What happens if CONCACAF Nations League final ends in tie? Extra time and shootout rules

Mexico and the United States clash in a CONCACAF Nations League final for the second time today - and if the countries’ first meeting in the showpiece game is anything to go by, we may not get a winner inside 90 minutes.

What happens if the Nations League final ends in a tie?

If tonight’s final at AT&T Stadium remains tied at the end of normal time, Mexico and the US will play a 30-minute period of extra time.

How does extra time work?

The additional half hour consists of two 15-minute halves and is played in its entirety, regardless of any changes to the score. If a team is ahead at the end of extra time, it wins the game.

Extra time was used in the inaugural Nations League final in 2021, when the US and Mexico were level at 2-2 at the end of the regulation 90 minutes. During the extra period, Christian Pulisic’s 114th-minute penalty secured a 3-2 victory for the Stars and Stripes.

What if Mexico and the US are still tied after extra time?

If the teams are still level after extra time, the match goes to a penalty shootout.

How does a penalty shootout work?

Both teams get five penalties each, with kicks taken alternately by each side; the team that scores the most penalties wins.

If one side establishes an unassailable lead before one or both of the teams has taken all of its five penalties, the shootout ends. If the sides remain level after five penalties each, they take additional rounds of single sudden-death spot-kicks until one scores and the other misses.

Penalties are yet to decide a CONCACAF Nations League final.

2024 CONCACAF Nations League final: time, how to watch

Mexico and the USMNT face off at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with kick-off scheduled for 9:15pm ET/6:15pm PT. Viewers in the US can watch the game on TUDN USA, UniMás, Univision NOW and Paramount+.