With the stakes up at high altitude and football's finest talents present, World Cup finals are usually exceptionally tight games between evenly matched teams.
Nothing less is expected on Sunday, when World Cup holders France face Copa America champions Argentina. The new generation's finest, Kylian Mbappe, versus an all-time great, Lionel Messi.
If 90 minutes can't split them, it'll be extra time at the Lusail Stadium. Tired legs will be fired up again for a 30 minute all-or-nothing fight for glory.
Two 15-minute halves will offer Mbappe and Messi some extra room to work their magic. But if the deadlock remains, the World Cup is decided on penalties.
MORE: Lionel Messi vs Kylian Mbappe: Records, stats, head-to-head
Sporting News looks at the history of World Cup finals that have gone to extra time:
Extra time in World Cup finals
World Cup finals have gone longer than 90 minutes on seven occasions, with five winners crowned without the nail-biting spectacle of penalties.
Three of the last four World Cup finals went beyond the full-time whistle and reached dramatic ends. No team has ever scored in extra time and still lost the final.
| Tournament | Score | E.T. goal(s) | Penalties |
| 2014, Brazil | Germany 1-0 Argentina | Mario Gotze (113) | N/A |
| 2010, South Africa | Spain 1-0 Netherlands | Andres Iniesta (116) | N/A |
| 2006, Germany | Italy 1-1 France | N/A | Italy win 5-4 |
| 1994, USA | Brazil 0-0 Italy | N/A | Brazil win 3-2 |
| 1978, Argentina | Argentina 3-1 Netherlands | Mario Kempes (105), Daniel Bertoni (115) | N/A |
| 1966, England | England 4-2 West Germany | Geoff Hurst (101, 120) | N/A |
| 1934, Italy | Italy 2-1 Czechoslovakia | Angelo Schiavio (95) | N/A |
Most famous World Cup final extra time goals
Two of the most iconic World Cup goals were scored in the Brazil 2014 and South Africa 2010 finals, deciding two gripping matches.
In the 113th minute at Rio de Janeiro's iconic Maracana, Mario Gotze beautifully chest-controlled Andre Schurrle cross and lunged to volley past Sergio Romero – crushing Messi's dreams of glory.
Four years earlier, Andres Iniesta left it even later. Spain's mesmeric passing football was successfully disrupted by rough treatment from the Netherlands, featuring Nigel De Jong's infamous kung-fu kick.
Finally, with four minutes left to play in extra-time, Cesc Fabregas won the ball just outside the Dutch box, squeeing Iniesta through on goal for a composed drive into the bottom corner.
Highlight of the decade: The World Cup Final 2010
— Classic Football Shirts (@classicshirts) December 23, 2019
⚽ That Iniesta goal
👕 The Spain blue away kit
🥋 Nigel De Jong's kung-fu yellow cardpic.twitter.com/5u6WlM1JRs
England's greatest triumph was sealed in extra time, when Geoff Hurst fired a double past West Germany to seal Wembley glory in 1966.
MORE: Hat tricks in World Cups: Full list of players to score three goals in tournament history
Hurst scored the first and only World Cup final hat-trick that day, though his second in the 101st minute went down as a 'ghost goal'. The English striker whacked his shot against the underside of the crossbar, watching it bounce down onto the goal-line and back into play.
Whether the ball really did cross the line remains a mystery...
