In the high-stakes world of football, the penalty kick is
a unique blend of technical expertise and psychological warfare. It's a unique
moment of tension and skill, where a team, club, or the hopes and dreams of a
nation's hopes and dreams can be put on one player's shoulders.
Throughout football's history, there have been some who
answered this test with alarming consistency, establishing themselves as the
best penalty takers in footballing history. This article looks at the best
penalty takers throughout football history, praising their composure,
technique, and the memories they have created for fans around the world.
Top 11 best penalty takers in Football History
1. Matt Le Tissier
2. Sergio Ramos
3. Cristiano Ronaldo
4. Steven Gerrard
5. Alessandro Del Piero
6. Neymar Jr
7. Alan Shearer
8. Frank Lampard
9. Francesco Totti
10. Lionel Messi
11. Andres Pirlo
11. Andres Pirlo
Starting off on our list is the Italian midfield maestro
Andrea Pirlo, who brought elegance and intelligence to penalty kicks. His
boldness and technical genius were on full display in Euro 2012 against
England. Many times, Pirlo's penalty kick was noted for accuracy as well
as his capacity to outthink the goalkeeper.
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Pirlo's club career was also defined by his remarkable
penalties, such as when AC Milan played Juventus in the Serie A 2005/06 season.
Further strengthening his status as a penalty specialist, Pirlo's flawlessly
placed penalty helped AC Milan to a vital win. Missing 11, the Italian football
great had 27 of 38 penalties scored.
10. Lionel Messi
Another game legend with a superb penalty record is Lionel
Messi, the all time
Spanish La Liga top scorer, is the second player on our list. Though his
style is usually more tame and less effective than others, Messi's technique
and accuracy have established him one of the most consistent penalty takers in
soccer.
Known for his relaxed attitude and exact positioning,
Messi's penalty kick technique is present. In contrast to Ronaldo usually goes
for power, whereas Messi frequently depends on his brain to outwit the goal
keeper and choose placement. Messi has had many famous penalties over his
career. 
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For example, during the 2011/12 season, Barcelona met Real
Madrid in the Copa del Rey, and the vital win was sealed by Messi's precisely
placed penalty kick. Beyond penalty kicks, he also kept Barcelona's title hopes
alive in 2019 by having a last minute free kick against Atletico Madrid. The
Barcelona legend has Scored 111 penalties and shot 31 so far in his career.
9. Francesco Totti
Renowned for his astute and imaginative aim in soccer
games, AS Roma forward Francesco Totti was known as the ‘King of Rome’ when it
comes to penalty in football. Totti's poise and style made him a penalty
specialist and a popular icon among fans of Roma. His penalty misser style was
defined by his knack of outthinking the goalkeeper on a regular basis.
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Memorable penalty points abound in Totti's career. One
such example arose when Roma played Inter Milan in the Serie A season of
2006/07. Perfectly positioned Totti's penalty secured a vital win for Roma,
helping to reinforce his reputation as a penalty specialist. With 86 goals from the penalty spot out of 106, he ranks
among the top penalty strikers in Serie A history up to now.
8. Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard, Chelsea's midfield maestro, melded
intelligence with technique to rise among the most reliable penalty takers of
the Premier League. Lampard was systematic; he observed goalkeepers' tendencies
and adjusted his game plan correspondingly.
During his time, Chelsea's achievements hinged
significantly on his calm under pressure and his reliable penalty conversion
rate. Frank Lampard, the Chelsea legend, was well known for his spot kick scoring
capability. For both the England national side and Chelsea, his relaxed
attitude and steady success made him a goto penalty taker.
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Lampard's career is studded by notable penalty kicks.
Chelsea were up against Bayern Munich on one such occasion, the 2012 UEFA
Champions League final. Lampard's penalty executed exactly helped to ensure an
important Chelsea win and hence strengthened his image as a clutch performer.
As a player, he missed 11 scores and scored 62 penalties.
Must Read: Premier
League Top Goal Scorers by Club
7. Alan Shearer
As powerful as he was from open play, he exhibited a
similar performance when it comes to shooting from the penalty spot. Alan
Shearer, the all time top scorer of the Premier League, had incredible accuracy
and power behind his penalties, making it difficult for goalkeepers to catch.
Because of his skilled penalty taking, Shearer's assurance
contributed much to his goalscoring record. Amongst numerous memorable moments
of his career, was during the 1995/96 Premier League season when Newcastle
United played Manchester United.
