Why can a penalty shoot-out finish before each team takes five kicks?

Some penalty shoot-outs finish before each team has taken five kicks; others continue beyond five kicks each. The difference is not arbitrary. It depends on whether a team can still catch its opponent and, in sudden death, whether the teams have taken the same number of kicks.

Can the trailing team still draw level?

In the first phase, the two teams take turns kicking up to five times each. If one team's goal count cannot be matched by the opponent even if all remaining kicks score, the shoot-out stops. If both teams are level after five kicks each, they continue with equal turns until one team has a one-goal lead after the same number of turns.

For example, suppose one team has scored three goals and the opponent has missed all three of their kicks. Even if the opponent scores both remaining kicks, they cannot match three goals, so the shoot-out is over. In this situation, players remaining without a kick is not a mistake in the record.

Everyone must take a turn before anyone goes again

All eligible players must have taken a kick before any player can take a second kick. Normally, only players on the field at the end of the match, or those temporarily off the field for an allowed reason, may participate. There is a special exception for a goalkeeper who cannot continue to play, allowing a replacement. Not every substitute on the bench can be chosen to kick as desired.

If the two teams have different numbers of eligible players, the numbers must be reduced to be equal. Therefore, in a match where one team has fewer players on the field, do not assume that the usual list of eleven players will also be the shoot-out list. The list of who is eligible is as important as the scoring method.

Unlike during a match, the taker cannot follow up and score from a goalkeeper’s save in a shoot-out. The taker must not deliberately play the ball a second time. The referee must decide according to the rules when the ball is still moving and when the kick is completed. You should not immediately take the sound of celebration as the official result.

When reporting the result, keep shoot-out goals separate from the score after normal time and any extra time. For example, show the match result as a draw and the penalty shoot-out win/loss separately. The notation style may vary from page to page, but the reader needs to be clear which goals are in-match goals and which are shoot-out goals.

As a spectator, you can draw five boxes for each team and mark each kick as scored or missed. After five kicks are completed, record each subsequent pair of kicks separately. This method makes it clearer that in sudden death, the first team scoring does not immediately settle the result; the other team must have its corresponding turn.

The on-screen shoot-out graphic may update with a slight delay, so do not fill in your record based only on sound. Watch the referee's confirmation and the score change together. If a kick is retaken, do not count the retake as an additional turn. For someone writing live during a penalty shoot-out, it reduces errors to record the turn number and the kicker's name first, and then fill in the result after confirmation. Excitement is no reason to sacrifice accuracy. After the shoot-out is over, do a final check of the total goals and the number of kicks taken by both teams.