Why doesn't the clock stop in soccer?
The soccer clock never stops. Time lost to injuries, substitutions and stoppages is estimated by the referee and added at the end of each half.
No quarters. No timeouts. No clock stopping every thirty seconds. Two halves of forty five minutes, and the clock runs through all of it.
The ball can be booted into the parking lot. A player can be carried off on a stretcher. Somebody can run onto the field in a costume. The timer keeps going.
Why it works this way
Soccer is built on flow. Stopping the clock every couple of minutes would be like pouring a pint and then letting it sit. Everything goes flat.
The continuous clock means the game has a rhythm that builds. It also means the last ten minutes are genuinely the last ten minutes, rather than a forty minute negotiation.
So where does the extra time come from
The referee runs two watches. One tracks the ninety minutes. The other tracks time lost while the ball is dead.
A dead ball is any moment the ball isn't in active play:
It's gone out of bounds.
Play is stopped for a foul or an injury.
A set piece is being set up.
The referee adds all that lost time up and it goes on the board at the end of each half. That's why you see 90+2, 90+5, and occasionally 90+10.
Why everyone argues about it
Because it isn't precise, and it isn't meant to be.
The referee makes a judgment. The fourth official holds up a board with a minimum, not a maximum, so the half can run longer than the number shown. It ends when the referee decides it ends.
If your team is leading, that number is an outrage. If your team is chasing a goal, it's never enough. Same number, same stadium, two entirely different opinions, and both sets of fans are certain.
That subjectivity is the single most reliable source of complaint in the sport.
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