Extra time and penalties

In the group stage, a tie is fine: both teams take a point and move on. But in the knockout rounds someone has to advance. So when a match is level after 90 minutes, the tournament has a way to force a winner. Here is exactly how it goes.

Step 1: extra time

If the score is tied after regulation, the game goes to extra time: two halves of 15 minutes each, 30 minutes total. Both halves are always played in full (unlike some sports, there is no sudden-death goal here). Teams usually get an extra substitution for this period.

Extra time is brutal. Legs are heavy, one mistake decides everything, and coaches have to choose between chasing a winner and surviving to penalties.

Step 2: the penalty shootout

If it is still tied after extra time, it goes to a penalty shootout. This is not part of the match anymore; it is a separate tiebreaker.

1. Each team picks five kickers.
2. The teams alternate, one kick at a time, from the penalty spot: kicker against goalkeeper.
3. Whoever has more goals after five kicks each wins.
4. If the shootout ends early because one team can no longer be caught, it stops there.

If the teams are still level after five kicks each, it goes to sudden death: one kick each, and the first time one scores and the other misses, it is over. Shootouts can run well past the fifth round, all the way down to the goalkeepers taking kicks.

The most pressure in sport

A shootout is pure pressure. The goalkeeper becomes the hero or the villain, careers are defined in a few seconds, and entire nations hold their breath. Some of the most famous moments in World Cup history are penalty shootouts.

One thing to know: a shootout decides who advances, but officially the match itself is recorded as a draw. The win just counts for the bracket.

That is the whole drill: 90 minutes, then 30 more, then penalties if needed. For where this fits in the tournament, see How the 2026 World Cup works, or ask Capi below.