What is the most extraordinary penalty shootout?

England’s victory over Sweden at Euro 2025 will be a valuable item when future football historians look back on the strangest and most extraordinary penalty shootouts of all time.

Five of the fourteen penalties were scored, six were saved, and three were missed by the Swedes. This was the football coach’s adaptation of The Exorcist, according to BBC pundit Ellen White, who was spot on about how “terrifying watching” was.

Shootouts are, of course, a terrifying prospect for any participant because they have so much on their hands and are so rife with danger of failure and embarrassment.

In the era of data and psychology-driven football coaching, the myth that penalties are a lottery has been dissipated, but even at the elite level, you can never quite predict what the pressure will bring to a player.

“Pressure is for tyres,” Alan Shearer fondly said as England’s men celebrated their shootout victory over Switzerland at Euro 2024.

England was the first team to miss three penalties in a row during a shootout and still win.

The Swiss spot-kicks’ 36% conversion rate was the worst in the series’ history, falling behind the semi-final match between Denmark and Austria in 2017.

In that penalty shootout, Denmark won with a score of 3-0; four of the seven spot kicks, including three from the Austrians, were missed.

There is only one answer for the worst shootout ever to occur on a major European stage, the 1986 European Cup final.

The Romanians won 2-0 on penalties after a tedious 120-minute battle between Barcelona and Steaua Bucharest.

Only 25% of the eight spot kicks found the net, out of which there were eight. Helmuth Duckadam, the goalkeeper for Steaua, saved each of Barca’s four attempts.

There are a number of instances where incompetence can be directly attributed to the odd outcome of that shootout, though the odd result could be attributed to goalkeeping prowess.

The Japanese Super Cup between Vissel Kobe and the Yokohama Marinos ended with a score of 3-2 to Vissel from 14 penalties, of which nine were apiece.

After both teams scored their opening two kicks, Yokohama, managed by one Ange Postecoglou, managed to miss five consecutive kicks while Vissel failed to succeed with four consecutive, eventually putting everyone in their misery.

The 1990 Copa Libertadores semi-final between Olimpia of Paraguay and Colombia’s Atletico Nacional and the 1985 Finnish Cup final, where Haka defeated HJK 2-1 after the first seven penalties from both teams were missed, are also included in some BBC Sport research.

Rene Higuita, the man of the big hair and scorpion kick, took on the same role as Swedish stopper Jennifer Falk against England in 2025, who saved four penalties but himself missed the crucial kick.

A penalty shootout is adored by many football fans. The potential glory, the twists, and the drama. But occasionally, they leave their mark.

The Liga Alef, Israel’s third tier, hosted the most egregious example in the 2023-24 promotion play-offs, of course. FC Dimona won Shimshon Tel Aviv 23-22 after taking 56 penalties overall.

Guy Eini, a Dimona player who scored three penalties in the shootout, said to Israeli media: “I’ve never had anything like this in my career. We made an effort to betray each other.

The longest penalty shootout in English professional football occurred just last season when Aston Villa Under-21s won the Football League Trophy 18-17 against Blackpool. 31 kicks were scored in succession during the shootout before the 32nd was saved, a world record.

The longest World Cup match between co-hosts Australia and France took place in 2023, with the Matildas winning 7-6 overall after 20 penalties were taken. I was there. I still remain in its grip.

Liverpool fans can recall lengthy shootouts, with two notable victories in the League Cup: 11-10 against Chelsea in the 2022 final and 14-13 against Middlesbrough in 2014, respectively.

Meanwhile, Villarreal’s 11-10 defeat leaves Manchester United’s fans with the prospect of a 2021 Europa League final, where David de Gea, the goalkeeper, was unable to make the decisive save.

The 2000 Africa Cup of Nations final between Nigeria and Cameroon takes place there as well. Victor Ikpeba, a Nigerian forward, saw his shot clearly over the line as it fell off the bar, but Cameroon won 4-3.

However, this author submits the play-offs between New York City FC and Orlando City to you in 2020 Major League Soccer. In our November that year report, we described it in this manner.

After both teams had taken four penalties, the shootout was set for 4-3 for Orlando, with Orlando’s Pedro Gallese believing that he had saved Valentin Castellanos’ penalty to make it 3-0.

However, the video assistant referee intervened and determined that Gallese had missed his line, leading to the dismissal of Gallese, who had been given a second yellow card for unnecessary time-wasting.

Brian Rowe was replaced by Orlando’s Brian Rowe, but the referee called it out and sent him off the field as he stood on the goal line for the retake.

Rodrigo Schlegel, an Argentine defender, chose to take the gloves.

On his second try, Castellanos scored to end the shootout, but Nani and Orlando both saved their penalty.

Before Schlegel’s heroics, when he saved Gudmundur Thorarinsson’s attempt, both teams scored, making it 5-5 before the game was over, unaware that the shootout was still being played.

Benji Michel’s goal was the play-off victory of Orlando, 6-5.