FIFA requested that the number of coin tosses before a shootout changes from two to one Molly Darlington/Getty Images
June 29, 2026 Updated 7:33 pm EDT
FIFA’s hope to have the rules on penalty shootouts tweaked from the knockout stages at the World Cup will not be implemented after discussions with IFAB.
Under the proposal, it would have meant there is just one coin toss before a shootout instead of two.
However, there was reluctance to alter the regulations in-competition, though it may be revisited at a later date.
IFAB’s current rules note that a referee is required to conduct two coin tosses ahead of a penalty shootout, with the team that wins the first one deciding which end they want the penalties to take place. A second coin toss then takes place, only this time the winning captain selects whether their team shoots first or second.
If FIFA’s suggested tweak to the rules had been successful, then the winning team would either pick the end they want to shoot from or whether to go first or second.
The team that lost the coin toss would then be given the other choice.
This would avoid a repeat of the Champions League final in May, which saw Paris Saint-Germain win both coin tosses to decide the end they were taken from and their order.
In that instance, the first coin toss was neutral — so referee decides which side of the coin means which side of the pitch — while the second coin toss is the one that the captains aim to win to decide who goes first in the shootout.
When FIFA made the proposal to IFAB, it was always on the understanding that it may not be approved due to the World Cup already being underway.
Jun 30, 2026
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