The best penalty takers of all time: Kane scrapes the top 10 | OneFootball

Penalty shoot-outs decide games and sometimes titles, but only a few players can be relied on to score. A ranking by transfermarkt.de shows who is really ice-cold from the spot – and who is missing.

Ronald Koeman tops the list of the best penalty takers of all time. The former FC Barcelona defender has scored 124 penalties with an impressive 94% success rate. There are also some illustrious names behind him: Hugo Sánchez, once a star at Real Madrid, is in second place with an identical success rate on 78 attempts. Diego Maradona completes the top trio with 93% on 58 penalties taken.

Strikingly, neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo made it into the top 20. Instead, the list includes a number of legends who are rarely associated with penalty-taking prowess in public discourse. Jean-Pierre Papin and Lyuboslav Penev are ranked fourth and fifth respectively. Among active players, Harry Kane ranks highest – with 89% from 107 penalties.

Kane was inspired by Neymar

The England captain fundamentally overhauled his technique after missing a penalty against France at the 2022 World Cup. Speaking to TNT Sports Brasil in the spring, the attacker explained: „When I missed that penalty at the World Cup, I felt I could make a change – especially when you get two penalties in one game.“

Instead of taking early decisions, Kane now deliberately waits for the goalkeeper to make the decision, taking inspiration from two particular players: „A couple of names come to mind – Balotelli was like that, Neymar was like that. There were players who would wait for the keeper to move before they shot.“

The new approach has borne fruit, and since then Kane has hardly shown any weaknesses from the spot – even if it’s not enough for the top 10 in the historical rankings.