Lionel Messi's resilience in responding to missed penalties has been a notable feature of the ongoing World Cup in North America. After missing a first-half penalty against Austria, Messi rebounded by scoring twice from open play. A similar pattern occurred in their subsequent match against Egypt, where he again failed to convert from the spot but made amends with a goal in open play. France’s Kylian Mbappé and England’s Harry Kane have also exhibited comparable mental toughness, each following a missed penalty with important goals during regular play.

While top forwards have demonstrated an ability to recover quickly, defenders at this tournament have faced criticism for their penalty-taking performances. Out of 11 defenders who have participated in shoot-outs so far, seven have failed to score, continuing a trend evident since the 2022 World Cup where four out of six defenders missed their shoot-out kicks. None of the defenders took penalties during regular time at this tournament prior to the most recent matches.

This trend has reinforced a prevailing view, particularly within English football circles, that penalty responsibilities are best left to attacking players rather than those positioned at the back. Evidence from the Premier League over the past five seasons shows only one defender—Fulham’s left-back Antonee Robinson—has taken a penalty, successfully converting it in a match against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Before him, Newcastle United centre-back Fabian Schär was the last defender to score a Premier League penalty in May 2021.

Historically, however, defenders have played significant roles as penalty takers. Several defenders rank among the highest penalty scorers in English league history. Graham Alexander, who accrued a record 65 spot-kick goals, spent much of his career as Preston North End’s right-back. Similarly, Ray Stewart, a right-back for West Ham United in the 1980s, successfully converted 57 penalties. Other notable defenders with prolific penalty records include Jack Brownsword and Stan Lynn, both active primarily in the mid-20th century.

At the international level, defenders such as Alf Ramsey and Phil Neal have successfully taken penalties for England and their respective clubs, Liverpool and Aston Villa. Neal notably scored in the 1977 European Cup final and during the 1984 shoot-out victory over Roma. Central defender Steve Bruce also had a fruitful penalty record, with 13 goals in the 1990-91 season that contributed to Manchester United reaching two cup finals.

A broader analysis of penalty shoot-outs from the 2014 and 2018 World Cups indicates that defenders converted 74% of their attempts, surpassing the 68% success rate of other players. Data compiled by Opta across World Cups and European Championships show defenders maintained a 69% conversion rate compared with 73% for all other players. Defenders have successfully scored on 110 of 160 shoot-out attempts, and only a modest increase in makes would bring their success rate in line with that of attacking players.

Despite the difficulties seen in the current tournament, the historical and statistical evidence suggests defenders can be reliable penalty takers, particularly in shoot-out situations.