List of FIFA World Cup penalty shoot-outs

This is a list of all penalty shoot-outs that have taken place in the final tournaments of the Men's FIFA World Cup.[1]

For knockout matches tied after regulation and extra time, the first editions of the Men's World Cup up until 1958 used the rule of replaying the game. With fixtures becoming increasingly crowded, drawn matches from 1962 in quarter-finals and semi-finals would have been decided by drawing of lots.[2] Replacement of the rules was first proposed in 1970 to the IFAB,[3] and penalty shoot-outs were adopted for the new format of the 1978 tournament,[4] although the replay rule for the final matches remained in place until 1982.[2]

In practice, penalty shootouts did not occur before 1982. Three times, in 1994, 2006, and 2022, the Men's World Cup title has been decided by a penalty shoot-out.[5][6] Of the 35 shoot-outs that have taken place in the competition, only two reached the sudden death stage after still being tied at the end of "best of five kicks". Three times the shootouts required only 7 kicks, compared to the theoretical minimum of 6 kicks necessary.

  1. ^ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia". FIFA.com. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Why penalty shoot-outs were introduced". fifamuseum.com. 22 April 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). ssbra.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "World Cup penalty shootout rules: How it works, ABBA system or ABAB". 11 July 2018. Archived from the original on 5 July 2018.
  5. ^ "FIFA world cup penalty kicks continue as part of soccers history". The Guardian. July 2014. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  6. ^ McCarra, Kevin (10 July 2006). "Italy strike gold as Zidane sees red". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 October 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2016.