How does a shootout in soccer work?

Answer 1

A penalty shootout, properly called "Kicks from the Penalty Mark" (abbreviated "KPM"), is a way of determining a winner after a tied game where there must be a winner, such as in an elimination tournament or championship match.

Only the players on the field at the end of the match are allowed to take part in the KPM. If one team has more players than the other team, it must reduce-to-equate so that the KPM starts with the same number of players on each team participating. All players must stay in the center circle (along with the trail assistant referee to manage the players) except the two goalkeepers and the player taking the kick. The goalkeeper of the kicking team stands at the corner of the penalty area line and the goal line, behind the lead assistant referee, unless it is his turn to kick.

The winner of a coin flip decides which team will kick first. Teams alternate kicks until each team has kicked five times. The team scoring the most goals is declared the winner. If one team scores more goals than the other team possibly could within the first five kicks, then no more kicks are taken (for example, one team makes its first three kicks, and the other team misses three times, then the remaining kicks are moot).

If goals are tied after each team has taken five kicks, then each team will take one additional kick. This will continue until one team has made more goals than the other team after the same number of kicks. No player may kick a second time until all of his teammates (including the 'keeper) have kicked. After all players on a team have kicked, all are eligible to kick again, and need not kick in the same order. No player may kick a third time until all of his teammates have kicked twice, and so on.

Goals scored during KPM are not added to the ones scored during the game. They are tallied separately, and are looked at only to determine who won the tied game. Thus, the final score might be 3 (2) to 3 (5), the numbers in parentheses indicate KPM totals.