The "golden ball system", also known as the "sudden death method", means that within 30 minutes of overtime, as long as any team scores, the game will end immediately. The first "golden ball" of the World Cup was born in 1998 World Cup in France. In the match between France and Paraguay in the quarter-finals, the door guarded by Paraguay's legendary goalkeeper chilavert could not be broken for a long time, but in 1 13 minutes, Blanco scored a "golden ball" to help France advance successfully. In this World Cup, the French team finally won the championship.
However, the "golden ball system" has not changed the utilitarian trend of world football, but has made people pay more attention to defense because they are afraid of losing the ball. In view of this, in February 2003, UEFA began to implement the "silver ball system". In fact, the "silver ball system" is also a kind of "sudden death method" in essence, only extending the time of "sudden death" to the end of overtime. (i.e. 15 minutes)
The "silver ball system" has not been implemented in the World Cup. In February 2004, FIFA announced the abolition of both the "golden ball system" and the "silver ball system" and allowed the overtime system to return.