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What happens if Bosnia v Italy ends in a draw after 90 minutes? Extra time or penalties? What do the rules say?

The World Cup play-off rules regarding extra time and penalties: what would happen if Bosnia v Italy ended in a draw after 90 minutes.

It’s do or die for Italy. On Tuesday 31 March 2026, the Azzurri face Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup play-off final, the final hurdle to returning to a tournament from which our national team has been absent since 2014, having missed the two subsequent editions (Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022).

Rino Gattuso’s side take to the pitch in Zenica, away from home, to secure a place in Group B of the World Cup, alongside Canada, Switzerland and Qatar.

But what happens if Bosnia-Italy ends in a draw after 90 minutes? Do we go to extra time or straight to penalties? Here’s what the rules say.

BOSNIA VS ITALY: ALL SQUARE AFTER 90 MINUTES – EXTRA TIME OR PENALTY SHOOTOUT? THE RULES
As stipulated in the World Cup play-off regulations, should the Bosnia-Italy match end in a draw after full time, the two teams will contest the tie in extra time, consisting of two 15-minute halves. Should the score remain level, the match will be decided by a penalty shoot-out, as was the case in the Wales v Bosnia match, which ended 1-1 and saw Dzeko and his teammates win on penalties after extra time.