FIFA is considering introducing penalty shootouts in the GROUP STAGE of the 2026 World Cup – to award bonus points if a game ends in a draw at the 48-team tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico
FIFA is considering introducing penalty shoot-outs in the World Cup group stages, with successful teams potentially earning bonus points at the end of tied matches at the 2026 tournament.
In four years, the World Cup will be played across the entire North American continent, with matches taking place in the USA, Canada and Mexico in a trilateral tournament.
As a result, there will be an additional knockout stage after the groups, in which the top two teams from the 16 groups of three will qualify – a system adopted following a unanimous FIFA vote.
However, conducting the post-match shootouts leads to potential collusion between the countries involved – something FIFA understandably is keen to avoid.
A situation could arise where a particular outcome benefits both sides involved, thereby eliminating the third team in the group.
Since 1986, the finals matches in each group have been played simultaneously to prevent such a circumstance.
FIFA is considering introducing penalty shootouts in the group stage of the 2026 World Cup
The shootouts could take place before or after kick-off, with teams possibly arriving on points and goal difference for their last game, meaning that if the last game also ended in a tie, the winner of the shootout would advance.
So far in Qatar there have been nine draws in the group stage – five of them goalless – which has led to several groups starting to decide who advances.
And FIFA chief of technical development Marko van Basten has long been a proponent of introducing shootouts to help decide tight groups at tournaments.
Denmark’s 0-0 draw with Tunisia on 22 November was the first of five such results so far
“Shootouts could actually be an option for tripartite tournaments where you play against two opponents,” he told Sport Bild.
“It can get pretty tight. For example, if one team draws a game 0-0 and the other wins 1-0, there is a high risk that all three teams will end up tied on points and goals.”