Before replays, coin tosses and lot draws, the 1968 European Championship saw Italy advance to the final after a heads‑or‑tails win over the Soviet Union, then beat Yugoslavia in a replay. The frustration of luck‑based endings sparked debate and set the stage for a new method that would change football forever for generations of players today.

In 1969, Israeli FA officials Yosef Dagan and Michael Almog drafted a proposal to replace draws with a five‑kick shootout, escalating the idea to FIFA. The International Football Association Board adopted the concept at its 27 June 1970 AGM in Inverness, eliminating chance methods in favour of skill‑based resolution for teams, fans, and governing bodies.

The first official shootout appeared in the 1970 Watney Cup, where Hull City faced Manchester United. Chris Chilton opened the scoring, Denis Law equalised, and the match entered extra time. The crowd gasped as the first penalties unfolded, marking a historic shift from luck to pressure for players, managers, and spectators alike in the game.

Subsequent tournaments embraced the format, with the 1976 European Championship deciding a title via penalty shootout and the World Cup finals in 1994, 2006, and 2022 also ending in kicks. Today, 24% of shootout penalties miss, a statistic that keeps managers calculating risk and fans living on the edge of every ball for the next game.