A penalty shoot-out, referred to as kicks from the penalty mark in theLaws of the Game, is the FIFA official term for a method used in association football to decide which team progresses to the next stage of a tournament (or wins the tournament) following a tied game. Kicks during a shoot-out are governed by different laws from a penalty kick, which are part of normal play during a match.
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Penalty shoot-outs do not follow the penalty kick law. However, they follow similar procedure to penalty kicks and are popularly referred to as "penalties" or "PK's". During a shoot-out, players other than the kicker and the defending goalkeeper must remain in the centre circle (other than the kicking team's goalkeeper, who stands on the junction of goal line and penalty area near to the assistant referee). Goals scored during the shoot-out are not included in the final score, nor are they added to the goalscoring records of the players involved. Strictly speaking, kicks from the penalty mark do not result in a match winner. The match remains a draw and the result of the kicks is merely used to select a winner to progress to the next stage of the tournament (or win it in the case of the final). However, in popular usage a team is often said to have "won on penalties", and such matches have their result recorded as (for example): "Team A 2–2 Team B pens., Team B won 5–4 on penalties".
Generally, shoot-outs are used only in knockout "cup" ties, as opposed to round-robin "leagues". The shoot-out thus decides who will progress to the next stage of a tournament, or who will win it. Usually extra time has been played first; exceptions include the Copa Libertadores and the Football League Trophy, both of which use shoot-outs straight after the end of normal time.
Exceptionally, a shoot-out after a league match may be provided for, in the rules for the group phase of multi-round tournaments: if the opposing teams in a final-day match finish the group with identical records, they can immediately play a shoot-out. This happened in Group A of the 2003 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship.[1] The prospect was discussed of this rule applying after the Turkey–Czech Republic match in Group A of Euro 2008, if it ended in a draw;[2] in the event, Turkey won so no shoot-out was required.[3] This rule is a recent innovation, and for example did not apply in Group F of the 1990 World Cup, where the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands were separated by drawing of lots immediately after finishing their final-day match in a draw.[4]
In the late 1980s, a number of European football leagues, including Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Norway, experimented with penalty shoot-outs immediately after drawn league matches, with the winner gaining one point more than the loser. This was soon abandoned. In the United States, Major League Soccer initially also had a shoot-out immediately following the end of full-time, even during league matches although these shoot-outs differed from standard penalty shoot-outs (see below). Similarly, Japan's J. League used shoot-outs after drawn games to determine a winner when that league began. These have also since been abandoned.
The following is a summary of the procedure for kicks from the penalty mark. The procedure is specified in FIFA's booklet Laws of the Game, not as one of the 17 numbered laws, but within the supplementary sections Procedures to Determine the Winner of a Match or home-and-away (pp. 54–56) and Additional instructions and guidelines for referees (p. 130).[5]
Shoot-outs were not held by UEFA or FIFA until 1966. However, variants of the modern shoot-out were used before then in several domestic competitions and minor tournaments. Domestic examples include the Yugoslav Cup from 1952,[9] the Coppa Italia from 1958–59,[10] and the Swiss inter-regional Youth Cup from 1959–60.[11] International examples include the 1962 Uhrencup[12] (at the suggestion of its founder Kurt Weissbrodt),[13] the final of the 1962 Ramón de Carranza Trophy[14] (at the suggestion of journalist Rafael Ballester),[15] and a silver medal playoff match between amateur teams representing Venezuela and Bolivia in the 1965 Bolivarian Games.[16]
In major competitions, when a replay or playoff was not possible, ties were previously decided by drawing of lots. Examples include Italy's win over the USSR in the semi-final of the 1968 European Championship (the final, also drawn, went to a replay).[17]
Israeli Yosef Dagan is credited with originating the modern shoot-out,[18] after watching the Israeli team lose a 1968 Olympic quarter-final by drawing of lots. Michael Almog, later president of the Israel FA, described Dagan's proposal in a letter published in FIFA News in August 1969.[19] Koe Ewe Teik, the Malaysian FA's member of the referee's committee, led the move for its adoption by FIFA.[19] FIFA's proposal was discussed on 20 February 1970 by a working party of the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which recommended its acceptance, although "not entirely satisfied" with it.[20] It was adopted by the IFAB's annual general meeting on 27 June 1970.[21] In 2006, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported a claim by former referee Karl Wald (b.1916), from Frankfurt am Main, that he had first proposed the shoot-out in 1970 to the Bavarian FA.[22]
In England, the first ever penalty shoot-out in a professional match took place in 1970 at Boothferry Park, Hull between Hull City and Manchester United during the semi-final of the Watney Cup, and was won by Manchester United. The first player to take a kick was George Best, and the first to miss was Denis Law. Ian McKechnie, who saved Law's kick, was also the first goalkeeper to take a kick; he blasted the ball over the bar, putting Hull City out of the Cup.
