For those who think that penalty shoot outs shouldn't decide games because of the one-on-one aspect and those who think that continuing to play beyond 120 minutes until a winner is decided will tire the players I would like to offer a solution. It is a best of five free kick shootout. You can see a video of the idea, albeit indoors, at http://www.womenssoccerunited.com/video/nadeshikojapan-vs-comedianteam.
The Bleacher Report did an article about ten alternatives to penalty shoot outs, including free kick shootouts. The whole article is at http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1195909-10-alternatives-to-a-penalty-shootout.
But what if the free kick shootouts involve all of the team members who are on the pitch at the end of extra time, similar to when a team is awarded a free kick. The kick should be outside the penalty area and it requires the team who is not kicking the ball to do defensive work.
That's still basically 1-on-1. It comes down to the kicker and the goalkeeper. Unless you allow passing, but that would introduce a whole slew of other problems/complications (how many passes do you allow? Can the same player take all 5 shots? etc).
The free kick shootout is not a perfect solution to how to end the game. However it would introduce a team element to it and it would not be an exact 1-on-1 like in a penalty shootout. The free kick shootout can include passing. It can be played like a free kick situation during regular and extra time.
Well, if you want to get technical, a penalty shootout is 6-v-6, not 1-on-1, since at least 6 players on each team contribute to the outcome. But yeah... there is no perfect solution.
Here is another idea about how to end the game which can use the teamwork element. In each round one of the teams starts from their area and tries to go to the other side. If it can be done within two minutes the team gets a point, otherwise the other team gets a point. However, if the other team, within the two minute time period, is able to score within the starting team's goal, they get a point. The team kicking first is rotated after each round. For arguement's sake let's say that there are nine rounds. First team to get five points win.
If this is right then Brazil ALL TIME 11 will win every WC: I will put Pele/Garrincha , Zico Juninho, and R Cenni in GK (5 best FK all times) along with (Carlos Alberto, N Santos D Santos, Aldair, De Guia, and Dunga) then they will win every single WC ??? LOL
james how the hell are you gonna compile an all time team to take freekicks when half of the players you mentioned are in caskets
it was a sarcastic example to the flaw of that... FK is by no means represent the better team ... as it was more of an individual skillset. Look any player even a GK could have shoot and score at a penalty kick, but NOT every player could have shoot FK correctly ....
A penalty shootout could have more or less than 5 shooters on each team and could even have an unequal number of attempts by the two teams. It could involve all 22 players if it stayed tied long enough. In the rare event that it was 3-0 after 3 kicks each, it would be 4-v-4. If it was 3-1 after 3 kicks each and the team with 3 kicked next and scored, it would be 5-v-4. I'm including the goalkeeper like you did and assuming that the goalkeeper would not be one of the first penalty kick takers on his team.
While I am still leaning toward penalty shootout as deciding factor for SOLELY EXCITEMENT point of view of a fan, that "penalty shootout" method is probably the best "news selling point" rather than a "fair method" to decide which team shall be the winner I thought I had posted an ALTERNATIVE solution: 0 - GOLDEN goal rule 1- Go on in extra time 15-20mins with 8 players per side (more open space to score) 2- after every 15-20mins (w.o a goal), take off 1 player on the coach choice, until a goal is scored! This is more FAIR as the team still playing to their best - NO LUCK involved like PK