Which World Cup team is the best at penalty shootouts?
Penalty shootouts and World Cups go hand in hand. Most sides practice their spot kicks for years on end in the build-up to the global tournament, but preparation can go out the window when crunch time comes.
While not certain - Spain and France have won the World Cup in recent memory without being involved in a shootout - the likelihood of teams needing to win at spot kicks to reach the final is large enough.
Here are the sides with the best penalty shootout records at men's World Cups.
Best penalty shootout records at the World Cup
Argentina have competed in the most penalty shootouts with seven, losing only one back in the 2006 quarter finals when they were defeated 4-2 by Germany after misses from Daniel Ayala and Esteban Cambiasso.
The Albiceleste won two shootouts during their 2022 World Cup victory, beating the Netherlands in the last 16 and France in the final.
Of the teams to have participated in more than one World Cup shootout, Germany and Croatia have the best success rates with both at 100%. Germany haven't competed in one since 2006, while Croatia have shot up the rankings with two wins apiece in 2018 and 2022.
- Argentina - 6 (1990 x2, 1998, 2014, 2022 x 2)
- Germany - 4 (1982, 1986, 1990, 2006)
- Croatia - 4 (2018 x2, 2022 x2)
- Brazil - 3 (1994, 1998, 2014)
- France - 2 (1986, 1998)
- Spain - 1 (2002)
- Italy - 1 (2006)
- England - 1 (2018)
- Netherlands - 1 (2014)
- Republic of Ireland - 1 (1990)
- Costa Rica - 1 (2014)
- Russia - 1 (2018)
- Belgium - 1 (1986)
- Bulgaria - 1 (1994)
- Sweden - 1 (1994)
- South Korea - 1 (2002)
- Portugal - 1 (2006)
- Ukraine - 1 (2006)
- Uruguay - 1 (2010)
- Paraguay - 1 (2010)
- Morocco - 1 (2022)
While outfield players like Andreas Brehme, Lothar Matthaus, Jose Serrizuela, Jorge Burruchaga and Maxi Rodriguez proved themselves to be excellent penalty takers with two scored each across different tournaments, both sides also needed brilliant goalkeepers.
Sergio Goycochea became an icon for Argentina in 1990, saving penalties in quarter-final and semi-final penalty shootout victories against Yugoslavia and Italy respectively. German legend Harald Schumacher was also on hand for his nation to save two penalty strikes in shootouts against France in 1982 and Mexico in 1986.
Best player scoring records in World Cup penalty shootouts
Lionel Messi and Luka Modric became the first players to score in three separate World Cup penalty shootouts in 2022.
Messi had previously netted in Argentina's 2014 victory against the Netherlands before successful efforts against both the Dutch and France in 2022.
Modric kept his cool in back to back 2018 games when Croatia overcame Denmark and Russia in the last 16 and quarter final respectively before scoring in the shock win over Brazil in 2022.
- 3 - Lionel Messi (2014, 2022 x2) - Argentina
- 3 - Luka Modric (2018, 2022 x2) - Croatia
- 2 - Manuel Amoros (1982, 1986) - France
- 2 - Pierre Littbarski (1982, 1986), Andreas Brehme (1986, 1990), Lothar Matthäus (1986, 1990) - Germany
- 2 - Jose Serrizuela (1990 ×2), Jorge Burruchaga (1990 ×2), Maxi Rodríguez (2006, 2014) - Argentina
- 2 - Gheorghe Hagi (1990, 1994), Ioan Lupescu (1990, 1994) - Romania
- 2 - Roberto Baggio (1990, 1998) - Italy
- 2 - Branco (1986, 1994), Dunga (1994, 1998) - Brazil
- 2 - Fernando Hierro (2002 ×2), Ruben Baraja (2002 ×2) - Spain
- 2 - Celso Borges (2002 ×2), Giancarlo González (2014 ×2) - Costa Rica
- 2 - Arjen Robben (2014 ×2), Dirk Kuyt (2014 ×2) - Netherlands
- 2 - Ivan Rakitic (2018 ×2), Marcelo Brozovic (2018, 2022), Nikola Vlasic (2022 x2) - Croatia
- 2 - Sergei Ignashevich (2018 ×2) - Russia