Abstract
In team sports such as soccer, elimination contests between two teams often arise in the form of two-legged ties with each team as the home team in one leg. Arguably, sports organizers are trying to yield no advantage to either team. Nevertheless, many sports experts and fans believe that teams having the second leg at home have an advantage over their rival, wich is often referred to as "second-leg home advantage" in soccer. This paper theoretically investigates this common belief. Utilizing a two-stage tournament model. It has been shown that (1) contrary to common belief, the outcome is neutral regarding the order of hosting the games; (2) expected total effort in the first leg is greater (less) than in the second leg if the uncertainty is sufficiently low (high).