Penalty Shootouts Explained
The most nerve-wracking ten minutes in sport. Here's what's actually happening — and why it's far more complicated than it looks.
What Is a Penalty Shootout?
When a knockout match is still tied after 90 minutes and 30 minutes of extra time, the winner is decided by a penalty shootout. It's not a tiebreaker — it's the final. Whoever wins the shootout goes through. There is no tomorrow.
Each team picks five players to take penalties alternately — one kick each, one at a time. If one team has an unbeatable lead before all five kicks are taken, it ends early. If it's still tied after five each, it goes to sudden death — one kick per team until someone misses and someone scores.
The conversion rate might surprise you
At World Cups, roughly 75–78% of penalties are scored. That sounds high — but in a five-kick shootout, one miss can be everything. The pressure doesn't reduce your ability. It amplifies every tiny error.
How It Works — Step by Step
Coin toss
The referee flips a coin to decide which team shoots first and which end is used. Winning the toss to shoot first is considered a slight advantage — research shows the team shooting first wins about 60% of shootouts.
Teams pick their five kickers
Each team selects five players in advance and submits the order. Coaches can change the order if a player is injured or sent off. Every outfield player is eligible — including substitutes.
Teams go to opposite ends
All players except the kicker and goalkeeper retreat to the centre circle. Just the two of them. 12 yards of grass. An 8×24 foot goal.
The kick
The referee signals. The kicker has no time limit once they begin their run-up, but they must kick it forward and cannot stop their run and restart. The goalkeeper must stay on the goal line until the ball is kicked.
Sudden death if tied after five
If it's level after all five kicks each, every subsequent round is sudden death. Both teams kick once — if one scores and the other misses, it's over. It can go on for a very long time.
Example Shootout — How the Score Builds
| Kick | Team A | Score | Team B |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ⚽ | 1 – 1 | ⚽ |
| 2 | ⚽ | 2 – 1 | ✗ |
| 3 | ✗ | 2 – 2 | ⚽ |
| 4 | ⚽ | 3 – 3 | ⚽ |
| 5 | ⚽ | 4 – 3 | ✗ |
| Team A wins 4–3 🏆 | |||
⚽ = scored · ✗ = missed/saved. Teams alternate kicks — first to an unbeatable lead wins.
The Chess Match Nobody Talks About
From the outside a penalty looks simple — one player, one goalkeeper, a big open goal. But both players are making decisions before a single step is taken.
⚽ The Kicker's Decisions
- →Which direction? Left, right, or down the middle — each has risk. The centre is the safest technically but dangerous if the keeper holds their nerve.
- →Power or placement? A blast into the corner is harder to save but harder to control. A placed shot requires composure.
- →Run-up style? Straight approach, curved, stutter-step, or a Panenka chip — each sends a different signal to the keeper and carries different risk.
- →Commit early or decide late? Some players decide before they place the ball. Others wait to see which way the keeper moves.
🧤 The Goalkeeper's Decisions
- →Which way to dive? Keepers almost always commit before the ball is kicked — they can't react in time to a well-struck penalty.
- →Study the data? Modern keepers have dossiers on every likely kicker — preferred side, run-up patterns, tendencies under pressure.
- →Read the body? Plant foot angle, shoulder position, run-up curve — all clues. Great keepers read bodies, not the ball.
- →Mind games? Gamesmanship on the line — moving early, staring the kicker down, breaking their concentration before the whistle blows.
Top corners (green) = highest conversion zones. Centre = risky if the keeper holds. Bottom corners = easiest to place but easier to save.
⚽ From the pitch — a former competitive player
"It looks like a simple one-on-one but both players are making decisions before a single step is taken. The kicker has to decide: do I run straight at the ball or add something to it — a stutter-step, a Panenka, a fake run-up — to try to throw the keeper off? And the keeper is asking: where is he going to shoot and how? Both players are in their own heads solving the same puzzle from opposite sides. Whoever solves it first, or commits hardest, usually wins."
The Different Ways to Take a Penalty
The Straight Blast
Risk: LowPick a corner, run up, and hit it hard. No tricks, no hesitation. Works best for power players who can put it in the top corner before the keeper reacts. The most reliable method — but predictable if the keeper has done their homework.
