Germany have done it to others for decades. On Tuesday, it was done to them. Their first-ever World Cup penalty shootout defeat at the 2026 tournament has reopened one of football's oldest arguments: is this really the best we can do?
Dramatic? Yes. Gripping? Absolutely. Fair? That depends entirely on which side of the result you're standing.
The mechanics of extra time have shifted over the years — the golden goal era came and went, silver goals flickered briefly into existence — but the shootout has remained largely unchanged. Twelve yards, one goalkeeper, and the weight of a nation. We asked our writers whether there's a better way.
The case for keeping it — and tweaking around the edges
Several writers landed in the same place: penalties aren't broken, so stop trying to fix them. The shootout is the ultimate test of nerve, and anyone who thinks otherwise has probably never stood over a ball at that distance with everything on the line.
One suggestion that got real traction was pairing the golden goal format with progressive player removal. Start extra time 10-v-10. Nobody scores after 15 minutes? Drop to 9-v-9. Keep going until the pitch opens up enough that a goal becomes inevitable. No shrinking the field, no artificial constraints — just space, and players too tired and too outnumbered to keep it goalless. Extra substitutions at each interval would manage the fitness concerns.
The early MLS hockey-style shootout also got a genuine endorsement: players starting 35 yards out, five seconds to beat the keeper — dribble or shoot, your call. It was scrapped in the late 1990s, which in retrospect looks like a mistake. More skill-based than a standing penalty, more tense than a corner kick. Why it never spread to the wider game is genuinely puzzling.
The wilder alternatives
Not every proposal was conventional. Ideas floated by our writers included:
- Unlimited golden goal extra time — remove the penalty safety net entirely and teams will have no choice but to attack
- A hybrid format: one penalty, two free kicks from the D, then shots from each corner of the box — variation without reinvention
- Reducing to a 5-v-5 game on half a pitch, dropping players every 15 minutes until someone scores or both teams are eliminated for "incompetence"
- An Olympic-style judges' panel scoring the match — with powers to end boring games early for the benefit of journalists on deadline
- A card game called SkyJo, which at least one writer claims to be unbeatable at
- A chicken wing eating contest, with some wings lemon-and-herb and others laced with something considerably more punishing
The eating contest proposal came with a specific casting suggestion: Austria's Marko Arnautovic as the man nobody wants across the table. That one probably won't make the FIFA task force report.
One writer made the sharpest structural argument of the lot: the real problem isn't penalties, it's extra time. Thirty minutes of cautious, substitution-heavy football that rarely produces a result and often favours the deeper squad. Cut extra time down, or scrap it entirely and go straight to penalties. The shootout at least delivers drama on demand. Extra time, more often than not, just delays it.
Germany know that now better than anyone. After decades of putting other nations through this particular hell, they've finally joined the other side. The shootout remains unchanged. So does the pain.
