A new UEFA record was set as Gżira United beat Glentoran 14-13 on penalties in the second leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round at The Oval in Belfast on Thursday. 

The first 27 penalties were successfully converted before Gzira goalkeeper David Cassar neutralised Leon Philip Boyd’s effort.

The previous record was held by Shamrock Rovers and Ilves Tampere. In 2020, the UEFA Europa League clash between the two had to be determined by a penalty shoot-out following a 2-2 draw at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin. The hosts won 12-11 on penalties with Shamrock Rovers missing once and Ilves twice.

Prior to this game, the highest scoring shoot-outs in UEFA competition history ran to 21 conversions. Latvia’s Skonto overcame Olimpija Ljubljana of Slovenia 11-10 in the 1993/94 UEFA Champions League preliminary round, and Villarreal beat Manchester United 11-10 in the 2021 UEFA Europa League final.

However, the longest penalty shoot-out in a UEFA competition is the 2007 UEFA Under-21 Championship semi-final between the Netherlands and England had 32 attempts before the Dutch hosts prevailed 13-12 in the longest shoot-out in any UEFA competition.