A penalty shootout is a tiebreaker used in knockout football (soccer) matches when the score is level after regular time and extra time. Each team takes five kicks from the penalty spot, alternating one at a time, and the team that scores more out of five wins. If the score is still tied after five kicks each, the shootout continues into sudden death, where each team takes one kick per round until one side scores and the other doesn’t.
The Coin Toss and Setup
Before any kicks are taken, the referee conducts a coin toss. The winning captain chooses which end of the pitch the shootout takes place on, and the other captain decides whether their team kicks first or second. All kicks are taken at the same goal.
Both teams then select the order their players will kick. This order is kept private. The referee does not see the list, so teams can theoretically adjust their sequence on the fly, though each eligible player must take a kick before anyone goes a second time.
Who Is Allowed to Take a Kick
Only players who are on the pitch at the final whistle can participate. That means any player who was sent off during the match is excluded entirely. Substitutes sitting on the bench are also ineligible, with one narrow exception: if the goalkeeper gets injured and cannot continue, the team can bring on a substitute goalkeeper, but only if they haven’t already used all their permitted substitutions.
If one team finishes the match with fewer players (due to red cards, for example), the other team must drop players to match. The team with more players tells the referee which players they’re excluding, and those excluded players cannot take kicks. The one exception is that an excluded player can re-enter as a replacement goalkeeper if the starting keeper is injured.
If an outfield player gets injured during the shootout itself, they simply leave. They cannot be replaced, even if the team has substitutions remaining. This rule applies only to outfield players; goalkeepers get special treatment because the position is so specialized.
How Each Kick Works
The ball is placed on the penalty spot, 12 yards from the goal line. Only the kicker and the opposing goalkeeper are allowed inside the penalty area. All other players must wait in the center circle.
The goalkeeper must have at least part of one foot on or in line with the goal line when the kick is taken. If the keeper moves off the line too early and saves the shot, the referee can order a retake. However, under the current rules, minor encroachment is typically penalized only when it clearly affects the outcome.
The kicker must kick the ball forward in one continuous motion. Feinting during the run-up is allowed, but stopping the kicking motion once the leg has started to swing toward the ball is an offense. If that happens, the kicker is cautioned and the kick is forfeited.
The First Five Kicks
Teams alternate kicks in an A-B-A-B pattern. Team A’s first kicker goes, then Team B’s first kicker, then Team A’s second, and so on. This continues for up to five kicks per side, but the shootout can end early. If one team builds an insurmountable lead (for instance, they’ve scored three and their opponent has missed three with only two kicks left), the remaining kicks are not taken. The match is over as soon as one side cannot mathematically catch up.
Sudden Death
If the score is level after five kicks each, the shootout enters sudden death. Now each team takes one kick per round. If one team scores and the other misses in the same round, the shootout is over. If both score or both miss, another round begins.
During sudden death, the kicking order resets. Every eligible player must have taken a kick before anyone goes again, so teams cycle through their entire roster. This means goalkeepers will eventually step up to take a kick too, which is part of what makes extended shootouts so dramatic.
Does Kicking First Give an Advantage?
This is one of the most debated questions in football. For decades, the conventional wisdom held that kicking first was a significant advantage, supposedly because the second team faces increasing psychological pressure as they’re forced to respond. Early data seemed to support this: looking at shootouts from 1970 to 2018, the team going first won about 55% of the time.
More recent and larger datasets tell a different story. A study analyzing 1,759 shootouts from European competitions over the past eleven seasons found the team kicking first won only about 49% of the time. In the top five European leagues’ domestic cup competitions, first kickers won just 47% of 513 shootouts. The conclusion from researchers at PLOS One was straightforward: at least in men’s football, the standard alternating order does not produce a meaningful bias.
FIFA and UEFA did experiment with an alternative format called ABBA, where the kicking order would go A-B-B-A-A-B-B-A, similar to a tennis tiebreak. The idea was to neutralize any first-kicker advantage by letting the second team take consecutive kicks. Theoretical models suggested this format could reduce bias, and experiments with professional Spanish players showed the first kicker’s advantage dropping from roughly 60% to 54%. Ultimately, though, the ABBA system was trialed and shelved. The standard A-B-A-B format remains in use across all major competitions.
VAR During Shootouts
In competitions that use video review, VAR can intervene during a shootout. The main scenarios are goalkeeper encroachment (moving off the line before the kick) and illegal feinting by the kicker. VAR can also check if an attacker or defender encroaches into the penalty area and directly affects play, such as when a shot rebounds off the post or crossbar and an encroaching player gets to the ball. If VAR identifies a clear error, the referee can order a retake.
How Long Shootouts Can Last
Most shootouts are decided within the first five kicks or shortly after. The longest shootouts in FIFA World Cup history involved 12 total penalties: West Germany vs. France in the 1982 semifinal and Sweden vs. Romania in the 1994 quarterfinal, both ending 5-4 on kicks. In lower-level competitions, shootouts have stretched far longer, occasionally past 20 kicks per side, though this is exceptionally rare at the professional level.
Any yellow cards given during the match are wiped clean for the shootout, so a player who was already on a booking doesn’t risk a red card for a minor infraction during kicks. Red cards issued during the match still stand, keeping those players excluded.