The Al Ahly striker scored the winning goal in the 104th minute against Al Ta’oun in the Saudi Professional League, taking his appearance in 18 of 24 games this season, but is unlikely to be called up by manager Thomas Tuchel.
Ivan Toney, who is very active in the Saudi Pro League (Image: Getty Images)
If you thought the Saudi Pro League was a bit bland and lacking in spice, check out the final moments of Thursday night’s match between Al Ahly and Al Ta’oun. It all started.
And at the center of the extended tussle was Ivan Toni, who had just scored Al Ahly’s 104th-minute penalty-winning goal. Before we go any further, let’s talk about Tony and spot kicks.
Is there a better penalty taker in world football than Tony?According to the respected website Transfermarkt, Toney has scored 50 penalties in his career, including one for Newcastle United’s Under-21s. What is certain is that he only missed two penalties.
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His last missed appearance was in April 2023 when he was saved by Nick Pope in the match between Brentford and Newcastle. His last failure before that was in October 2018 against Peterborough and Barnsley.
That’s a remarkable record. For comparison, Harry Kane scored 98 goals in his career and missed 12 points.
That’s an 89.1 percent success rate for Kane and a 96.2 percent success rate for Toney. Four of Kane’s penalty misses actually came from his country, with the most recent and most notable being, of course, his wild miss against France in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals.
England’s captain will be on penalty duty at the 2026 World Cup, but Toney may not be there. Manager Thomas Tuchel called Toney into his squad last spring for a qualifying match against Andorra and a friendly against Senegal.
Ivan Toney made just seven appearances for England, six of them as a substitute (Image: PA)
Toney’s only action came on 10 June after coming on as a substitute in the 88th minute in a 3–1 defeat against Senegal. It was the last of Toney’s seven caps for England.
His last three caps came at Euro 2024, all of which were impactful substitute appearances. Toney scored a goal in the penalty shootout after the quarter-final against Switzerland ended 1-1. Of course he did.
But somehow, when the familiar discussion of England’s backup batting options came up, Toney rarely got the attention. It’s always Ollie Watkins next, then there’s talk of Danny Welbeck, then there’s talk of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and there’s even talk of Liam Delap.
Thomas Tuchel doesn’t seem too confident about Ivan Toney’s international credentials (Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
However, Toney converted Al Ahly’s penalty in the 14th minute of stoppage time, and then provoked the goalkeeper (who tried to stop him) as part of the celebration, his 18th goal in 24 appearances for the club this season. It was the sixth time this season that he assisted Zakaria Houssawy’s equalizing goal.
Toney, 29, has five goals and two assists in his last four games. He’s a ruthless finisher.
What his form should do, of course, is make Premier League clubs wonder if they will be able to bring him back to England this January period. A club like Everton, like many others, are looking for a talented finisher like Toney.
Harry Kane has missed four penalties for England, the last one coming against France at the 2022 World Cup (Image: Getty Images)
However, Tony has made his fortune in Saudi Arabia and seems to be having fun there. But are World Cup hopes non-existent as long as he remains in Saudi Arabia?
It shouldn’t be that way. Manager Tuchel saw Toney at the England camp, but he doesn’t seem satisfied. fair enough.
But Toney’s form and composure certainly demand that Tuchel take another look at him. Because, apart from everything else, taking Toney to the World Cup means taking a very high-ranking penalty taker. And we all know how important that is.
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