In most major North American sports, there are winners and there are losers. In soccer, there are draws – or you may refer to them as ties.
And as we saw at the 2026 FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Spain, extra time came into play to decide the winner.
How does that actually work? Ever heard of overtime? Extra time – the term used in soccer — works very similarly. But what is extra time, and how does it work? When does it get implemented at the World Cup?
Here is everything you need to know about extra time at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
What Is Extra Time?
Once we get to the knockout rounds of the World Cup – meaning the win-or-go-home portion of the tournament – we’ll start to see extra time in effect. If a match is tied after 90 minutes of regulation play, then we go into extra time.
Extra time is a 30-minute period, containing two 15-minute halves.
(Photo by MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP via Getty Images)
Is There Extra Time In The Group Stage?
No, games can only go to extra time during the knockout phase of the tournament, which starts with the Round of 32. Extra time previously started in the Round of 16, but it now starts earlier due to the tournament’s expansion from 32 to 48 teams. In the group stage, teams can finish games with a draw if the score is tied.
Is There Sudden Death In Extra Time? What Was the Golden Goal?
No, unlike ice hockey, there is no sudden death in extra time for soccer. That means if a team scores at any point of the extra time, the match continues until that 30-minute period is done.
The World Cup did have a brief experiment with a version of sudden death, calling it the “Golden Goal.” It was in effect for two editions – the 1998 World Cup in France and the 2002 World Cup co-hosted by Japan and South Korea – before being removed.
During those two tournaments, four games ended with a game-winning Golden Goal. The first one occurred in 1998 when the France defender Laurent Blanc scored in the 114th minute to help his side beat Paraguay in the Round of 16. France would eventually go on to win its first ever World Cup trophy.
There were three instances of the Golden Goal at the 2002 World Cup – including in Türkiye’s quarterfinal win over Senegal – before the World Cup returned to having a full extra-time period.
What Happens After Extra Time? Does It Go To Penalties?
Correct! If both teams are still tied at the end of the 30-minute extra-time period, the match gets decided in a penalty shootout.
Penalties. Pens. PKs. Penales. Whatever you want to call it, a penalty shootout is one of sport’s most nerve-wracking spectacles. Both teams take alternate kicks from the penalty spot. If, during the first five chances, no team has converted enough to win – then we go to “sudden death” and penalties are taken until someone misses.
Which World Cup Finals Have Gone To Extra Time? What About Penalties?
Surprisingly, a lot of the finals have needed extra time and even penalties to decide the champion – including the 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. It’s the second straight final to have extra time as the 2022 epic where Argentina also needed penalties to defeat Kylian Mbappé and France in what was arguably the best final ever.
Argentina vs. France: MINI-MOVIE of 2022 FIFA World Cup Final
- 1934: Italy 2–1 Czechoslovakia (extra time)
- 1966: England 4–2 West Germany (extra time)
- 1978: Argentina 3–1 Netherlands (extra time)
- 1994: Brazil 0–0 Italy (Brazil wins; 3-2 in penalty shootout)
- 2006: Italy 1–1 France (Italy wins; 5-3 in penalty shootout)
- 2010: Spain 1–0 Netherlands (extra time)
- 2014: Germany 1–0 Argentina (extra time)
- 2022: Argentina 3-3 France (Argentina wins; 4-2 in penalty shootout)
- 2026: Spain vs. Argentina
Copa do Mundo FIFA 2026: como assistir
O Copa do Mundo FIFA de 2026 acontecerá de 11 de junho a 19 de julho de 2026. Distribuído por três países, o torneio culminará com a final em 19 de julho no New York New Jersey Stadium em East Rutherford, New Jersey. Todas as 104 partidas do torneio será transmitido ao vivo pela FOX e FS1 com todas as partidas transmitidas ao vivo e sob demanda em ambos os FOX Um e o FOX Esportes aplicativo.