Penalty shoot-outs were used to decide matches in UEFA's European Cup and Cup Winners' Cup in the 1970–71 season. The first ever European Cup shoot out was between Everton FC and Borussia Monchengladbach, with Everton winning 4–3. On 30 September, after a 4–4 aggregate draw in the first round of the Cup Winners' Cup, Honvéd won the first shoot-out 5–4 against Aberdeen, when Jim Forrest's shot hit the bar.
In the first round of the European Cup 1972–73, the referee prematurely ended a shoot-out between CSKA Sofia and Panathinaikos, with CSKA leading 3–2 but Panathinaikos having taken only four kicks. Panathinaikos complained to UEFA and the match was annulled and replayed the following month,[23][24] with CSKA winning without the need for a shoot-out.
The final of the 1973 Campeonato Paulista ended in similar circumstances. Santos were leading Portuguesa 2–0 with each team having taken three shoot-out kicks, when referee Armando Marques declared Santos the winners. Portuguesa manager Otto Glória quickly led his team out of the stadium; this was allegedly to ensure the shoot-out could not resume once the mistake was discovered, and that instead the match would be replayed, giving Portuguesa a better chance of victory. When Santos counter-objected to a replay, Paulista FA president Osvaldo Teixeira Duarte annulled the original match and declared both teams joint champions.[25][26]
The first major international tournament to be decided by a penalty shoot-out was the 1976 European Championship final between Czechoslovakia and West Germany. UEFA had made provision for a final replay two days later,[27] but the teams decided to use a shoot-out instead.[28] Czechoslovakia won 5–3, and the deciding kick was converted by Antonín Panenka with a "chip" after Uli Hoeneß had put the previous kick over the crossbar.
The first penalty shoot-out in the World Cup was on 9 January 1977, in the first round of African qualifying, when Tunisia beat Morocco.[29] The first shoot-out in the finals tournament was in 1982, when West Germany beat France in the semifinal. If the 1982 final had been drawn, penalties would not have applied unless the replay was also drawn;[30][31] from 1986, penalties were scheduled after the final as for the earlier knockout rounds.[31]
The finals of four major FIFA competitions have gone to penalty shoot-outs. The first two of these took place in the same stadium, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, USA.
Goalkeepers have been known to win shoot-outs by their kicking. For example, in a UEFA Euro 2004 quarter-final match, Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo saved a kick (without gloves) from England's Darius Vassell, and then scored the winning shot.[34] Another example is Vélez Sársfield's José Luis Chilavert in the Copa Libertadores 1994 finals (it should be noted that Chilavert had a reputation as a dead-ball specialist and scored 41 goals during his club career).
Antonín Panenka (Czechoslovakia) decided the penalty shoot-out at the final of the 1976 European Football Championship against West Germany by famous chip to the middle of the goal.
The English, and, to a slightly lesser extent, the Dutch and Italian national teams are known for their poor records in penalty shoot-outs. England has lost five penalty shoot-outs in major tournament finals, including losses to Germany in the semifinals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 96 (the only two times England has reached the last four of a major competition since the 1960s). The only victory was against Spain in the Euro 96 quarter-final.
