WWith less than 80 days left until the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, several teams are preparing to take home the coveted trophy. Argentina will aim to defend the title they won in Qatar in 2022, but captain Lionel Messi will also be looking to end a losing streak.
The truth is that, despite being the second-highest scorer in football history after Cristiano Ronaldo, ‘Number 10’ is one of the two players who missed the most penalties in this competition.
Leo’s losing streak may be filled with another record.
Messi and Ghanaian forward Asamoah Gyan share records they wish they didn’t have. Excluding two missed shots, he is the player who has missed the most penalties in regulation time or overtime in a World Cup match (not including penalty shootouts).
Gyan’s first missed penalty came in Germany in 2006. Ghana faced the Czech Republic in the group stage, and late in the match, Asamoah scored with a shot after being awarded a penalty. However, because he kicked the ball before the referee’s signal, he had to retake the kick, and the ball hit the post and missed the goal.
Four years later, at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he suffered his second and most heartbreaking penalty miss. In the quarterfinal match against Uruguay, striker Luis Surez handled the ball just before extra time and awarded Ghana a penalty. Gyan took the kick, but the ball hit the crossbar, ending Africa’s dream of reaching the semi-finals for the first time.
Lionel Messi missed the first penalty in the 1-1 draw against Iceland in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. His shot was saved by goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson.
At the next World Cup, despite winning the title, they still missed their second penalty kick in a group stage match. Against Robert Lewandowski’s Poland, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny stopped Leo’s shot, but the match ended 2-0 in Albiceleste’s favor.
Nevertheless, if Lionel makes his sixth World Cup appearance and misses another penalty, he will stand alone with this record since Gyan retired from football in 2023, but he could be aiming for a new goalscoring record.
Miroslav Klose is the competition’s all-time leading scorer with 16 goals for Germany (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014). Brazilian Ronaldo Nazario follows with 15 goals (1998, 2002 and 2006), followed by Gerd Muller with 14 (all in 1958). Lionel was fourth with 13 goals, tied with France’s Juste Fontaine. This means that by the 2026 World Cup, Leo is just three goals away from breaking Klose’s historic record.
In the meantime, we have to wait and see whether Leo will play in his sixth World Cup and what record his name will be etched into.
