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Football (Soccer) vocabulary · Competitions & Results

Penalty shootout

Meaning in football (soccer), with examples

/ˈpenəlti ˌʃuːtaʊt/nounCore term

In football (soccer), penalty shootout means: The way a drawn knockout match is decided: each team takes five penalties in turn, then one each in sudden death if they are still level.

In Turkish: penaltı atışları, seri penaltı atışları

How it is used

A match goes to penalties or is decided on penalties, and a team wins or loses the shootout. In the Laws of the Game it is called kicks from the penalty mark. Shootout goals do not count in the score: a result is written as 1-1, won 4-3 on penalties.

Example sentences

  1. We lost the penalty shootout 5-4 after a goalless draw.

  2. Our keeper is brilliant in a penalty shootout.

Common collocations

  • win a penalty shootout
  • go to a penalty shootout
  • decided on penalties
  • sudden death
  • penaltyA shot at goal from the penalty spot, 11 metres (12 yards) from the goal line, given when a defender commits a direct free-kick offence inside their own penalty area.
  • extra timeTwo additional periods of 15 minutes played in some knockout matches when the score is level after 90 minutes; if it is still level, a penalty shootout follows.
  • drawA result in which both teams finish the match with the same number of goals. As a verb, to draw means to finish level.
  • goalkeeperThe player who defends the goal and is the only one allowed to handle the ball, but only inside their own penalty area.

More terms: Competitions & Results

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