There have been a host of penalty shootouts at FIFA World Cups since they were introduced ahead of the 1978 tournament as a tiebreaker, but which countries have had the best shootout record and what nation is right to have the fear factor about the dreaded match-decider?
We look at the facts around World Cup penalty shootouts ahead of this year’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
How Many Penalty Shootouts Have There Been in World Cup History?
There have been 35 penalty shootouts in World Cups, with the first of those coming on 8 June 1982, when West Germany eliminated France 5-4 in a shootout to progress to the final.
The game had ended 3-3, with four of those goals coming in extra time, and is best remembered for Harald Schumacher’s horrendous challenge on France’s Patrick Battiston. To rub salt into the French wounds, Schumacher was to be the German hero in the shootout, saving two penalties before Horst Hrubesch scored the winning penalty.
The 2022 World Cup saw five matches go to a penalty shootout – the most in the history of the tournament. That included the final between France and Argentina, which became just the third World Cup final to go to penalties after 1994 (Brazil vs Italy) and 2006 (Italy vs France).
Four World Cup tournaments have seen as many as four penalty shootouts to decide matches, with 1990, 2006, 2014 and 2018 all producing that tally.
Funnily enough, the only World Cup without a single penalty shootout since they were introduced as a tiebreaker in 1978 was… 1978.
Argentina have been involved in the most penalty shootouts in World Cup history (seven), with two of those coming in the 2022 finals against Netherlands in the quarter-finals, and France in the final. They won all of those shootouts except the 2006 quarter-final tie against Germany in Berlin.
Which Country Has the Best Record in World Cup Penalty Shootouts?
Based on history, there are two teams that you don’t want to face in a World Cup penalty shootout: Germany or Croatia. Both nations have won all four shootouts that they’ve been involved in.
West Germany’s semi-final shootout win against France in 1982 – the first penalty shootout in World Cup history – started their run, which was followed by shootout victories against Mexico in 1986 (quarter-final), England in 1990 (semi-final) and Argentina in 2006 (quarter-final), which was their first as a reunified Germany.
Croatia are the only other nation to have been involved in more than one shootout and to have a 100% progression rate. The Croatians have defeated Denmark (last 16 in 2018), Russia (quarter-final in 2018), Japan (last 16 in 2022) and Brazil (quarter-final in 2022) in their four World Cup penalty shootouts.
Other nations to have participated in just one World Cup penalty shootout and win it are Belgium, Bulgaria, South Korea, Morocco, Paraguay, Portugal, Sweden, Ukraine and Uruguay.
Argentina have won more World Cup penalty shootouts than any other nation (six)
Which Country Has the Worst Record in World Cup Penalty Shootouts?
Spain have been involved in five World Cup penalty shootouts but have won just one (20%). Their four shootout defeats are the most in the history of the competition.
Their most recent one came in the 2022 World Cup in the round of 16 versus Morocco, and it was arguably their worst of the lot. Spain failed to score a single penalty in that shootout, losing 3-0 and becoming just the second team to not score in a World Cup penalty shootout after Switzerland vs Ukraine in 2006.
Spain’s previous two penalty shootout defeats were against a host nation – in the 2002 quarters versus South Korea and in the 2018 round of 16 against Russia.
They lost their first ever World Cup penalty shootout against Belgium in the 1986 quarter-finals, before picking up their only shootout victory in the competition versus the Republic of Ireland in 2002, just before that defeat to South Korea.
Four nations have lost as many as three penalty shootouts at World Cup finals – England, Italy, France and the Netherlands.England lost each of their first three at the World Cup – in 1990 in the semi-finals versus West Germany, in 1998 in the round of 16 against Argentina, and in 2006 versus Portugal in the quarter-finals. England finally ended their poor shootout run with a 4-3 victory over Colombia at the 2018 World Cup in the last 16.
Italy lost their first three World Cup penalty shootouts as well – vs Argentina in the 1990 semi-finals, vs Brazil in the 1994 final, and against France in the 1998 quarter-finals. Their barren run ended at the best possible time, however. getting revenge on France in the 2006 final.
France’s last two penalty shootout losses have come in World Cup finals, losing against Italy in 2006 and Argentina in 2022.
