In the group stage, a draw is a perfectly good result — both teams take a point and move on. But from the round of 32 onwards, somebody has to go through and somebody has to go home. So what happens when the score is level after 90 minutes? Here's exactly how a World Cup knockout tie is settled, step by step.
Step one: 90 minutes, then extra time
Every knockout match starts the same way — two halves of 45 minutes, plus whatever stoppage time the referee adds for delays. If one team is ahead when that's done, the match is over and they advance. Simple.
If the scores are level, the game goes to extra time: two further periods of 15 minutes each, played in full. Crucially, extra time is not sudden death — both 15-minute halves are played out even if someone scores, so a team that concedes early still has time to hit back. Thirty extra minutes is a brutal physical test on tired legs, which is why you often see late goals as defences tire and why fresh substitutes can be match-winners.
Step two: the penalty shoot-out
If it's still level after extra time, the tie is decided by a penalty shoot-out — football's most nerve-shredding tiebreaker. Each team takes turns to shoot from the penalty spot, twelve yards from goal, one-on-one against the goalkeeper.
The basic format:
- Each side picks five takers to start. Teams alternate kicks.
- Whoever has scored more after five kicks each wins. Often it's decided before all five are taken — if one team can no longer be caught, the shoot-out stops there.
- If the teams are still level after five each, it goes to sudden death: one kick each, and the first time one side scores and the other misses, it's over.
- Every available outfield player and the goalkeeper must take a kick before anyone can take a second.
Why shoot-outs are so cruel
A penalty looks easy — the taker only has to beat one keeper from close range, and most penalties are scored. But that's exactly what makes missing so painful: the expectation is to score, so the pressure sits entirely on the taker. Goalkeepers become heroes by saving even one, and a single miss can end a nation's tournament after 120 minutes of effort. It's less a test of skill than of nerve, preparation and a little luck.
A few things people get wrong
- Extra time isn't sudden death. The old "golden goal" rule — where the first goal in extra time won it — was scrapped years ago. Both halves are always played.
- The shoot-out score doesn't count as goals. A game won 4–2 on penalties still goes in the record books as a draw; the shoot-out only decides who progresses.
- Order matters. Teams think hard about who takes the crucial fifth kick — and managers sometimes bring on a specialist late in extra time purely with penalties in mind.
When it matters at World Cup 2026
Extra time and penalties only come into play from the round of 32 onwards — the group stage simply allows draws. From that first knockout round all the way to the final, any level game after 90 minutes follows the path above. Keep an eye on which managers stack their bench with fresh legs and penalty specialists; in a tournament this long, the teams that plan for extra time often last longest.
Unofficial fan guide. Not affiliated with FIFA. Rules per the IFAB Laws of the Game.