European Football Championships on channels 14.6.–14.7. Go to the competition website from this link.
A new trend has been seen in the penalty kicks of the European Football Championship, which has frustrated both goalkeepers and experts.
Goalkeepers have repeatedly protested penalty kicks, in which the shooters lose their momentum already by almost stopping before the ball.
– Nowadays, you can actually stand still, make a long stop. In my opinion, there should be some rats for that in the future, Urheilu’s expert Markus Halsti said during the quarterfinal between Germany and Denmark.
Germany’s Kai Havertz had just given a great example of picking up speed that frustrates goalkeepers.
The rules of penalty kicks also spoke at the 2022 World Cup. The final of the tournament was finally the turning point when the goalkeeper of Argentina Emiliano Martinez drew both praise and criticism by disrupting and delaying the French shooters.
While Laukoja was getting ready, he was jumping sideways on the goal line and waving his arms. After France’s missed penalty kicks, he danced for the cameras and spectators. In the middle of the penalty shootout, he also received a yellow card for his actions.
The uproar led to rule changes that were implemented in 2023. Goalkeepers are not allowed to unfairly interfere with shots or delay a shot. They are also not allowed to touch the goal net or the goal frame, as some have done in the past to make the goal “shake” to distract the shooter.
The new rules have shackled goalkeepers. They got a quick knock out from some top defenders like the French national team From Mike Maignanwho joked that according to the 2026 rule changes, the goalkeeper must turn his back before the shot and after the save would be followed by an indirect free kick.
Now the object of wonder is the shooters. Their actions are not yet bound in the same way as goalkeepers, and the consequences have been seen in European Championship football.
From steady steps to dance steps
Shooters are allowed to fool around in their acceleration, but they are not allowed to use fake shots. When the acceleration is done, you have to kick.
In the group stage match between Poland and France, Poland Robert Lewandowski used the same blur momentum twice just against Maignan.
Maignan tried to use his old tricks by marching to the spot to wait for Lewandowski and the ball, then backing away slowly with his hands up. The referee of the match intervened in Maignan’s actions, but casually.
When Lewandowski stepped, Maignan flinched a couple of times in reaction to the attacker’s steps. He parried the first attempt, but came back with a bang. The goalkeeper must keep at least one foot above, above or behind the goal line during the penalty kick.
The kick was renewed and Lewandowski used the same trick. Maignan guessed correctly again, but did not stretch to save and Poland equalized.
A dizzying pace can easily tempt goalkeepers to come forward prematurely. Annoyed, Maignan re-shared his update criticizing the old rule change on Instagram.
The opposite of slow pace is steady progress towards the ball. In general, it is then easy to assess the acceleration and also the moment when the ball leaves the foot is easier to predict. A steady acceleration therefore gives the goalkeeper a better opportunity to at least time his own effort.
For example, Slovenia’s shooters took a straight forward pace in the quarterfinal shootout against Portugal, and Portugal’s goalkeeper Diogo Costa repulsed all three attempts.
– The moment when the ball moves was predictable from the direct speed. Portugal went crazy. They slowed down or took a longer look at the goalkeeper’s movement. The difference in the quality of the individuals came out blatantly in the comma race, Urheilu’s expert Mika Nurmela said on the 11 friends podcast.
In contrast, for example Cristiano Ronaldo slowed his momentum before the shot and forced the goalkeeper to wait and guess.
An example corresponding to the group stage was Croatia Luka Modrić’s attempt against Italy. Modrić approached the ball in a quite conventional way and Unai Simón repelled.
In this situation, however, Croatia scored from the immediate aftermath, so other penalty kick rules came into play. The shot was disallowed after video review as the Croatian player had stepped inside the penalty area before the ball left Modrić’s foot.
The video referee intervened in the game when Ivan Perisic was in a decisive position in the goal that followed the penalty kick. The ball came from the save to Perišić, who passed it to the scorer.
The rules have changed in the same direction for defensive players as well. They are also allowed to sneak into the penalty area prematurely, if they do not influence the course of the situation in a decisive way, for example by tackling an attacker who gets to the ball. Previously, the line was more absolute, and the line of the penalty area simply could not be crossed.
The races are followed moment by moment in the app and on ‘s website in this article.