Extra Time & Penalty Shootout

Where competition rules require a winner, the Laws permit only three procedures and any combination of them: the away goals rule, two equal periods of extra time of no more than 15 minutes each, and penalties, which the Laws call a penalty shoot-out. The shoot-out is not simply a run of penalty kicks. Law 10 states its own procedure, and where it differs from Law 14 it is Law 10 that decides.^5, ^6, ^7, ^8, ^9, ¹⁰

Key points

✓Where competition rules require a winner, the only permitted procedures are the away goals rule, extra time and penalties, and a combination of them may be used^5, ^6, ^7, ^8, ⁹
✓Extra time is two equal periods not exceeding 15 minutes each^5, ⁷
✓A drinks break of up to one minute is permitted at the interval of half-time in extra time⁴
✓Unused substitutes and substitution opportunities carry into extra time, and competition rules may permit one additional substitute with one additional opportunity^1, ²
✓A substitution made between full-time and the start of extra time, or at half-time in extra time, does not count as a used substitution opportunity³
✓The kicks are taken after the match has ended, and unless otherwise stated the relevant Laws of the Game apply¹⁰

Show the remaining 17 key points

✓A player sent off during the match may not take part, and warnings and cautions from the match are not carried forward into the kicks¹⁰
✓Two coin tosses before the kicks: one for the goal they are taken at, one for which team kicks first^11, ^12, ¹³
✓Only players on the field, or temporarily off it for injury or equipment, at the end of the match are eligible, apart from a substitute for a goalkeeper unable to continue^11, ¹⁴
✓A team with more players than its opponents must reduce to the same number and give the referee the name and number of each excluded player^11, ¹⁶
✓Each team selects its own order of kickers and the referee is not informed of it^11, ¹⁵
✓Five kicks each, taken alternately, each by a different player, and every eligible player must kick before anyone kicks twice^27, ^28, ²⁹
✓Kicks stop as soon as one team has scored more goals than the other could reach with its remaining kicks^27, ³⁰
✓Level after five each: kicks continue until one team has scored a goal more than the other from the same number of kicks, and the order of kickers may change in later sequences^27, ^31, ³²
✓An accidental double touch is retaken if the ball enters the goal and recorded as missed if it does not, where the same thing at a penalty kick in open play gives an indirect free kick^19, ^22, ^23, ^24, ^39, ^40, ⁴¹
✓A kicker penalised for an offence committed after the referee has signalled has the kick recorded as missed and is cautioned^19, ²⁶
✓A goalkeeper whose offence causes a retake is warned for the first offence and cautioned for any subsequent one^19, ²⁵
✓Where a player of both teams offends, the kick is retaken unless one of them commits a more serious offence^10, ^39, ⁴⁴
✓A goalkeeper who is sent off must be replaced by an eligible player, while a player other than the goalkeeper who cannot continue may not be replaced^34, ^36, ³⁷
✓A goalkeeper unable to continue may be replaced by a player excluded to equalise the numbers, or by a named substitute where the team has substitutes left, and the replaced goalkeeper takes no further part and no kick^11, ^17, ¹⁸
✓The referee must not abandon the match if a team is reduced to fewer than seven players during the kicks^34, ³⁸
✓The kicks are not delayed for a player who leaves the field, and a player who does not return in time forfeits that kick^27, ³³
✓Everyone except the kicker and the two goalkeepers waits in the centre circle, and the kicker's own goalkeeper stands on the goal line where it meets the penalty area boundary^19, ^20, ²¹

Read the full rule

Scenarios

Scenario 1

Goalkeeper saves a shoot-out kick after moving early

Retake

During the kicks, the goalkeeper is clearly off the goal line before the ball is kicked and saves the shot.

Correct call: Retake. Where the goalkeeper offends and the ball is prevented from entering the goal by the goalkeeper, the kick is retaken. The goalkeeper is warned for a first offence and cautioned for any subsequent one.

Common mistake: Letting the save stand because it is a shoot-out. Unless Law 10 states otherwise the relevant Laws apply, and Law 14 answers this one.

Law^10, ^19, ^25, ^39, ^42, ⁴³

Scenario 2

Kicker accidentally touches the ball twice

No goal

A kicker slips slightly and the ball brushes their standing foot immediately after the kick. The ball goes wide.

Correct call: Recorded as missed. An accidental double touch is retaken only where the ball enters the goal; where it does not, the kick counts as a miss.

Common mistake: Ordering a retake because the touch was accidental, or reaching for the indirect free kick. The indirect free kick is what Law 14 gives at a penalty kick in open play, and it has no meaning once the match has ended.

