Penalty shootout
A
penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in
sports matches which would have otherwise been
drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to penalty shots, with a single player taking one shot on goal from a specified spot, the only defender being the
goalkeeper. Teams take turns, the winner being the one with the most number of successful goals after a specified number of attempts. If the result is still tied, the shootout usually continues on a "goal-for-goal" basis, with the teams taking shots alternately, the winner being the one to score a goal that is unmatched by the other team. This may continue until every player has taken a shot. If there is still no result the match may be declared a draw, or the winner may be declared by a random method such as
flipping a coin.
A penalty shootout is usually used only in situations where a winner is needed (for example, a round where one team must be eliminated) and other methods such as
extra time and
sudden death have failed to determine a winner. It avoids the delays involved in staging a
replayed match in order to produce a result.
A common complaint of penalty shootouts is that they do not fairly determine the better team in overall play, but only the better team in the one, rather narrow, discipline of taking penalty shots.
Sports in which a penalty shootout may be used include:
*
Association football (soccer) – penalty shootouts are officially known as
kicks from the penalty mark. See the main article
Penalty shootout (football).
*
Field hockey*
Ice hockey*
Water polo* In
Gaelic football matches a "45-metre kick shootout" is sometimes used.
It has been proposed that a "drop-goal shootout" could be used for other football codes such as
rugby union or
rugby league, with players taking kicks on goal as they would for penalties. The difference in comparison to other sports is the lack of goalkeeper from the opposing side to defend the goal.
*
FINA water polo rules for penalty shootouts
