FIFA considers introducing group stage penalty shootouts in 2026 WC

FIFA is considering introducing penalty shoot-outs to the World Cup group stages, with successful teams potentially earning bonus points at the end of tied games at the 2026 tournament, according to British daily newspaper Daily Mail.
The Athletic has reported that the decision to implement shootouts - either before kick-off or at full-time - in tied group stage matches in 2026 is being discussed.
In four years time the World Cup will be held across the north American continent, with matches set to take place in each of the USA, Canada and Mexico in a trilateral tournament.
As a result, there will be an extra knockout round following the groups, with the top two sides set to qualify from the 16 three-team groups - a system adopted following a unanimous FIFA vote.
Staging the shootouts after games does however give rise to potential collusion between the countries involved - something FIFA would understandably be eager to avoid.
A situation could arise in which a particular result benefits both sides in question, and thereby eliminating the third team in the group.
Since 1986 the final round of fixtures in each group has been played at the same time in order to prevent such a circumstance from arising.
So far in Qatar the group stage has seen nine draws - with five of them goalless - which has left several groups coming down to the wire in order to decide who progresses. And FIFA's chief officer for technical development Marco van Basten has long been a proponent for the introduction of shootouts to help decide tight groups.
'Shootouts could indeed be an option for tournaments with groups of three in which you play against two opponents,' he told German outlet Sport Bild.
'It can get pretty tight. If one team for instance draws one match 0-0 and wins the other 1-0, there's a high risk that all three teams are level on points and goals in the end.'
The 2026 tournament will be the largest in the competition's long history since it was first played in 1930, when Uruguay won the first of their two titles.
However, although a unanimous vote has already passed on the topic of three teams, the conventional four-team group format has reportedly not been entirely written off.