What occurs if a penalty kick is taken and the ball goes out of bounds without touching another player?

When a penalty kick is taken, the laws of the game dictate the responsibilities and outcomes of various scenarios. If the ball goes out of bounds without touching another player after the kick, the refereeing body, namely the Laws of the Game enacted by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), specifies that play is stopped.

In this circumstance, the logical conclusion is that the ball is considered to have not been in play anymore, and since no player had the opportunity to play it after the penalty was struck, a goal kick is awarded to the defending team. This is because once the penalty kick is taken, if the ball doesn't enter the goal and simply leaves the field of play, the defending team is rewarded with the goal kick as if it had left play due to other reasons.

It is important to note that a throw-in would be inappropriate because it requires the ball to come into contact with the ground or another player when leaving the field. An indirect free kick and a retake of the penalty kick are also not applicable in this situation because those scenarios involve different circumstances that typically involve a stoppage for fouls or infractions, rather than the ball simply going out of bounds untouched.