Ajax Amsterdam and Panathinaikos set a UEFA competition record by needing 34 penalties to decide their shoot-out in the Europa League third qualifying round on Thursday.
After a marathon penalty shootout lasting 25 minutes, Dutch giants Ajax eventually prevailed 13-12 after each team had 17 attempts from the spot.
The longest penalty shoot-out in a UEFA competition to date came in the 2007 European Under-21 Championship final, when the Netherlands defeated England 13-12 after 32 attempts.
They were, however, still far from the world record, set in Israel's third division in May, when Dimona and Shimshon Tel Aviv took 56 shots to decide their penalty shootout.
Ajax's hero was goalkeeper Remko Pasveer, who made five saves and scored with his own shot.
Six players took two shots in the shoot-out. After Brian Brobbey failed to score for the second time, Jordan Henderson was set to take the next shot for Ajax if the order of the first round of shooters was maintained.
However, Anton Gaaei stepped up to convert the winner after Tonny Vilhena missed for Panathinaikos.
“Anton asked me if I could take the penalty if Panathinaikos missed,” Henderson told Ziggo Sport.
The teams were tied 1-1 on aggregate after extra time when Panathinaikos' 1-0 win at the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam cancelled out Ajax's victory by the same margin in Athens a week earlier.
Ajax, who finished a disappointing fifth in the Dutch Eredivisie last year and missed out on the Champions League or even a direct route to the Europa League, will face Polish side Jagiellonia Białystok in the play-off round.
Information from ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.