The Netherlands, meanwhile, lost four consecutive shoot-outs against Denmark in Euro 92, France in Euro 96, Brazil in the 1998 World Cup, and Italy in Euro 2000, before finally winning one against Sweden in Euro 2004.
The Italians, like England, have lost five shoot-outs in major championships, notably being eliminated from three consecutive World Cup finals on penalties (1990–1998). However, they have also won two shoot-outs, including the 2006 World Cup Final.
In the FA Cup, penalty kicks were used in the 1972 edition of the short-lived third-place playoff. They were introduced more generally in the 1991–92 season to decide matches still level after one replay and extra time. Previously there was no limit on the number of replays, which led to fixture disruption, especially disliked by the top clubs. Replays were often two or three days after the drawn match, which conflicted with the increased planning required after the Football Spectators Act 1989. The first team eliminated from the FA Cup on penalties was Scunthorpe United, beaten on 26 October 1991 by Rotherham United after a first-round replay.[35][36] A shoot-out was first used in the FA Cup Final in 2005, when Arsenal beat Manchester United 5–4.[37] The following year, Liverpool beat West Ham United in the FA Cup Final's second ever penalty shoot-out.[38]
On 31 August 2005, a new English record was established when a shoot-out between Tunbridge Wells and Littlehampton Town in an FA Cup replay involved 40 kicks being taken, with Tunbridge Wells winning 16-15.[39]
The Community Shield is also settled using penalties, following the normal 90 minutes of play, but no extra time. Manchester United have won the shield three times via a shoot-out, beating Arsenal in 2003, Chelsea in 2007, and Portsmouth in 2008. Manchester United lost the 2009 match on penalties to Chelsea.
On 16 November 2005, a place in the World Cup was directly determined by a penalty shoot-out for the first time. The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying playoff between Australia and Uruguay ended 1–1 on aggregate, with Uruguay winning the first leg 1–0 at home and Australia winning the second leg at home by the same score. A scoreless 30 minutes of extra time was followed by a shoot-out, which Australia won 4–2.
During the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Switzerland set a unwanted new record in the Round of 16 shoot-out against Ukraine by failing to convert any of their penalties, losing 3–0. The goalkeeper Oleksandr Shovkovsky (Ukraine) became the first goalie who did not concede a single goal in the penalty shoot-out while personally able to catch three of the Swiss attempts. The Switzerland's elimination also meant that they became the first nation to be eliminated from the World Cup without conceding any goals (and, moreover, the only nation to participate in a World Cup finals tournament without conceding a goal).
The same competition featured a shoot-out between Germany and Argentina, the two most successful teams up to that point in terms of World Cup finals penalty shoot-outs: each team had competed in 3 shoot-outs and won all of them. Germany won this shoot-out, leaving Germany alone with a 4–0 record in World Cup finals. On 20 June 2007, a new UEFA record was established.[40] The semi-final of the European under-21 Championships in Heerenveen between the Netherlands and England team finished in 1–1. Thirty-two penalties had to be taken before the tie was decided. The Netherlands eventually won 13–12.
The first penalty shoot-out in a European Cup final occurred in the 1984 European Cup Final as Liverpool defeated A.S. Roma. The match is best known for the antics of Liverpool keeper Bruce Grobbelaar. As Roma's Bruno Conti prepared to take his kick, Bruce Grobbelaar walked towards the goal smiling confidently at the cameras lined-up behind, then proceeded to bite the back of the net, in imitation of eating spaghetti. Conti sent his spot kick over the bar. Grobbelaar then produced a similar performance before Francesco Graziani took his kick, famously wobbling his legs in mock terror. Graziani duly missed and Liverpool went on to win the shootout 4–2.
In the 1986 European Cup Final, FC Barcelona missed four consecutive shoot-out penalties, to lose against FC Steaua Bucharest, who had also contrived to miss two, before ultimate success.
The 2008 UEFA Champions League Final between Manchester United and Chelsea went to penalties, when John Terry missed a penalty which would have won Chelsea the match (and the Champions League). His standing leg slipped as he took his kick, and the ball hit the post. Chelsea lost the shoot-out 6–5, to which Terry reacted by breaking down in tears.