Example: Cristiano Ronaldo — clean, powerful, decisive.
The Placed Shot
Risk: MediumSacrifices power for precision — threading it into the corner with accuracy rather than pace. More technically demanding. Requires composure. If your placement is slightly off, a keeper who dived the right way can reach it.
Example: Harry Kane — clinical placement over power.
The Stutter-Step
Risk: MediumA hesitation in the run-up to force the keeper to commit early, then slot into the other side. Legal as long as you don't stop completely. Forces the keeper to make a decision before you do — then you exploit it.
Example: Bruno Fernandes uses this — effective but can break your own rhythm.
The Panenka
Risk: Very HighA soft chip down the centre of the goal, relying on the keeper diving away. Named after Antonín Panenka, who invented it in the 1976 Euro final. Brilliant when it works. Career-defining humiliation when it doesn't. The ultimate confidence move.
Example: Hakimi vs Spain in 2022 — chipped it down the middle. Keeper dived. 1–0.
Who Volunteers and Who Hides
This is the part you never see on television. Before the shootout starts, the coach asks who wants to take one. And that's where the real game begins.
⚽ From the pitch — a former competitive player
"Some coaches put their best penalty takers first, some don't — there's a real debate about strategy there. But a lot of the time it comes down to who is willing to take the shot. Some players shy away from it because of the pressure of missing — the fear of being the one who knocked the team out. Others gear up for it because they know it will either get them through or send them home, and they want to be the one who decides. That willingness — or lack of it — tells you everything about a player's character."
The player who steps up
Sees the shootout as their moment. They've probably imagined this exact scenario hundreds of times. The pressure doesn't freeze them — it focuses them. They walk up slowly, deliberately. They take their time placing the ball. They look calm because they've already decided. These are the players who become legends.
The player who disappears
Suddenly needs to retie their boot. Avoids eye contact with the coach. Stands just far enough away that they're not the obvious next choice. There's no shame in it — the pressure is genuinely enormous — but you can always tell. The coach can always tell. And sometimes the whole team can tell.
The order debate — is there a right strategy?
Best players first: Get the early goals, build confidence, put pressure on the opposition from kick one. If you score your first three, the other team is already cracking.
Best players last: Save your nerve-of-steel player for sudden death. Knowing your best kicker is still to come keeps the team calm.
The reality: Research suggests it barely matters strategically. What matters far more is who actually wants to be there — and who your goalkeeper is. A great shootout keeper is worth more than any order arrangement.
Famous World Cup Shootouts
Argentina vs France
2022 World Cup Final4–2The greatest final ever played ended 3–3 after extra time. Mbappe scored a hat-trick to force it. Gonzalo Montiel scored the winning penalty to give Messi his World Cup. Kingsley Coman and Aurélien Tchouaméni missed for France.
England vs Colombia
2018 World Cup Round of 164–3England's first penalty shootout win in 22 years. Jordan Pickford saved from Uribe and Bacca. Eric Dier scored the winner. A nation exhaled for the first time since 1996.
Brazil vs Chile
2014 World Cup Round of 163–2Julio Cesar made two massive saves to send the host nation through. The Maracanã was shaking. Chile came within a post of eliminating Brazil on home soil.
Germany vs England
Euro 1996 Semi-Final6–5Gareth Southgate missed to eliminate England at their home tournament. He's now the England manager. That miss defined a career — and a nation's relationship with shootouts.
What to Watch For During a Shootout
Watch the walk. A player who walks slowly, deliberately, with their head up has already made their decision. A player who rushes, looks at the ground, or seems to be arguing with themselves is already in trouble.
Watch the goalkeeper before the kick. Many keepers start leaning or creeping before the kicker even starts their run-up. That's a tell — they've already committed. A great kicker waits for it and goes the other way.
Watch the plant foot. Where the kicker's non-kicking foot points at the moment of contact is almost always where the ball goes. Keepers know this. Now you do too.
Watch who doesn't watch. In the centre circle, some players turn away and can't look. Others stare intently. Both are valid — but the ones who turn away are carrying enormous weight.
Watch the keeper after a save. The celebration is designed to psychologically destroy the next kicker. Pickford's screaming, Neuer's posturing, Bono's calm — all deliberate.
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