Each team gets five kicks—unless the result is decided earlier.

The ruleset used on this page

This page applies the International Football Association Board (The IFAB) Laws of the Game 2026/27 for eleven-a-side association football, especially Law 10.3, “Penalties (penalty shoot-out),” and the relevant Law 14 penalty-kick procedure. The edition took effect on 1 July 2026. A competition already under way could introduce it earlier or delay it until no later than the start of its next competition.

Futsal, beach soccer and unaffiliated small-sided formats use different laws. The appointed competition regulations still decide whether a draw requires a winner, whether extra time comes first, which IFAB edition is in force during the transition, and whether approved video review is used.

The match is over before the shoot-out begins

Law 10.3 says penalties are taken after the match has ended. The procedure determines the winning team; it does not restart ordinary play or convert a 1–1 draw into a 6–5 match score. A competition or statistics provider may display “1–1, 5–4 on penalties,” but that presentation is separate from the Law 10 match score.

Law 10.2 permits competition rules to use an away-goals rule, two equal periods of extra time of no more than 15 minutes each, a penalty shoot-out, or a permitted combination. It is therefore the competition—not Law 10 alone—that decides whether a particular tie goes straight to penalties or reaches them after extra time.

From the final whistle to a winner

1. Confirm that the competition requires a winner and calls for a shoot-out at this point.
2. Identify the players eligible at the end of the match and reduce the larger group if the teams have unequal numbers.
3. Unless safety, the ground or another consideration dictates otherwise, the referee tosses a coin to choose the goal. A second toss lets the winning team choose to kick first or second.
4. The teams take alternate kicks. Every eligible player must kick once before a teammate takes a second kick.
5. During the first sequence, stop as soon as one team has scored more than the other could score even by completing five kicks.
6. If level after five each, continue with equal pairs of kicks until one team leads after the same number of attempts.

Eligibility is fixed at the end of the match—with one exception

Only players on the field at the final whistle, plus players temporarily off for a reason such as injury treatment or equipment adjustment, are eligible. A substitution merely requested before full time is not enough if it was not completed. A player sent off during the match cannot participate.

The exception is the Law 10 goalkeeper-replacement provision. A goalkeeper who is unable to continue before or during the shoot-out may be replaced by a player excluded to equalise numbers or, if the team has not used its maximum permitted substitutes, by a named substitute. That exception does not let a coach replace an ordinary outfield player who becomes unable to continue.

The larger team must “reduce to equate”

If one team has more eligible players at the end of the match, before the first kick or later in the shoot-out, it must reduce its group to the opponent's number. The referee is told the name and number of every excluded player. An excluded player cannot take a kick, except that one may return under the unable-goalkeeper exception.

The same principle applies if a player is sent off during the shoot-out: the opponents remove one of their eligible players too. This equalises the size of the kicking pool; it does not restore the dismissed player or erase the sending-off.

No player repeats before the whole eligible group

Each team chooses its own order and does not give that order to the referee in advance. Every eligible player must take one kick before anyone from that team takes a second. When a new cycle begins, the team may change the order, but the team that kicked first in the opening cycle still kicks first.

The shoot-out is not delayed for a player who leaves the field. If that player's turn arrives and the player does not return in time, the kick is forfeited and recorded as not scored. A non-goalkeeper who becomes unable to continue cannot be replaced, and the referee does not abandon the already-ended match merely because a team drops below seven players during the shoot-out.

Only three players leave the centre-circle group

Only eligible players and match officials may remain on the field. Apart from the kicker and the two goalkeepers, eligible players wait in the centre circle. The defending goalkeeper faces the kicker between the posts. The kicker's goalkeeper waits on the field outside the penalty area, on the goal line where it meets the penalty-area boundary.

At the kick, at least part of one of the defending goalkeeper's feet must be touching, in line with or behind the goal line. The goalkeeper may move along the line but must not unfairly distract the kicker—for example by delaying the kick or touching the posts, crossbar or net.

The ball can rebound in, but nobody follows up

The ball is stationary on the penalty mark and the referee signals before the kick. The ball must be kicked forward; a backheel is legal if it sends the ball forward. The attempt ends when the ball stops moving, goes out of play or the referee stops the procedure for an offence.

The kicker cannot deliberately touch the ball a second time. No teammate can follow up either. However, the original attempt remains alive while its momentum continues: a ball may hit the goalkeeper, post or crossbar and then cross the line before it stops. If it legally crosses the line in that sequence, the kick scores.

Goal, miss or retake?

• Legal ball over the line: record a goal if the whole ball crosses between the posts and under the bar before the attempt is complete.
• Save, wide shot or ball that stops: record a miss, unless an offence requires a retake.
• Goalkeeper offence: a goal stands if scored. If the goalkeeper's offence prevents the ball entering, retake. A miss or rebound from the frame is retaken only if the offence clearly affected the kicker.
• Kicker offence after the signal: when the kicker is penalised, Law 10 records the attempt as missed and cautions the kicker. An illegal feint after completing the run-up is a common example; feinting during the run-up is permitted.
• Accidental immediate double touch: apply the special 2026/27 outcome below; it is not treated as an automatic deliberate offence.