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Newcastle's title chances stayed alive thanks to Shearer's
strong penalty and important triumph. Having taken 67 penalties in total, Alan
Shearer holds the Premier League's top mark for most penalty goals scored—56—in
all, with 11 misses.
6. Neymar Jr
The Brazilian super Neymar Jr. has become known for his
flair and inventiveness on the field—including his penalty taking skills,
making a name for himself. Neymar's distinct style and accuracy have helped him
to score many vital penalties for club and country. His accurate placement and
his capacity to outsmart the goalkeeper define his penalty taking approach.
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Memorable penalty instances abound for the Brazilian. This
is specifically true during the Rio 2016 Olympics finals match against Germany.
Neymar's precisely placed penalty guaranteed a vital win for Brazil, therefore
helping to confirm his image as a clutch player. At present he has 88 penalty
goals struck and 18 missed. According to UEFA, he’s also one of football
best penalty takers in the competition.
5. Alexander Del Piero
A player renowned for his versatility and technical
brilliance, Juventus icon Alessandro Del Piero was also known for his penalty
taking. Del Piero's penalties were known for their calmness and sharp accuracy.
His imposing presence from the spot, which helped him to adapt his approach to
various circumstances and goalkeepers, greatly boosted his goal count and
Juventus' victories.
Del Piero was Juventus' main penalty taker for many years
during his time there (1993-2012), converting quite a few spot kicks in
domestic and international competition. His typical style usually entailed a
nice runup and exact, well placed shot mostly directed at the lower corners.
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High Profile Penalty Moments of his career include, the
2006 FIFA World Cup Final penalty shootout against France to claim the
title, numerous Serie A and UEFA Champions League penalties for Juventus.
Although he was not immune to the occasional miss, his overall penalty strike
rate was high, having scored 77 penalties and missing 15, being one of the most
reliable takers of his generation.
6. Steven Gerrard
Liverpool's inspirational skipper, Steven Gerrard, was
admired for his goal-scoring ability and leadership skills, particularly from
the penalty area. His reliability from the penalty area provided Liverpool with
crucial goals in domestic and European football, underlining his importance to
the club. Throughout his career, primarily with Liverpool between
1998-2015, and later with LA Galaxy between 2015-2016, and with the England
national team.
He scored numerous spot-kicks in the Premier League, Champions
League, FA Cup, and other competitions, often leading his team to crucial
victories. His penalty-taking responsibilities increased manifold
after Michael Owen's departure in the early 2000s, and he remained the Reds'
go-to taker for over a decade.
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For England, Gerrard was a good penalty taker, though his
international shootout record was patchy. He managed to convert in certain
pressure moments but also experienced heartbreak in shootouts, such as in
misses in Euro 2004 against Portugal and the 2006 World Cup against the same
team.
He scored 46 penalties and missed only 9. Other than his
penalty statistics, his goal statistics are also impressive, making him
eligible for the list
of footballers with 100 or more Premier League Goals.
Most iconic penalty moments of his career include, the
mythical 2005 Champions League Final against AC Milan that helped Liverpool win
the historic victory in Istanbul, and his various Premier League penalties, and
his penalty equalizer in the 2006 FA Cup Final against West Ham, to help
Liverpool win the trophy.
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3. Cristiano Ronaldo
He is best known as the best goal scorer in football, but
one of the best penalty takers in football. Cristiano Ronaldo's
authority even extends to the penalty kick, right from as early as his early
days. In his illustrious career with Sporting CP, Manchester United, Real
Madrid, Juventus, Al Nassr, and the Portugal national team, Ronaldo has always
demonstrated that he can take high-pressure kicks.
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His punishments are a combination of power, positioning,
and randomness and are some of the greatest in the business. His intense
practice and unflappable confidence make his penalty statistics all the more
incredible. With more than 120 successful penalties on his CV, Ronaldo's
coolness under pressure is second to none.
One of his finest penalty memories is when he scored the
winning penalty in the shootout for Real Madrid during the 2016 UEFA Champions
League final against Atletico Madrid to win Real Madrid's 11th European title.
Throughout his whole career so far when writing this, he has scored a total of
202 penalties and succeeded on 171, failing 31.
