Penalty shootouts let you experience all the excitement, tension, and disappointments that are involved in the game of football. When a penalty shootout is prolonged to, say 30-40 kicks, it is as good as a roller-coaster ride for players and fans alike. Over time, technology in football has gone better, and VAR has been introduced to assist the on-field referees to make better decisions on the fouls committed, especially in the penalty area, to reward the penalties. But when the match is still undecided after the extra time. The decision solely depends on the penalty shootouts. On May 26th, 2021, in the Europa League finals, Villarreal won a marathon penalty shootout against Manchester United.
Here in this article, we take a look at the longest penalty shootouts in the history of football.
5. Netherlands U-21s 13 – 12 England U-21s
In 2007, while facing each other in the U-21 European Championships, developmental sides of European giants in the Netherlands and England faced off. It took 32 spot-kicks to decide a winner at the end.
Some of the notable players that took part in this goal-fest were Ashley Young, James Milner, and Anton Ferdinand (who missed the deciding penalty) on England’s team while the Netherlands had Ryan Babel, Royston Drenthe, and Gianni Zuiverloon, among others.
4. Scunthorpe United 14 – 13 Worcester City
The current FA Cup record for the longest penalty shootout is held by Scunthorpe and Worcester City when their second-round fixture game could not be decided in regulation time.
The epic shootout saw League One side Scunthorpe United emerge victorious over non-league Worcester City after 32-spot-kicks as they moved forward into the third round.
3. Liverpool FC 14 – 13 Middlesborough
Back in 2014, when the EFL Trophy was known as the Capital One Cup, Liverpool faced a valiant Middlesbrough in the third round of the competition. The match was undecided in the regulation time and therefore needed to be settled by a penalty shootout.
Incredibly, Rickie Lambert was again involved in an epic penalty shootout that took 30 spot-kicks in front of the Kop End to decide a winner. The Red marched into the fourth round after Albert Adomah of Middlesborough missed his penalty.
2. Olympiacos 15 – 14 Aek Athens
In the Greek Cup final back in 2009, two of the Greek football giants in Olympiakos and AEK Athens clashed and were inseparable. The match saw both sides finish on equal terms, with the scoreline at 4-4 after the regulation and extra time where penalties were required to decide a competition winner.
After what ensued was an epic shootout, and it was finally won by Olympiakos when goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis fired home the winning penalty after saving the penalty hit by the opposition custodian.
1. KK Palace 17 – 16 The Civics
The world record for the longest penalty shoot-out in a professional football game happened in 2005 when KK Palace and The Civics clashed in the Namibian Cup.
After a 2-2 draw in the regulation time and no winner was found after the extra time, the winner was decided after a marathon 48-kick penalty shootout.