A slip and accidental double touch may produce a retake

Law 10.3 now expressly covers a kicker who accidentally strikes the ball with both feet at once, or whose non-kicking foot or leg touches it immediately after the kick. With no other relevant offence, if the ball enters the goal directly from that attempt, retake the kick; if it does not enter, record the kick as missed. There is no automatic caution for the accidental contact.

This differs from ordinary match play under Law 14: for the same accidental immediate double touch, and again with no other relevant offence, a goal produces a retake while a non-goal produces an indirect free kick. In a shoot-out there is no field restart, so the non-goal is simply recorded as a miss.

Warnings, replacements and role changes

If a goalkeeper offence causes a retake, Law 10 gives a warning for that goalkeeper's first such offence in the shoot-out and a caution for any later offence. An eligible player may change places with the goalkeeper.

An unable goalkeeper replaced by an excluded player or unused named substitute takes no further part. If the original goalkeeper had already taken a kick, the replacement may not take one until the next cycle. A goalkeeper who is sent off must instead be replaced by an already eligible player; the special external replacement is for inability to continue, not a sending-off.

Match cautions do not carry into the shoot-out

Warnings and cautions issued during the match, including extra time, are not carried forward into the shoot-out for the purpose of a second caution. A player cautioned in extra time and again after the match has ended is therefore not sent off for those two cautions; both are still reported to the appropriate authority.

Misconduct during the shoot-out remains punishable. Players, substitutes, substituted players and team officials may be cautioned or sent off. A sent-off player cannot take another kick, and the other team reduces its eligible group to the same number.

VAR depends on the competition

VAR is not universal. It may be used only where the organiser has met the implementation requirements and received FIFA permission. In a match using VAR, goal/no-goal incidents include an offence by the goalkeeper or kicker at a penalty kick, so such events may be checked or reviewed. The referee still makes the final decision; players and coaches have no right to demand a review.

Three goals to none after three kicks each

Situation: after each team has taken three kicks, Blue leads 3–0.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: the shoot-out ends. Red has only two of its first five kicks left and can reach no more than two goals, so it cannot catch Blue. The final four scheduled attempts are not taken.

Scoring first in sudden death is not enough

Situation: the teams are level after five each. Blue scores the sixth kick.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: Red still takes its sixth. Blue wins only if Red then misses. If Red scores, the teams proceed to the seventh pair because the comparison is made after the same number of kicks.

A slipping kicker scores off the standing leg

Situation: the kicker slips, kicks the ball with the right foot, and the ball immediately brushes the left leg before entering the goal. The goalkeeper commits no offence.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: retake, provided the second contact was accidental. The decisive facts are the immediate accidental double touch and that the ball entered. Had it not entered, the attempt would be recorded as missed.

The goalkeeper leaves the line early

Situation: at the moment of the kick the goalkeeper has both feet wholly in front of the goal line and then saves the attempt.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: retake because the goalkeeper's offence prevented the ball entering. Warn the goalkeeper for the first offence that results in a retake in this shoot-out; caution the goalkeeper for a later one. If the ball had gone wide and the movement had not clearly affected the kicker, the miss would stand.

Use the amended 2026/27 simultaneous-offence text

The IFAB's official 2026/27 change record deletes the former sentence that automatically made a simultaneous goalkeeper-and-kicker offence a missed kick with a caution for the kicker. The published 2026/27 law book reflects that deletion. At the check date, however, the live Law 10 HTML page still displayed the deleted sentence.

This page follows the amended 2026/27 law book and change record, not that residual live-page sentence. A referee must identify the actual offences and apply the relevant 2026/27 provisions; the old blanket automatic outcome should not be quoted as the current rule. Competitions still in the 2025/26 transition window must use their appointed edition.

Four shortcuts that produce the wrong answer

• “It is always ten kicks.” No. Five each is the maximum opening sequence, and it ends early when a comeback is impossible.
• “Sudden death means the first scorer wins.” No. Each side receives the matching kick.
• “The best taker can go again after five rounds.” Only if every eligible teammate has already taken one.
• “Any goalkeeper step forward means a retake.” The foot-position test is applied at the kick, and a wide or frame rebound is retaken only when the offence clearly affected the kicker.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, single-page PDF, Law 10.3 and Law 14 — controlling published edition.
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 10.2–10.3: winning team and penalties (penalty shoot-out) — permitted tie-breakers, eligibility, order, offences and shoot-out outcome.
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 14.1–14.3: The Penalty Kick — ball, kicker, goalkeeper and offence procedure applied unless Law 10 states otherwise.
• The IFAB — Changes to the Laws of the Game 2026/27, Laws 10 and 14 — accidental double touches and deletion of the automatic simultaneous-offence sanction.
• The IFAB — Circular no. 32, 31 March 2026 — approval, 1 July 2026 effective date and transition window.
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, VAR protocol, sections 1–2 — authorised use and reviewable goalkeeper/kicker offences.

Checked against The IFAB's English 2026/27 law book, live Law 10 and Law 14 pages, official change record, VAR protocol and Circular no. 32 on 26 August 2026. The live Law 10 page still contained the simultaneous-offence sentence that the 2026/27 change record deletes; the amended published edition controls this page. Competition regulations must be read alongside it for the tie-breaking route, the edition adopted during transition, substitution limits and use of VAR.