Penalty shoot-outs explained: who kicks, in what order, and what the goalkeeper may do

A penalty shoot-out is five kicks each, taken alternately, and then one kick each until a team is ahead after the same number of kicks. Only the players on the field at the final whistle, or briefly off it for treatment, may take part, every one of them must kick before anyone kicks twice, and the goalkeeper must have at least part of one foot touching, in line with or behind the goal line when the ball is kicked. With the cup competitions in full swing, this is how Law 10 of the IFAB's Laws of the Game 2026/27 sets it out, with the penalty-kick rules of Law 14 behind it.

When does a match go to penalties?

Only when the competition's rules require a winner after a drawn match or a level home-and-away tie. Law 10 allows just three ways of finding one: the away goals rule, two equal periods of extra time of no more than 15 minutes each, and penalties, the law's name for the shoot-out. A competition may combine them, and each chooses its own mix.

The shoot-out is taken after the match has ended. It is not part of the match, the IFAB says, and it decides the winner without changing the score from play. On ScoreTable a match settled this way is marked PEN, after penalties.

Who decides which goal and who kicks first?

The referee tosses a coin twice. The first toss decides the goal at which all the kicks are taken; there is no captain's choice, and the referee can skip the toss for reasons such as safety or the state of the ground, or change goals if the goal or the playing surface becomes unusable. The team that wins the second toss chooses whether to kick first or second.

Who is allowed to take a kick?

Apart from a substitute for a goalkeeper who cannot continue, only the players on the field at the end of the match, along with any who were temporarily off it for treatment or to sort out equipment. A coach who wanted to bring on a specialist penalty-taker before the shoot-out is too late: substitutions cannot be made once the match is over, except for a goalkeeper who cannot continue, even if the request was made before the final whistle. A player sent off during the match cannot take part.

Each team picks its own order of kickers and does not tell the referee. On the order, the referee's job is only to see that every eligible player has kicked before anyone kicks a second time.

What if one team has more players?

It must drop players until the numbers are level, before the kicks or during them, and tell the referee the name and number of each player it leaves out. A team that lost a player to a red card or an injury late in the match therefore does not face an extra kicker. The same applies during the shoot-out: if a player is sent off, or an outfield player is injured and cannot continue, the other team removes one too.

How does a shoot-out end?

Both teams take five kicks, alternately, each by a different player. If one team has scored more than the other could reach even with all its remaining kicks, the shoot-out stops there. When SG Sonnenhof Grossaspach beat Arminia Bielefeld 3–0 on penalties in the DFB-Pokal first round in August, it was over before either side had taken all five.

If the scores are level after five each, the kicks go on one pair at a time until one team has scored a goal more than the other from the same number of kicks. When every eligible player has kicked, a second round of kickers begins, the order may be changed, and the team that kicked first in the first round kicks first again.

The highest-scoring shoot-out we have recorded this season shows sudden death at work. At the League Cup round of 32 on 15 September, Peterborough and Barnsley drew 3–3, and the shoot-out began with twelve successful kicks, Barnsley going first each time. L. Alker missed Barnsley's seventh, Harrison Jones scored Peterborough's, and it finished 7–6.

What may the goalkeeper do?

The goalkeeper must stay on the goal line, facing the kicker, between the posts, until the ball is kicked, and must not unfairly distract the kicker, for example by delaying the kick or touching the posts, crossbar or net (Law 14). When the ball is kicked, at least part of one foot must be touching, in line with or behind the goal line.

If the goalkeeper offends and the kick has to be retaken, Law 10 has the goalkeeper warned for the first offence and cautioned for any after that. Under Law 14, an offence by the goalkeeper leads to a retake only if the goalkeeper stopped the ball going in, or if the kick missed after the offence clearly affected the kicker; a kick that goes in counts.

The goalkeeper of the kicking team waits on the field, outside the penalty area, where the goal line meets the penalty-area line. Everyone else eligible stays in the centre circle. Any eligible player may swap places with the goalkeeper, and a team whose goalkeeper is injured and cannot continue may bring on a named substitute, if it has not used all of its permitted substitutes, or use a player left out to level the numbers. The replaced goalkeeper takes no further part.

What may the kicker do?

The kicker must kick the ball forward; a backheel is allowed as long as the ball moves forward. Feinting in the run-up is permitted, but stopping to feint once the run-up is complete is not: in a shoot-out the kick is recorded as missed and the kicker cautioned, even if the ball goes in.

A kick is completed when the ball stops moving, goes out of play or the referee stops play for an offence, and the kicker may not deliberately play the ball again. So there is no rebound to follow up: a saved kick cannot be put in at the second attempt. If the kicker accidentally kicks the ball with both feet at once, or the ball touches the standing foot or leg straight after the kick, a kick that goes in is retaken and one that does not is recorded as missed. The 2026/27 laws added that clarification to the text, confirming an IFAB circular.

Do yellow cards carry over?

No. Warnings and cautions from the match, extra time included, are not carried into the shoot-out. A player booked in extra time who is booked again during the kicks is not sent off; both cautions are reported to the appropriate authorities. A player, a substitute or a team official can still be cautioned or sent off during the shoot-out, and the referee does not abandon the match if a team falls below seven players.

Why does the team kicking first still kick first every time?

Because the alternative was tried and dropped. The IFAB trialled an "ABBA" order in which team A takes the first kick, team B the second and third, team A the fourth and fifth, and so on, meant to stop the team kicking second being at a disadvantage. In November 2018 the IFAB said it had found no strong support, mainly because the procedure was complex, and that ABBA would no longer be an option for competitions, Reuters reported. Law 10 still has the kicks taken alternately.

In numbers

Across seven cup competitions this season on ScoreTable, from the summer's qualifying rounds to early October, 44 matches have been decided on penalties:

Competition	Shoot-outs
Conference League, qualifying and play-offs	16
League Cup	13
Coppa Italia	5
DFB-Pokal	4
Champions League, qualifying	3
Europa League, qualifying	2
Copa del Rey	1

At least seven of the 44 went past five kicks each, the ones in which a side scored six or more; three of those were in the League Cup. Kairat Almaty beat Omonia Nicosia 6–5 in the Champions League second qualifying round, and Rangers lost 4–3 on penalties at Jablonec in the Conference League play-off round. Brazil's 2026 Copa do Brasil has had 33 more.

Every shoot-out this season is on the competition pages: Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, League Cup, DFB-Pokal, Coppa Italia, Copa del Rey, Copa do Brasil.

Sources: IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 10, Law 14, IFAB law changes 2026/27, Reuters on the end of ABBA, via Euronews.