 minutes. Now tell us how long it takes for a game of American Football to be completed?”

For context, NFL games usually last around four hours and change, with much of that time taken up by commercial breaks. The Super Bowl is the clearest example, as the play clock suggests the game lasts only about 60 minutes. The broadcast, however, from kick-off until the final whistle usually touches the four-hour mark.

It’s why one fan asked Bayless to embrace the world’s game, saying, “It’s not crazier than timeouts. Embrace a sport the way the world plays, officiates and enjoys it. You don’t tell Italians how to make or present pizza. Just accept that format has been spread successfully around the globe.”

Bayless may have wanted to question how soccer handles stoppage time, but many fans felt the game had already provided the answer. As the game continues to produce late drama, it seems supporters are willing to embrace soccer’s unpredictability.