Here we go, soccer fans; we’re down to the final rounds of The World Cup, the quadrennial tournament to determine global fútbol bragging rights.

It’s a big deal in the world of sports. In fact it’s a big deal in the world, period.

But FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, cheapens its own magnificent product by resorting to one-on-one penalty kicks to decide games tied after regulation play and overtime.

So two teams play 90 minutes, then 30 minutes of overtime and if the score is still tied? Well, it’s off to penalty kicks.

One by one, five players from each team put a ball 12 yards out from the goalie and fire away. Most goals wins, and if it’s still tied the farce continues in a “sudden death” scenario, kick after kick until it’s over.

And yes, it is really, really exciting; a dynamic adrenaline blast with heartbreak, victory and ultimate resolution guaranteed. It’s really good TV.

And it stinks. It just shouldn’t come to this. The game deserves better.

Let’s say it’s the final day of the U.S. Open and Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Hideki Matsuyama are tied after four rounds and a four-hole playoff. With the tournament still up for grabs, the three head to the 18th green where they engage in a “Closest to the Pin” chipping contest to decide our national golf championship.

Or maybe the battle for the American League pennant has gone through 16 innings in game seven, and neither the Yankees nor the Mariners can push the winning run across. So the teams pick five guys each, call in a couple of batting-practice pitchers and stage a home run derby to determine who advances to The World series.

Picture the NBA finals going through overtime in game seven with Cavs and Warriors still tied. And then LeBron James and Steph Curry shoot free throws to pick a winner.

That’s basically what happens in soccer. At the sport’s highest level, in its most important tournament, in a competition that happens only once every four years, they resort to cheap gimmicks to determine who goes home and who plays on.

I understand the need for resolution in the World Cup’s “Knockout Round.” But in the quarterfinals, semifinals and the absolutely last and most important game that decides which is the best soccer team from which country in the whole wide world? Well, maybe they should just play the game until somebody wins.

Yes, it would mean extra physical stress on players who may not recover as fully or quickly for the next match, but maybe that would force teams to push forward, take chances, try to score to end the game.

And there are options beyond the artificial penalty kick scenario.

For instance, drop the “off-side” rule in the second overtime. That’s the rule in soccer that prevents a team from placing an offensive player behind the other team’s defensive line. Without it a player could go anywhere on the field, like, say, right in front of the opposing team’s goalie. Play would be wide-open in an instant.

Or, every five minutes, have the teams pull two players off the field. The best players in the world would make good use of all that extra space and there would very soon be a ball in the back off the net.

The play would be fast, exciting, and much more like the actual rhythm of the intrinsically team-game than the one-on-one penalty-kick drama.

And yes, I know, it is dramatic; it’s just wrong.

Vives les bleus.

— Allen Schauffler lives in Powell Butte.