The Netherlands have also suffered defeat in their last two World Cup penalty shootouts, both coming versus Argentina. The first was in their 2014 semi-final clash, before they were knocked out on penalties by them once again in the 2022 quarter-finals.
Japan, Mexico and Romania have been involved in the most World Cup penalty shootouts without ever winning one (two each), while other nations to only participate in a single shootout in the competition and lose are Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ghana, Greece, Switzerland and Yugoslavia.
The Longest Penalty Shootout in World Cup History
Only two World Cup penalty shootouts have seen as many as 12 penalties taken – one of those was in the first shootout ever in the competition: West Germany’s win over France in the 1982 semi-final.Nine penalties were scored, which still hasn’t been beaten to this day (but equalled on three occasions since).
The only other penalty shootout to see 12 penalties taken was at USA ’94, when Romania and Sweden took six each and the shootout ended in a 5-4 win for the Swedes. Goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli crucially saved from Miodrag Belodedici to win the quarter-final tie for his country.
The longest World Cup penalty shootout in terms of time came in June 1990 when the Republic of Ireland defeated Romania – David O’Leary’s famous winning penalty came after nine minutes and 12 seconds of shootout action.
The Shortest Penalty Shootout in World Cup History
Three World Cup penalty shootouts have seen only seven penalties taken – those have been the shortest in tournament history.
In 1986, West Germany only needed to take four penalties to defeat Mexico in their quarter-final tie, as the Mexicans saw their second and third penalties saved by Harald Schumacher.
Another World Cup penalty shootout to see as few as seven spot-kicks taken was Ukraine versus Switzerland in 2006. Switzerland lost the shootout 3-0 following a 0-0 draw after extra time.
In December 2022, Morocco defeated Spain 3-0 in the last 16, which came after another 0-0 draw following extra time.
Both of those shootout efforts by Spain and Switzerland saw them fail to score with any of their three penalties in the shootout – the only two occasions of a team not converting any of their kicks in a World Cup penalty shootout.
What’s the Record Number of Penalties Saved in a World Cup Penalty Shootout?
The most penalties saved by a goalkeeper in a single World Cup penalty shootout is three, and it’s happened on three separate occasions.
Ricardo saved three of England’s penalties at the 2006 World Cup. The Portuguese shot-stopper denied Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher in the 3-1 quarter-final shootout victory in Gelsenkirchen.
Danijel Subasic is another to save three penalties in a single World Cup penalty shootout, doing so for Croatia against Denmark in the 2018 round of 16. The Croats won 3-2 on penalties after Subasic saved from Christian Eriksen, Lasse Schöne and Nicolai Jørgensen.
Compatriot Dominik Livakovic replicated the feat in Croatia’s 2022 World Cup campaign, saving three of Japan’s efforts from Takumi Minamino, Maya Yoshida and Kaoru Mitoma in their last-16 tie.
Both Livakovic (in 2022) and Subasic (in 2018) saved four penalties in penalty shootouts for Croatia in those World Cup tournaments, equalling the record by a goalkeeper in a single World Cup edition, a feat first recorded by Argentina’s Sergio Goycochea in 1990.
Only two goalkeepers have got through a World Cup penalty shootout without conceding a single attempt.
Oleksandr Shovkovskiy was the first. He saved two for Ukraine against Switzerland in the 2006 World Cup round-of-16 tie, also seeing Tranquillo Barnetta hit the post from his penalty kick for the Swiss in the 3-0 shootout win.
Yassine Bounou was the second, in Morocco’s 3-0 shootout win over Spain in the 2022 last 16. Pablo Sarabia’s penalty hit the post before Bounou saved from both Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets to help the Moroccans advance to the quarter-finals.
Which Players have Been Involved in the Most Penalty Shootouts?
Only three players have been involved in as many as three different World Cup penalty shootouts: Roberto Baggio, Lionel Messi and Luka Modric.
Both Messi and Modric have scored with all their three of their penalty attempts within shootouts and their teams were successful on each occasion.
