World Cup 2026 Rules: Extra Time and Penalty Shootouts Explained

The 2026 FIFA World Cup knockout stages utilize specific rules to determine winners when matches are tied after regulation time. These rules involve extra time periods and, if necessary, penalty shootouts. The objective is to ensure a definitive outcome for each match, preventing draws in games that require a winner to advance in the tournament.

Should a knockout match remain level after the initial 90 minutes of play, two additional periods of 15 minutes each, known as extra time, are played. These halves are continuous, with a brief interval between them. If the score is still tied after the full 30 minutes of extra time, the match proceeds to a penalty shootout. This ensures that a winner is always decided within the same match day.

In a penalty shootout, five kicks are initially taken by each team, alternating shots from the penalty mark. The team that scores more goals after these five kicks is declared the winner. If the scores are still level after the initial five kicks, the shootout continues on a sudden-death basis. This means that for every subsequent pair of kicks taken, the team that scores while the other misses wins the shootout. This process continues until one team has scored more goals than the other after an equal number of kicks taken by both sides.