In football, a penalty kick is a direct free kick from the 12 yard spot. It an be awarded in play for a foul by the defending side inside the area. A penalty shootout is a series of kicks from the spot, when a game (usually in a cup tournament, or a promotion/relegation match) ends undecided.

If there is no penalty miss during a penalty shootout, the team that scores the most goals from their penalties will win the shootout. In the event of a tie, the shootout may go into sudden death, where each team takes one penalty at a time until one team scores and the other misses.