Despite all the rule changes due to COVID-19 and the novelty of hosting a tournament in 11 countries, the main rules of extra time at Euro 2020 remain the same, and they’ve come into play now that the competition is into the knockout stage.
If any game between the round of 16 and the final is tied after 90 minutes, the two teams will take a brief break before two 15-minute periods, which will be played to completion and also have a break between them. If the match is still a draw after the 30 additional minutes, then the teams will take the standard five rounds of penalty kicks to determine a winner. If the teams are tied after five kicks apiece, then the PK shootout goes to sudden death, with rounds continuing until one team has missed and the other has converted.
There is no golden-goal rule, meaning that the game doesn’t end immediately after a goal in extra time. The golden goal was abolished in world football—it is still employed in NCAA soccer—after Euro 2004, which was won by Greece using the silver-goal method in the semifinals.
The silver goal was a two-year UEFA experiment that awarded the victory to the team who was winning at the end of the first extra-time period, if a goal was scored.
One rule that has changed is that teams are allowed a sixth substitute if the game goes to extra time. In response to the pandemic, the five-substitution rule has been in place since May 2020, which still allows for only three substitution opportunities. However, a fourth-substitution opportunity is available for each team in extra time.
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