Game Theory: The Hidden Science Behind Penalty Shootouts

from The Soccernomics Podcast · host Simon Kuper, Stefan Szymanski, Ashish Malhotra

Every World Cup has at least one memorable penalty shootout. And this weekend's Champions League Final in Budapest between PSG and Arsenal might as well. Is there a science behind the drama? We unpack it all in today's episode, where we also learn about Ashish's childhood goalkeeping exploits, and how Simon almost helped the Netherlands to World Cup glory in 2010.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published May 28, 2026

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Game Theory: The Hidden Science Behind Penalty Shootouts

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