I'm ignorant about the World Cup. Here's my question. **SPOILER**

How can Germany keep playing after the 90-minute mark? Isn't the game over then?

(I didn't watch that match; I just now read about it. Wish I had though, what a nail-biter!)

Every time the game is interrupted due to injuries or players deliberately wasting time or any other stoppages, the referee (or the 4th official, an assistant to the referee) will add extra time on at the end of each half to account for the stoppages.

It is very unusual for a game to last exactly 45 minutes in each half.

In order to make sure teams don't fake injuries to run out the clock, they add what's called "Stoppage Time" to the end of the game.

The game was played at the UGA football stadium in Athens, GA (USA vs China) It was super exciting and it was the largest crowd ever to see a womens soccer at the time.

I was really confused about the time keeping and the seemingly endless game. I'd only ever been to two other soccer games and those were the men's semi-finals anf finals during the same Olympics. I had a great time but I really did not understand the rules ot tactics.

The announcer would keep saying "The official time is kept by the official on the field of play." I think that the team captains would speak with the official to find out how much time was left in the game. The time or extra time was not on the scoreboard. So, it was confusing. We were not quite sure when the game would be over. Somehow, the seasoned soccer fans knew more or less how much time had been added.