World Cup knockout matches will be played until there is a winner, and the first step after a standard 90-minute match is extra time. At the 2026 World Cup, that means 30 minutes split into two 15-minute halves, with stoppage time added to the end of each period if needed.
That is why the search for how long is extra time in soccer matters now: group-stage play produced 20 draws, but those results do not survive once the bracket turns to knockout matches. Belgium and Senegal were level at 2-2 after 97 minutes, a reminder that tied games can move beyond regulation and force the tournament’s tiebreak rules into view.
FIFA’s extra-time format is not a sudden-death period. If a knockout match still cannot be settled after the full 30 minutes, the teams move to a penalty kick shootout. Each side takes alternating shots from the penalty spot, which is 12 yards from the goal in the center of the pitch, and each team is set for a baseline of five attempts.
The shootout can end early if one side opens an insurmountable lead. If the teams are still level after five kicks, the contest goes to sudden death, with one kick apiece until one team scores and the other misses. Only the 11 players on the pitch at the end of extra time may take part, and every player on the field, including the goalkeeper, must take a penalty before anyone can shoot a second time.
There is one detail that changes the feel of the finish. A coin toss decides which team goes first in the shootout, and that first kick can shape the rhythm of the whole exchange. What the toss does not change is the rule that the entire 30-minute extra-time period must be played before the match can be sent to penalties.
That is also where the old Golden Goal idea no longer matters. FIFA allowed it at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, when a team could win immediately in extra time, but that measure has since been eliminated. Today, the full extra-time period is played out, and only then does the match move to penalties if the score is still tied.
For teams in the knockout stage, the path is now fixed: play the extra 30 minutes, then go to a shootout if necessary. For viewers, the answer to how long is extra time in soccer at the World Cup is simple, but the finish can still turn on one kick, one save, and one coin toss.
