In an era where players spend more time on the pitch than ever before there’s inevitable debate about the merits of extra time in contemporary football. During the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Croatia played extra time on three occasions. So, by the time they reached the final, they had effectively played an additional match. The Croatian team’s fatigue in the second half of the final, spoiled what could have been a much more competitive and exciting game.

For most of the CONMEBOL Copa América’s 108-year history, extra time has not been used before the final. While between 1995 and 2004 there was no extra time even in the final. For the governing body, the objective is twofold: guard against player fatigue and protect the quality of football.³⁴

Top-level players are shouldering higher and more intense workloads than ever before. Uruguay midfielder Federico Valverde played 52 games in La Liga and the Champions League in the 2023-24 season, chalking up 4,280 minutes. The elimination of extra time in tournaments like the Copa America undoubtedly helps players like Valverde deliver sustained performances for their country.

Another factor is the exhaustive nature of modern high-tempo and pressing play. In the 1960s and 1970s, an average football player ran 4-5 km in a 90-minute match. Today the average player runs 11.4 km. Central midfielders like Federico Valverde, cover the largest distance of about 12 km.³⁵

Discarding extra time also has its supporters in Europe. “In a demanding tournament like the Euro, perhaps extra time could be abolished,” the Spanish manager, Luis de la Fuente, told reporters during Euro 2024.³⁴

Dating back to Euro 2000, there have been 29 periods of extra time played in the tournament’s knockout stages. In all of those 30-minute blocks of extra time, a total of only 16 goals have been scored. That’s a mere goal every 54 minutes. And factoring in that some of these periods included multiple goals, only 13 of those extra time spells included at least one goal. Of the 29 games with extra time, 17 still went to penalties.³⁴

The situation is even worse in the UEFA Champions League. The first shootout in the final occurred in 1984 when Liverpool outlasted Roma. Since then, of the 13 finals to go into extra time, 11 have ended without a single goal during the added 30 minutes. Only 4 goals have been scored in the 390 minutes of extra time played. That’s just a single goal for every 98 minutes of football! And incredibly, 3 of those 4 goals transpired during Real Madrid’s win over Atlético in 2014.

The decision to ditch extra time is not without controversy. The Copa America 2024 quarter-final between Uruguay and Brazil was contentious because Marcelo Bielsa’s side was reduced to 10 men after Nahitan Nández was sent off in the 74th minute. Uruguay managed to hold out for a 1-1 draw before booking their place in the semi-finals with a 4-2 shootout victory. Of course, if ADG instead of penalties had ensued, a Brazilian attacker would go one-on-one against the Uruguayan goalkeeper.

“When we were one man down, we decided to dedicate ourselves to defend in our half,” Bielsa said after the game. But is often the case when teams play for penalties, the game devolved into blatant time-wasting and brawling.

The beauty of ADG is that if a team goes a man down, they are incentivised to try and win the game because they will be at a significant disadvantage during ADG. This is one of the advantages of ADG: it rewards teams who have played within the laws and the spirit of the game and penalises teams guilty of illegal or unsportsmanlike conduct.

In conclusion, the author believes 90 minutes of normal play followed by ADG will be the optimal format.