All three of Messi’s penalties have seen him step up as the first taker for Argentina, but the second overall in the shootout, including the 2022 World Cup final. Every one of Modric’s three shootout penalties have been as Croatia’s third taker.Baggio is unfortunately probably best known for his miss in the 1994 World Cup final against Brazil, which decided the destination of the trophy. Sandwiching this penalty woe were successful attempts for Italy in the 1990 semi-final against Argentina and the 1998 quarter-final against France – although the Azzurri also lost both of these penalty shootouts.
Ivan Rakitić is the only player to score the decisive/winning penalty in a World Cup penalty shootout on more than one occasion. Both came at the 2018 World Cup in Croatia’s victories against Denmark in the round of 16 and Russia in the quarter-finals.
Which Penalty is Most Likely to be Missed in a Shootout?
Ignoring the two occasions that a World Cup penalty shootout has reached sudden death, with 11th and 12th penalties taken, it is penalty number eight in World Cup shootouts that gives players the biggest chance of being labelled the villain.
Just 59.4% of penalties taken eighth in a World Cup shootout have been converted (19 of 32), just about higher than the next penalty in shootouts, with the ninth taker scoring 64.0% of the time (16 of 25).
The data suggests that all teams have at least three confident penalty takers, with the first three spot-kicks taken by both sides across the previous World Cup shootouts having a success rate above 71%. After that, the historical rate drops to between 64.2% and 66.7% for the fourth and fifth penalties by both nations.
Since 1978, World Cup penalties in normal and extra time have been converted at a rate of 79.1% – a higher rate than the World Cup penalty shootout success of 69.4%.
Obviously, in regular match time, nations will have a designated penalty taker who you’d expect to convert at a higher rate than other players in the team with less experience and expertise from the spot. However, the element of ‘penalty shootout’ pressure also undoubtedly plays a part, psychologically.
Should You Take the First Penalty in a World Cup Penalty Shootout?
The penalty shootout is often referred to as a lottery, and the element of luck comes into play even before the first penalty is taken.
Teams take turns in a shootout, with the choice of who goes first decided by a coin toss. Team A goes first, then team B, then team A again and so on.
So, should you win the toss and take the first penalty, is that beneficial to your chances of winning the shootout? The data from previous World Cup tournaments isn’t really going to help us answer this one conclusively – it’s a fifty-fifty split down the middle.
Seventeen of the 35 penalty shootouts in World Cup history have been won by the team taking the first penalty, and the other 18 have been won by the team taking the second penalty.
A weird quirk, and surely nothing more than that, is that nine of the last 11 World Cup penalty shootouts (82%) have seen the team taking the first penalty in the shootout lose. It’s important to note that five of those nine have seen their first penalty saved by the opposition goalkeeper, however, setting the tone and giving the opposition an immediate confidence boost.
Of the 10 occasions that a team taking the first penalty in a World Cup shootout have missed that spot-kick, only two have recovered to win – Sweden versus Romania in 1994 and Ukraine versus Switzerland in 2006.
Where in the Goal Should you Aim in a World Cup Penalty Shootout?
This is the golden question. Looking at the image below, it’s clear that most people logically try to place their penalties in the bottom corners of the goal during World Cup penalty shootouts, with nearly a quarter (23.9%) of all shootout penalties being placed in the two zones low inside each post.
Looking at where each World Cup penalty shootout attempt has been scored, it’s again clear that most successful attempts have been to the side of the goalkeeper.
But when it comes to conversion rate of World Cup penalty shootout attempts, the historic data suggests that if you hit it high into the goal then you’re onto a winner. There have been 39 World Cup penalty shootout attempts fired into the top third of the goal (on target) – none of them have been saved.
Aiming high at the goal has it obvious risks and it’s certainly the most high-risk, high-reward strategy for taking a penalty – even world class talents like Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi can’t be expected to place every penalty with this much accuracy.
Fourteen penalties have either hit the crossbar or gone over the crossbar in World Cup penalty shootouts since they were introduced – most famously Roberto Baggio’s miss for Italy against Brazil in the 1994 final.
Enjoy this? Add Opta Analyst as a preferred source by clicking here.
Subscribe to our football newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You should also follow our social accounts over on X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
World Cup Penalty Shootouts: The Facts Opta Analyst.
Hence then, the article about world cup penalty shootouts the facts was published today ( ) and is available on The Analyst ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( World Cup Penalty Shootouts: The Facts )
Also on site :