What Is a Penalty Shootout in Football? Rules, Format and How It Works

A football match can last more than 120 minutes and still produce no winner. When a knockout game remains level after extra time, a penalty shootout provides a final decision: players take alternating kicks from the penalty mark while each team’s goalkeeper tries to make a save.

Penalty shootouts are used to separate teams in many cup competitions and international tournaments. They are not part of the normal playing time, and the goals scored during the shootout are recorded separately from the match score.

How a penalty shootout works

Before the shootout begins, the referee conducts a coin toss. The winning team usually chooses which goal will be used, while the other team chooses whether to take the first kick or defend first. The referee can select a different goal if conditions such as poor lighting, crowd trouble or an unsafe surface affect one end of the pitch.

Each team initially takes five penalties. The kicks alternate, with one player from each side taking a turn. A team wins as soon as it has an unassailable lead. For example, if one side leads by four goals after both teams have taken four kicks, the other team cannot catch up with one attempt remaining, so the shootout ends immediately.

If the scores are level after five kicks each, the contest moves into sudden death. The teams continue taking one penalty apiece until one scores and the other misses in the same round. There is no fixed limit to the number of sudden-death rounds.

Who can take the penalties?

Only players who are on the field at the end of extra time, or who are temporarily off the field with the referee’s permission, can take part. Substitutes who have not entered the match cannot be selected for the shootout.

Every eligible player generally has to take a penalty before any player takes a second one. Once all eligible players have taken a kick, the order can begin again. Teams must also have the same number of players available for the shootout. If one team has fewer eligible players, the other must reduce its list to match.

The goalkeeper who finishes extra time normally remains in goal, but a team may replace that goalkeeper with an eligible substitute if the competition rules allow it and the team has a permitted substitution remaining. A goalkeeper may also be injured during the shootout and be replaced under the relevant match regulations.

What counts as a successful penalty?

The ball must be kicked forward, and the player taking the penalty cannot touch it again until another player has touched it. The kick is successful if the ball enters the goal without an infringement that cancels the attempt. A goalkeeper can save it, the player can miss the target, or the ball can hit the post or crossbar and stay out.

Players are allowed to use a short pause in their run-up, but they cannot illegally feint after completing the run-up. The referee can order a penalty to be retaken or disallow it when the kicker or goalkeeper breaks the rules. The assistant referees and video officials may help the referee assess difficult incidents where VAR is in use.

Penalty shootout rules compared with match penalties

A penalty shootout should not be confused with a penalty kick awarded during the match. A match penalty is given for a foul inside the penalty area and is taken during normal play or extra time. It can affect the score, but it does not automatically end the game.

Shootout penalties are also different from the so-called golden goal system, in which the first goal during extra time could decide a match. In a shootout, play has already ended and the result is settled through a sequence of one-on-one attempts.

Why shootouts create such tension

The format reduces a team sport to a series of individual decisions. A goalkeeper must anticipate direction, height and speed, while the taker has to control technique under intense pressure. Coaches often select players with reliable finishing, but the order can also reflect confidence, experience and the ability to handle a decisive moment.

A shootout result does not necessarily show which team played better across the whole match. It shows which side converted more of its final penalty attempts. That distinction is why teams frequently prepare for penalty kicks in training, even though the outcome remains difficult to predict.