How to fairly end a balanced football match has been a hotly debated topic for decades. It is unrealistic to ask players to exhaust themselves in a futile search for a goal, but some believe that current methods do not paint a good picture of the most deserving winner.
Olympic football is a little different from other tournaments due to the compact nature of the tournament and the differences in qualification and participation, especially for the men.
But when it comes to extra time (not to be confused with injury time, the few minutes added at the end of each half to make up for longer interruptions in play), the Olympic Games adhere to the norms.
Sporting News tells you how matches at the Olympics will end if the two teams are tied after 90 minutes of regular time.
MORE: A complete overview of the results, scores and tables for football at the 2024 Olympic Games in France
How long does extra time last in Olympic football?
There is no extra time in the group stage because group matches do not necessarily have to have a winner, so if a match ends in a draw, the participants share one point each.
However, once the knockout matches begin, a winner must be determined for a team to advance to the next round. So, in the knockout phase of men’s and women’s Olympic football, if the score is tied after 90 minutes of regular time plus injury time, the teams will play 30 minutes extra timedivided into two halves of 15 minutes each.
Extension is NOT Sudden death or “golden goal” as it is affectionately called. Therefore, they must play the full 30 minutes regardless of whether the teams score a goal.
Despite the fact that some major tournaments have abolished extra time – such as the Copa America, where a draw goes straight to penalties – the Olympic Games currently maintain the usual format of extra time and penalties.
Is there a penalty shootout in Olympic football?
If the teams are tied after 30 minutes of extra time, a penalty shootout will be used to determine the winner.
Penalty shootouts are conducted in two phases. First, both teams take five penalties each. If one team takes more penalties than the other, the winner is victorious.
If they are tied after five penalty laps, they go into sudden death, where each team receives one penalty lap until they are split.
