The Curse of the Penalty Kick

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Hooligan Soccer

·19 July 2025

The Curse of the Penalty Kick

If this Euro tournament has had one recurring motif, it’s missed penalty kicks. Whether in the run of play, or during a spot kick shootout, it’s been one of the worst… if not the worst. Ever.

Penalties converted in the run of play

It hasn’t been all bad, and these are the ones that got scored, all in group stage play unless noted.

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Sakina Karchaoui (France)
Kadidiatou Diani (France)
Sjoeke Nüsken (Germany)
Natalia Kuikka (Finland)
Georgia Stanway (England)
Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir (Iceland)
Fridolina Rolfö (Sweden)
Grace Geyoro (France) – Quarterfinals.

Penalties missed in the run of play

Get ready for a long list… remarkably, four of them occurred in quarterfinal matches, two of them having a material impact of the outcome.

Ada Hégerberg (Norway) – she had two! vs. Iceland. Pulled wide to the left. vs. Italy in the quarterfinals. Pulled wide to the right. If she had scored, it would have tied the game at 2 – 2. As it stands, they lost to Italy 2 – 1.
Mariona Caldentey (Spain) vs. Switzerland in the quarterfinals. Pulled it wide left after a slow run-up.
Alexia Putellas (Spain) vs. Switzerland in the quarterfinals. Poor shot to her right, easily parried away by Peng. Neither Spanish miss had any impact, as they won 2 – 0.
Sjoeke Nüsken (Germany) vs. France in the quarterfinals. Hit it just left of center and low. It was easily saved by Peyraud-Magnin. This goal would have put Germany up 2 – 1 after being reduced to 10 players.

Shootout Penalties

We’ve had two penalty shootouts so far. The first when Sweden and England tied 2 – 2; the second after France drew Germany 1 – 1.

The first shootout was won by England 3 – 2, but there were a whopping 9 misses out of 14 attempts. While that makes exciting stuff for the fan, nearly every pundit has weighed in that from a penalty-taking perspective, it was simply awful. Here’s the breakdown, in order. England shot first.

England

Alessia Russo – SUCCESS, hit into bottom left corner.
Lauren James – MISS, went left and was saved by Falk.
Beth Mead – MISS, went left and was saved by Falk.
Alex Greenwood – MISS, went center-right and was saved by Falk.
Chloe Kelly – SUCCESS, perfect strike to the upper right corner.
Grace Clinton – MISS, went left and was saved by Falk.
Lucy Bronze – SUCCESS, up the center and hit the top netting.

Italy

Filippa Angeldahl – MISS, went right and was saved by Hampton.
Julia Zigiotti Olme – SUCCESS, a perfect kick to the top left corner.
Magdalena Eriksson – MISS, struck the right post.
Nathalie Björn – SUCCESS, hit into bottom right corner.
Jennifer Falk – MISS, kicked over the crossbar.
Sofia Jakobsson – MISS, struck the left post.
Smilla Holmberg – MISS, kicked over the crossbar.

The second shootout was actually quite competent, with most kicks very well placed and hit with conviction and confidence. Germany ended up winning 6 – 5. Here’s the breakdown. Germany shot first.

Germany

Janina Minge – SUCCESS, Stutter step, hits it right after P-M dives left.
Linda Dallmann – SUCCESS, Perfect strike into the upper right corner.
Rebecca Knaak – SUCCESS, Powers it to the left as P-M dives right.
Sara Däbritz – MISS, just too much lift and hit dings off the crossbar.
Ann-Katrin Berger – SUCCESS, Powerful shot to the right just above P-M’s hand.
Klara Bühl – SUCCESS, freaking hammer shot to the upper right. Perfection.
Sjoeke Nüsken – SUCCESS, went the exact same right side and shot, but keeper went left.

France

Amel Majri – MISS, she took an angled run onto the left foot, shot right. Saved by Berger.
Sakina Karchaoui – SUCCESS, short run up, hooked the shot right into the corner.
Melvine Malard – SUCCESS, Took a two step lead in, shot hard to the left as Berger dove right.
Sandy Baltimore – SUCCESS, Hinted a right shot, then opened up the hips and shot left.
Oriane Jean Francois – SUCCESS, took a slow run, and it’s a low velocity roller to the left.
Melween Ndongala – SUCCESS, hits it left side netting. Banger.
Alice Sombath – MISS, she hit it to the right and waist high. Berger stopped it.

Takeaway

Notwithstanding the last shootout (which finished around two hours before this story went live), it’s still the worst penalty conversion in a major tournament for years.

38% of attempts during regular play failed; 43% of shootout attempts missed. Both percentages are higher than in previous tournaments. In Euro 2022, the miss percentage in regular play was 27% (3 of 11 attempts). At the 2023 World Cup, two penalty shootouts resulted in a 33% miss percentage. Maybe it’s the altitude?