2. Sergio Ramous
Best known for his defensive prowess, Spanish center-back
Sergio Ramos has also established himself as a reliable penalty taker. Ramos
tends to take a calm and composed approach, to confuse goalkeepers. His
confidence and ability have made him a regular penalty taker for Real Madrid
and the Spain national team, adding significantly to his career goal tally. Sergio Ramos is one of the greatest penalty-scoring
players and defenders in the history of football.
In his Real Madrid
(2005-2021), Paris Saint-Germain (2021-2023), and Spanish national team career,
he scored 32, and missed a mere 5. While not Real Madrid's primary penalty kicker for most of
his early life, he developed into Real's primary penalty kick taker when
Cristiano Ronaldo departed in 2018, succeeding in many La Liga, Champions
League, and domestic cup play spot-kicks. His disciplinary record is impressive
for a defender, as he consistently came through under pressure.
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For Spain, Ramos also served in penalty duty, scoring in
open play as well as in penalties. But he did have one rare misstep when he
failed to convert two penalties in the same match against Switzerland during a
2020 UEFA Nations League match. The penalty-taking strategy of Ramos evolved with the
passage of time, but he became famous for his approach—a gentle chip down the
middle of the goal that generally left goalkeepers flailing helplessly.
Some of the most memorable penalty moments of his career
include, 2016 Champions League Final vs Atlético Madrid to support Real Madrid
to their 11th European title, the 2020 UEFA Nations League vs Switzerland, in
which he also failed two penalties in a single match, with numerous La Liga and
Champions League penalties.
1. Matt Le Tissier
Affectionately known as the football top penalty
taker, Matt Le Tissier's record is almost unbeatable. He scored 47 out
of 48 penalty kicks throughout his career, an incredible feat that has set the
benchmark for generations to follow. His approach was straightforward yet
effective; he possessed an unnatural ability to read goalkeepers, consistently
wrong-footing them with ease.
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Le Tissier's penalty style was
characterized by his composure, precision, and ability to outsmart the
goalkeeper. Le Tissier's career is full of penalty moments that are imprinted
in memory. Such a moment was witnessed during the 1993-94 Premier League season
when Southampton faced Newcastle United.
Le Tissier's perfectly placed penalty earned Southampton a
crucial victory, once again reaffirming his reputation as a penalty specialist.
Aside from his penalty record, Le Tissier's overall ability and flair on the
pitch saw him as one of the most entertaining players of his generation.
The sole miss was against Nottingham Forest in 1993, a
testament to how near perfection his record was. His technique and composure
under pressure have him as quite possibly the best penalty taker in football
history.
CONCLUSION
Penalty kicks are football's scariest couple of seconds,
and these stars have built themselves reputations as the all-time best penalty
takers. From the clinical precision of Cristiano Ronaldo to the unmatchable
technique of Lionel Messi, these all-time great penalty takers have made
memories for their supporters, placed themselves in the history books because
of their consistency, composure, and unmatched ability to score when there was
most pressure.
People Also Ask
Who is the most successful penalty taker in
football history?
- Matthew
Le Tissier stands out with an incredible 96.2% success rate, having scored
47 out of 48 penalties.
What is the 100 penalty record?
- Cole
Palmer set a record for the most penalties taken without missing, scoring
17 out of 17 penalties taken so far.
Who is the best penalty king in the world?
- Harry
Kane, due to his consistent performance, scored 29 penalties in a row for
Bayern and England so far in his career.
Who is better at penalties, Messi or Ronaldo?
- Cristiano
Ronaldo's penalty scoring rate is better than Lionel Messi's, with penalty
accuracy of 84.8% and Lionel Messi penalty accuracy at 77.9%
Who has the best penalty record in the Premier
League?
- Southampton
legend Matthew Le Tissier's name is synonymous with penalty-taking
excellence, having scored 47 of his 48 penalties - a 96.2 percent success
What is the longest penalties in football?
- The
record for the longest penalty shootout is held by Israel's SC Dimona and
Shimshon Tel Aviv who needed 56 kicks to separate the two during the
semi-final promotion playoff match in the third-tier.
Who is the best penalty taker between Bruno
Fernandes and Cole Palmer?
- Cole
Palmer with 100% accuracy
Has any player never missed a penalty?
- Ledio
Pano (50+)Midfielder Ledio Pano is one of the only players in football
history to take over 40 penalties and score every single one of them.
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