On 2 May 2009, a record was established during the final of the Greek Cup when Olympiacos beat AEK Athens and won the trophy. The score was 4–4 After Extra Time, and the score on penalties resulted in an unbelievable 15–14 victory to Olympiacos. A total of 34 penalties were taken in the shoot-out, with AEK Athens missing three, and Olympiacos missing two.
On July 20th 2011, during the 2011 Copa America tournament in Argentina, Brazil shockingly missed 4 penalties in a row which allowed Paraguay to reach the semi-finals 2–0.
The current World Record for the most penalties scored consecutively in a shoot out stands at 27, in a Johnstones Paint Trophy first round match between Leyton Orient F.C. and Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. on 7 September 2011, in which the 28th penalty was saved allowing Dagenham to win the shootout 14-13.
The current world record for the longest penalty shoot-out in a first class match is 48 penalties during the 2005 Namibian Cup.[41] when KK Palace beat Civics 17–16[42]
A shoot-out is usually considered for statistical purposes to be separate from the match which preceded it.[43][44][45] In the case of a two-legged fixture, the two matches are still considered either as two draws or as one win and one loss; in the case of a single match, it is still considered as a draw. This contrasts with a fixture won in extra time, where the score at the end of normal time is superseded. In college soccer in the United States, the NCAA treated a shoot-out win as a match win for the 2002 season, but otherwise its statistics treat the match as drawn.[46]
In the calculation of UEFA coefficients, shoot-outs are ignored for club coefficients,[44] but not national team coefficients, where the shoot-out winner gets 20,000 points: more than the shoot-out loser, who gets 10,000 (the same as for a draw) but less than the 30,000 points for winning a match outright.[47] In the FIFA World Rankings, the base value of a win is three points; a win on penalties is two; a draw and a loss on penaties are one; a loss is zero.[45] The more complicated ranking system FIFA used from 1999 to 2006 gave a shoot-out winner the same points as for a normal win and a shoot-out loser the same points as for a draw; goals in the match proper, but not the shoot-out, were factored into the calculation.[48]
As a way to decide a football match, shoot-outs have been seen variously as a thrilling climax or as an unsatisfactory cop-out.
Paul Doyle describes shoot-outs as "exciting and suspense-filled" and the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final shoot-out as "the perfect way to end a wonderful ... final".[49] Richard Williams compares the spectacle to "a public flogging in the market square".[50]
The result is often seen as a lottery rather than a test of skill;[49] managers Luiz Felipe Scolari[51] and Roberto Donadoni[52] described them as such after their teams had respectively won and lost shoot-outs. Others disagree. Mitch Phillips called it "the ultimate test of nerve and technique."[53] Paul Doyle emphasised the psychological element.[49]
Only a small subset of a footballer's skills is tested by a shoot-out. Ian Thomsen likened deciding the 1994 World Cup by shoot-out to deciding the Masters golf tournament via a minigolf game.[54] The shoot-out is a test of individuals which may be considered inappropriate in a team sport; Sepp Blatter has said "Football is a team sport and penalties is not a team, it is the individual".[55]
Some teams have regarded, or been accused of regarding, a loss on penalties as an honourable result or "no defeat at all."[53] Inferior teams are tempted to play for a scoreless draw, calculating that a shoot-out offers their best hope of victory.[56] Red Star Belgrade's performance beating Olympique Marseille in the 1991 European Cup Final is often condemned for having "played for penalties" from the kick-off;[57][58] a tactic coach Ljupko Petrović freely admitted to.[59] On the other hand, the increased opportunity for giant-killing may also be seen as an advantage, increasing the romance of a competition like the FA Cup.[60]
Various tie-break methods have been proposed, both before and since shoot-outs were introduced.
