What are the extra time and penalty shootout rules in the World Cup knockout rounds?
What are the extra time and penalty shootout rules in the World Cup knockout rounds?
Andrew Joseph, For The WinSun, June 28, 2026 at 6:08 PM UTC
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The group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup had been thrilling. But now, the real fun can begin.
With the end of the group stage, the tournament moves into its single-elimination phase of knockout rounds. And that means that no matter what, there must be a winner.
That's right: Draws at this World Cup are over. It's all win or go home from here on out.
So, if a match is still tied after the 90 minutes plus stoppage time, FIFA has extra time set up to determine the winner to move on to the next round. Here's how that will work at the 2026 World Cup.
What is extra time?
Extra time is essentially what the American sports fan would refer to as overtime in any other sport.
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If the score is tied after regulation, the match will then be sent into two 15-minutes halves of extra time. These extra 30 minutes are mandatory, meaning that it's not a golden goal (or sudden death) format. The full 30 minutes will get played whether or not a team scores in extra time.
Substitutions in extra time
In each match, teams are allowed five substitutions. However, if the match goes into extra time, both teams will be granted a sixth sub regardless of if they exhausted the five substitutions during regulation.
What happens if it's still tied after extra time?
If the match is still tied after the 30 minutes of extra time, it will then enter a penalty shootout.
In a shootout, each team selects five players to attempt a penalty from the spot. And teams can only choose from the 11 players on the field. The winner after five rounds wins the match. If the teams are tied after five rounds of penalties, the penalties will continue in a sudden-death format.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: How do extra time and penalties work in the World Cup knockout rounds?
Source: “AOL Sports”
