In practice, penalty shootouts did not occur before 1982. Three times, in 1994, 2006, and 2022, the World Cup title has been decided by a penalty shoot-out. Of the 35 shoot-outs that have taken place in the competition, only two reached the sudden death stage after still being tied at the end of "best of five kicks".
A total of 35 FIFA World Cup matches have been decided through penalties to date, including the 1994, 2006 and 2022 finals. The first World Cup final decided by a penalty shootout was at USA 1994 with Brazil and Italy facing off for the title.
“Since 1986, 39 per cent of knockout matches in the World Cup finals involved a penalty kick or were decided by a penalty shootout.
In the 21 editions of the World Cup since 1930, seven finals have been taken into extra-time - one third. Out of those, all but two were resolved within 120 minutes and before a shoot-out was required.
In 64 matches, there were a total of 29 penalties - with 22 scored and seven either saved or missed.
Argentina awarded most penalties in a World Cup
Yes, Argentina's total of five penalties awarded this tournament has been the most of any World Cup edition since 1966 — ahead of Portugal (1966) and the Netherlands (1978).
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Messi has missed two of his three penalty kicks at the World Cup (excluding penalty shootouts), equalling the most by a player since at least 1966 (Asamoah Gyan, two missed out of four).
The record number of 0-0 draws at the World Cup currently stands at seven, which has happened at four different editions of the tournament.
The most penalty shoot-out saves in the football (soccer) FIFA World Cup is 4, achieved by Harald Schumacher (Germany) playing for West Germany in 1982 and 1986.
The golden goal was used in the FIFA World Cup for the last time in 2002, when Turkey defeated Senegal in the quarter-finals when İlhan Mansız scored what would be the final golden goal in male tournaments.
Yes, knockout games at the World Cup will go to a penalty shootout. From the round of 16 all the way through the final, the teams will play on if the score is level after 90 minutes.
Messi's time? The Argentinian has played in five World Cups but has never won the tournament.
Yes, penalty kicks cound towards the Golden Boot. Any goals scored against any opponent by a player will count towards the Golden Boot. However, goals in international club competitions do not count. In soccer, can you get a penalty kick if you score the ball that gave the penalty?
How do penalty shoot-outs work in the World Cup? A penalty shoot-out at the World Cup consists of five spot kicks each. If a winner has not been determined after the initial five spot kicks, the shoot-out will then continue to a sudden death stage, with both teams having a penalty kick each until there is a winner.
If a match ends in a draw after 90 minutes – two halves of 45 minutes plus stoppage time (added time to compensate for time lost to injuries and other interruptions) – the game goes into extra time.
UEFA Champions League Trophy
The iconic and the most prestigious trophy in club football. It is a trophy for which 32 teams compete among themselves but the teams among which they face each other are usually the top four teams coming from different leagues of Europe.
Livaković made history as he became just the third goalkeeper in World Cup history to make three saves in a single penalty shootout, which is also the most in one go. Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo saved three of England's penalties in the 2006 quarterfinals to win the shootout 3-1.
#1 Diego Maradona (Argentina) — 152 fouls
Over the course of four World Cups, Maradona scored eight times and provided eight assists, forever going down in his country's folklore. Maradona scored five goals and provided five assists at the 1986 World Cup, producing notable performances in almost every match.
Geoff Hurst (above) and Kylian Mbappé (below) are the only two players to have scored a hat-trick in a FIFA World Cup final.
Italy, however, won the second penalty shootout in a FIFA World Cup final as they outscored France 5-3 in 2006. France is the only team to lose the World Cup final twice via penalties when they ended up losing the shootout 4-2 against Argentina after the match was tied 3-3 at the end of the extra time.
2006 (Germany, England, Argentina, Italy, France, and Switzerland) Several unbeaten teams in 2006 with Italy winning it and not losing.
West Germany (1990)
West Germany won the 1990 FIFA World Cup unbeaten and it was their third title. They beat Argentina 1-0 in the final — a rematch of the previous final four years earlier.
Number of World Cup penalty shootout defeats 1982-2022, by team. As of December 2022, Spain had lost more penalty shootouts in the FIFA World Cup than any other country, with a total of four defeats.
With the game scoreless, Messi was given a dubious penalty after a VAR decision saw Argentina given a spot-kick in the 39th minute. Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny came out to punch a ball, and the fingertips of his glove caught Messi in the face.
FIFA WORLD CUP RELATED STORIES
Additionally, Messi has had the opportunity to feature in eight penalty shootouts in Argentine colours. Out of these, he has missed only one - against Chile in Copa America final 2016.