What is a golden goal in soccer? In the World Cup knockout stage, there is no way to end level, so matches go to 30 minutes of extra time and then penalties if the score is still tied. That rule is now central to the 2026 World Cup, where every tied knockout match has to produce a winner.
France and Argentina in 2022
The clearest example came in the 2022 World Cup final, when France and Argentina were tied 2-2 after 90 minutes and pushed the match into extra time. Lionel Messi scored his second goal in the 108th minute, and Kylian Mbappe converted a penalty 10 minutes later.
Randal Kolo Muani then had a winner denied by Emiliano Martinez, a sequence that turned the match into a 120-minute test of nerves and execution. That final is the cleanest proof of how extra time works: the game keeps going until one side breaks the tie, or until penalties decide it.
Pierluigi Collina and stoppage time
Extra time is split into two 15-minute halves, and teams receive an extra substitution for that 30-minute period, so six changes can be made across the eventual 120-minute match. Stoppage time is different; it is added to regulation halves to account for substitutions, celebrations, time-wasting, injured-player treatment, and mandatory three-minute hydration breaks now used as of this World Cup.
Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s referee chief, tried to remove the incentive to waste time by instructing officials at the previous World Cup in 2022 to add on more time than usual. Matches there averaged more than 100 minutes, a sign that the clock was being used more aggressively before knockout games ever reached extra time.
Penalty shootout rules
If the score is still level after extra time, the match goes to penalties. Five players from each side take an initial five spot kicks, and if the teams are still tied after that, the shootout becomes sudden death, with the first side to score while the other does not moving on.
That leaves no room for a draw in the knockout stage, which is why the rules matter so much for the 2026 World Cup. Teams have to be ready for 90 minutes, another 30, and then a shootout that can end on one missed kick.