Law^19, ^22, ^23, ^24, ^39, ^40, ⁴¹

Scenario 3

Goalkeeper and kicker both offend on the same kick

Retake

The goalkeeper comes off the line early and the kicker illegally feints after completing the run-up.

Correct call: The kick is retaken, unless one of them has committed a more serious offence, and illegal feinting is the Law's own example of that.

Common mistake: Cautioning the kicker automatically because both offended. What the Laws print is the retake and the more serious offence test, and no automatic caution for the kicker.

Law^10, ^39, ⁴⁴

Scenario 4

Goalkeeper sent off during the kicks

Red card

A goalkeeper is sent off for violent conduct partway through the shoot-out.

Correct call: The goalkeeper must be replaced by an eligible player. This is the opposite of the outfield rule, where a player who cannot continue is not replaced.

Common mistake: Refusing a replacement on the basis that nobody can be replaced once the kicks start. That is the rule for players other than the goalkeeper.

Law^34, ^35, ^36, ³⁷

Scenario 5

Player on a yellow card from the match

Yellow card

A player was cautioned in the second half, steps up to take a kick, and commits a cautionable offence.

Correct call: This is their first caution of the kicks, not a second yellow, so they are not sent off. Cautions issued during the match are not carried forward into the kicks.

Common mistake: Treating the match caution as still live and dismissing the player for a second yellow.

Law^10, ^34, ³⁵

The full rule

Extra time is not automatic and neither is a shoot-out. Where competition rules require a winning team after a drawn match or a home-and-away tie, the only permitted procedures are the away goals rule, two equal periods of extra time not exceeding 15 minutes each, and penalties, and a combination of them may be used, which is the familiar extra time then kicks. Law 7 adds the small print: a short drinks break, which should not exceed one minute, is permitted at the interval of half-time in extra time. Law 3 adds the rest. Any substitutes and substitution opportunities a team has not used carry into extra time, competition rules may permit one additional substitute with one additional substitution opportunity, and a substitution made between full-time and the start of extra time, or at half-time in extra time, does not count as a used opportunity at all. The kicks are taken after the match has ended, and unless otherwise stated the relevant Laws of the Game apply, which is why the shoot-out is assumed to be a run of ordinary penalties. Law 10 then states a procedure of its own. A player sent off during the match may not take part, and warnings and cautions issued during the match are not carried forward, so a player already on a yellow starts the kicks clean. The referee tosses a coin twice, once for the goal at which the kicks are taken and once for which team goes first, and the team that wins the second toss chooses. Only players on the field of play, or temporarily off it for injury or equipment, at the end of the match are eligible, with a substitute for a goalkeeper unable to continue as the one exception, and a team with more players than its opponents must reduce to the same number and give the referee the name and number of each excluded player. Each team picks its own order of kickers and the referee is not told what it is. Both teams take five kicks, alternately, each taken by a different player, and every eligible player must take a kick before any player takes a second. Kicks stop as soon as one team has scored more than the other could reach, and if the scores are level after five each they continue until one team has scored a goal more than the other from the same number of kicks, with a team free to change the order of its kickers in any later sequence. Four rules decide most shoot-out arguments. An accidental double touch, kicking the ball with both feet at once or the ball touching the non-kicking foot or leg immediately after the kick, means the kick is retaken if the ball enters the goal and is recorded as missed if it does not, where the same thing at a penalty kick in open play gives an indirect free kick. A kicker penalised for an offence committed after the referee has signalled has the kick recorded as missed and is cautioned. A goalkeeper whose offence causes a retake is warned for the first offence and cautioned for any subsequent one. And where a player of both teams offends, the kick is retaken unless one of them commits a more serious offence. Replacement runs differently by position, which catches people out in both directions. A goalkeeper who is sent off must be replaced by an eligible player, and a goalkeeper unable to continue may be replaced by a player excluded to equalise the numbers or by a named substitute if the team has substitutes left, with the replaced goalkeeper taking no further part and no kick. A player other than the goalkeeper who cannot continue may not be replaced, and the referee must not abandon the match if a team is reduced to fewer than seven players. The kicks are not delayed for anyone who leaves the field of play, and a player who does not get back in time forfeits their kick.^1, ^2, ^3, ^4, ^5, ^6, ^7, ^8, ^9, ^10, ^11, ^12, ^13, ^14, ^15, ^16, ^17, ^18, ^19, ^22, ^23, ^24, ^25, ^26, ^27, ^28, ^29, ^30, ^31, ^32, ^33, ^34, ^36, ^37, ^38, ^39, ^40, ^41, ⁴⁴