Historically, one of the first tie-breaking procedures was contained in the Sheffield Rules between 1862 and 1871, with the concept of the rouge, scorable when the ball went narrowly wide of the goal. Rule 14 stated "A goal outweighs any number of rouges. Should no goals or an equal number be obtained, the match is decided by rouges". Rouges are still used in Canadian football. Similarly, the try in rugby football was used from 1875 as a tie-breaker if teams were level on goals.[61]
A drawn result may be allowed to stand, unless the fixture determines which team qualifies for a later round. Before 1993 (except in 1974) the FA Charity Shield was shared if the match was drawn. When the third place playoff of the 1972 Olympic tournament between the USSR and East Germany ended 2–2 after extra time,[62] the bronze medal was shared by the two teams.[63]
During the qualification process for the 1962 World Cup, Morocco and Tunisia formed a two-team group. They both won 2–1 at home, so they played a third match at a neutral location. When this ended in a 1–1 draw after extra time, Morocco advanced on a coin toss to the next round of qualification. This scenario was repeated in during the qualification process for the 1970 World Cup, when the same two teams were tied after three matches and extra time. Again, Morocco advanced on a coin toss. Tunisia did have better luck with the coin toss in the intervening years; during the 1965 African Cup of Nations, they reached the final at the expense of Senegal by winning a coin toss after three group matches had left Tunisia and Senegal tied with a win (over Ethiopia) and a draw (against each other).
Current alternatives include replaying a match that has ended in a draw. This still occurs in the quarter-finals and earlier rounds of the English FA Cup. Until 1991, any number of replays were permitted, with a record of five.[64] (Since then, a draw in the (first) replay has been resolved by a penalty-shoot-out.) Only once, in 1974, did the European Cup final go to a replay.
Golden goal (sudden death) and silver goal (where the extra time was split into two 15-minute periods; if one team led after the first 15-minute period, the game ended) methods to encourage a result without resort to penalties have been tried. However, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) discontinued their use in 2004.
Other suggestions have included using elements of match play such as most shots on goal, most corner kicks awarded, fewest cautions and sendings-off, or having ongoing extra time with teams compelled to remove players at progressive intervals (similar to regular season hockey in North America, where players play 4-on-4 — or 3-on-3 — in the extra time).[65] These proposals have not yet been authorised by the IFAB. However, after the 2006 World Cup, Sepp Blatter stated that he wants no more penalty shoot-outs in the Final of the World Cup, tentatively suggesting either a replay or "Maybe to take players away and play golden goal".[55]
Henry Birtles' "Advantage" proposal is for the shoot-out to be held before extra-time, and only acting as a tiebreak if the game remains a draw after the full 120 minutes.[66] Proponents of this idea state that it would lead to a more offensive extra-time as one of the teams would know they have to score and there would never be a match in which both teams are simply waiting for penalties. Another advantage is that players who have missed would have a chance to redeem themselves in extra-time. The obvious flaw is that the team that wins the penalty shoot-out would be inclined to play defensively in extra time in the knowledge that a draw would put them through. However, the advantage of the Advantage proposal is that for a team that would risk that the one goal is the difference between winning and losing. As opposed to a team which defends a single goal lead whereby a conceded goal is the difference between winning and drawing.
Attacker Defender Goalkeeper (ADG) is an alternative developed by Timothy Farrell in 2008. ADG features a series of ten contests, in which an attacker has thirty seconds to score a goal against a defender and goalkeeper. At the completion of the ten contests, the team with the most goals is the winner.[67]
The North American Soccer League in the 1970s and then Major League Soccer in the 1990s experimented with a variation of the shoot-out procedure.
Instead of a straight penalty kick, the shoot-out started 35 yards from the goal and having five seconds to attempt a shot. The player could make as many moves as he could in a breakaway situation in the five seconds, then attempt a shot. This procedure is similar to that used in an ice hockey penalty shot. As with a standard shoot-out, this variation used a best-of-five-kicks model, and if the score was still level, the tiebreaker would head to an extra round of one attempt per team.
This format rewarded player skills, as players were able to attempt to fake out goalkeepers in an attempt to make the shot, as in a one-on-one skills contest.
MLS abandoned this experiment in 2000. If penalties are required to determine a winner during the playoffs, MLS now uses the shoot-out procedure specified by the IFAB.