Late penalty substitutes at Euros and World Cups usually miss | OneFootball

Late penalty substitutions keep backfiring at major tournaments. Opta notes eight of the last 10 introduced after 115 minutes at Euros or World Cups then failed from the spot.

At the 2026 World Cup round of 32, Paraguay sent on Fabian Balbuena in the 120th minute against Germany. The fifth taker could win it, but Manuel Neuer saved, and Paraguay advanced 4-3 after 1-1.

Hours later, Justin Kluivert entered in the 113th minute for the Netherlands against Morocco and also missed. Morocco went through 3-2 on penalties after 1-1.

In 2006, Sven-Göran Eriksson sent on Jamie Carragher at 119 minutes against Portugal in Gelsenkirchen. Like Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, he was denied by Ricardo as Portugal won 3-1 on penalties.

At Euro 2016 in Bordeaux, Simone Zaza came on in added time and, after a notorious run-up, blazed over against Neuer. Graziano Pellè, Leonardo Bonucci and Matteo Darmian also failed, Germany progressing 6-5 on penalties after 1-1.

At the Euro 2020 final, Gareth Southgate introduced Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford in the 120th minute. Rashford, third taker, hit a post, Sancho, fourth, was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma as England lost 3-2 after 1-1.

In 2022, both Morocco and Spain made late changes. Pablo Sarabia, first up for Spain, hit Bounou’s right post, while Badr Benoun, Morocco’s third taker after a 120th-minute entry, was stopped by Unai Simon as Morocco won 3-0 after 0-0. Bounou also denied Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets.

One exception came in 2014. Louis van Gaal replaced Jasper Cillessen with Tim Krul at 120 minutes against Costa Rica, and Krul saved from Bryan Ruiz and Michael Umana to send the Netherlands into the last four.

Source: L'Équipe