Pens is an abbreviation for penalties, mate 😃
In the knockout stages of a tournament, if the scoreline is tied after 90 minutes there is an extra-time period of 30 minutes to see if one team can triumph. If the scores are still level, penalties are then used to decide the winner.
Each team gets 5 penalties each - whoever scores the most penalties, wins. Each penalty has to be taken by a different player.
However, on occasion, the ties are still level after the 5 penalties are taken… this then results in a further round of 1 penalty each (sometimes referred to as ‘sudden death penalties’) - to be taken by players who have not yet taken a penalty - and it continues until there is a winner.
Sometimes this results in both goalkeepers taking penalties, occasionally against each other - which is quite a rare event, and usually fun/entertaining to watch.
If the scores are still level after everyone has taken a penalty - it just resets back to the players who originally took the set of 5 penalties - and continues until there is a winner…
This video may show / explain it better (a 15-14 win on penalties for Liverpool a couple of years back)…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Din-5WeGwNs
😉
If it was up to me, if teams were still tied after the 30 minute extra time period, I would turn off the clock and have them play soccer until someone scores. (Team that scores wins the game)
well, after playing for 120 minutes the players are usually exhausted, and most of them have ran something like 10 miles, so making them play until someone scores sounds brutal, because that could last for several more minutes.
what you described is how extra time used to be though. in brazil we called it ‘sudden death’ - the first team to score in extra time would automatically win. when it was like that, every attack from the adversary was a mini heart attack, so i’m kind of glad that that’s no longer how extra time works.