Messi sets unwanted World Cup record for most penalties missed

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·23. Juni 2026

Messi sets unwanted World Cup record for most penalties missed

Messi missed a penalty in the ninth minute of Argentina’s match against Austria on Monday, becoming the player with the most spot-kick misses in World Cup history, according to Opta.

It was the first penalty failure of this World Cup.

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He had previously been denied by the goalkeeper against Iceland in 2018, then against Poland in 2022, taking his tally of missed penalties at the tournament to three.

Messi has also taken the most World Cup penalties, seven across his six editions.

The latest miss means Argentina now have the lowest penalty conversion rate in World Cup history among nations to have taken at least 10, scoring 12 of 17.

Argentina still broke the deadlock against Austria through Messi, who in doing so became the World Cup’s all-time top scorer with 17.

Source: L'Équipe