“What we already did in Russia [2018] was to more accurately calculate the time to be compensated,” the chairman of the FIFA referees committee told ESPN.

“We told everybody to don’t be surprised if they see the fourth official raising the electronic board with a big number on it, six, seven or eight minutes.

“If you want more active time, we need to be ready to see this kind of additional time given. Think of a match with three goals scored. A celebration normally takes one, one and a half minutes, so with three goals scored, you lose five or six minutes.

“What we want to do is accurately calculate the added time at the end of each half. It can be the fourth official to do that, we were successful in Russia and we expect the same in Qatar.

“I am not talking about VAR intervention, this is something which is different and calculated by the Video Assistant Referee in a very precise way.

“What we already did in Russia [2018] was to more accurately calculate the time to be compensated,” the chairman of the FIFA referees committee told ESPN.

Howie you may already know this, but one of the main reasons soccer fans don't fully embrace the idea of stopping the clock is that they are worried the next step is the broadcast breaking away to ads.

I'm ambivalent about it for the same reason. I pretty much stopped watching all other sports now in large part because once the ads come on I switch away and never come back.

Also, honestly, what problem does stopping the clock even solve? And, again honestly, is that really worth changing something that is integral to the game?

Time wasting late in the game is a blight on soccer. It's ugly, unsporting, and dull, and generally terrible as a spectacle for fans. The end of a close game should be an exciting sprint not a limping, gasping crawl where almost no soccer is being played.

I think part of the lesson is not to get complacent once you have a lead.

That was a lot like the Argentina/Saudi Arabia game. The favorite was in control for the first half but only came away with one goal, the underdog had a short burst of dominance in the second half and then held on.

If Japan beats Puerto Rico, then Germany is out even with a draw against Spain. That seems quite possible and is genuinely shocking.

                 original             current     
             qualify   winner    qualify   winner
Group A
netherlands      87      66          96      78  
ecuador          46      13          67      19
senegal          49      16          34       3
qatar            18       5           3

Group B
england          88      69          95      83
usa              47      14          49       9
wales            44      13          42       8
iran             21       4          12 

Group C
argentina        90      69          65      39
saudi arabia     10       2          49      22
mexico           51      15          44      20
poland           49      14          42      19

Group D
france           90      66          96      81
denmark          71      26          66      16
tunisia          20       4          26       3
australia        19       4          12     

Group E
spain            87      49          92      76
japan            21       6          71      19
germany          85      44          35       5
costa rica        7       1           2    

Group F
belgium          84      58          85      63
croatia          65      28          54      22
morocco          29       8          36      10
canada           22       6          25       5

Group G
brazil           90      70          96      87
switzerland      49      14          63      11
serbia           43      12          37       2
cameroon         18       4           4

Group H
portugal         83      56          90      73
uruguay          68      32          60      17
south korea      25       6          35       8
ghana            24       6          15       2

            original     current

brazil        19.5         27

france        12           12           
spain          9.5         12
england        9.5         11

argentina     15            9.5
portugal       5.5          6.5
netherlands    6.5          6.5

belgium        5            3.5
germany        7.5          3
denmark        2.5          2

uruguay        1.5          1.2
croatia        1.5          1
switzerland    0.5          0.7
japan          0.2          0.7
serbia         0.5          0.5
ecuador        0.25         0.4

mexico         0.3          0.3
usa            0.25         0.25
poland         0.3          0.25
senegal        0.5          0.25
morocco        0.2          0.2
wales          0.2          0.2
saudia arabia  0.05         0.2
south korea    0.2          0.2

canada         0.15         0.15
tunisia        0.1          0.1
ghana          0.15         0.1
australia      0.1          0.1
cameroon       0.2          0.1
qatar          0.15         0.04
iran           0.1          0.04
costa rica     0.05         0.02