How to fairly conclude a level soccer match has been a hotly debated topic for decades. It's unrealistic to ask players to run themselves into the ground in a futile search of a goal, but some believe the current methods are a poor reflection of the most deserving winner.
Olympic soccer is a bit different from other tournaments, considering the condensed nature of the tournament and the variations in qualifying and participation, especially on the men's side.
Yet when it comes to overtime, or "extra time" as it's known (not to be confused with "stoppage time," which is the few minutes tacked on to the end of each half to make up for significant stoppages in play), the Olympics adhere to the norms.
The Sporting News takes you through how matches are concluded at the Olympics in the event the two sides finish level after the 90 minutes of regulation.
MORE: A complete look at the results, scores, and bracket for soccer at the 2024 Olympics in France
How long is extra time in Olympic soccer?
In the group stage, no extra-time is played, as a winner is not required for group matches. Thus, if a match finishes level, the participants share one point each.
However, once the knockout matches begin, a winner is required to elevate one side to the next round. Therefore, in the knockout stage of both men's and women's Olympic soccer, if the scoreline is level after 90 minutes of regulation plus stoppage time, the teams then play 30 minutes of extra time , split into two 15-minute halves.
Extra-time is NOT sudden death, or "golden goal" as it's affectionately known. Therefore, they must still play out the full 30 minutes regardless of whether teams score a goal.
Despite the fact that some major tournaments have moved away from extra time, like Copa America for example, which goes straight to penalties after a regulation draw, the Olympics currently retain the usual extra time to penalties format.
Is there a penalty shootout in Olympic soccer?
Should teams finish the 30 minutes of extra-time level, they would advance to a penalty shootout to decide the winner.
Penalty shootouts are constructed in two stages. First, both teams take five penalties each. If one team has made more than the other, the winner is victorious.
If they finish level after five penalty rounds, they advance to sudden death, where each team takes one penalty each until there's a separation.
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