A penalty kick shootout is the height of World Cup drama.
All eyes are on the shooter, the ball and the goalkeeper. Twelve yards separate the penalty spot from the goal, and one moment separates despair from elation.
So far in the 2026 World Cup, just 39 of 60 penalties have scored (including in-game and four shootouts), a historically low 65% conversion rate that underscores just how difficult the task is.
“One kick can determine a championship, a World Cup or even become part of a player’s legacy,” said Amanda Perkins-Ball, a Rice University associate teaching professor of kinesiology and an expert in sport and performance psychology. “Compared to other aspects of the match it’s more of a balance between skill and pressure. Especially when we look at the World Cup, every player is elite. They have the technical ability to score. But the difference is usually between someone who can execute the right movement at the right time, but under an immense amount of stress. So it looks easy to us, but it’s not.”
World Cup penalty kicks a unique sports pressure cooker
In the world of sports, penalty kicks are uniquely high pressure because of the intense individual scrutiny and high-stakes outcome. Although a basketball player might be alone at the free-throw line multiple times in a game, in most cases it’s not the difference between winning and losing. In soccer, especially in a shootout, a penalty more often than not directly decides the result.
Even the world’s most elite players can crumble under the pressure. Argentina star Lionel Messi, France star Kylian Mbappe and England star Harry Kane have all missed in-game penalties at this World Cup.
Sports psychology expert Robert B. Andrews founded the Institute of Sports Performance in Houston and has worked with countless Olympians, including gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Simone Manuel, in addition to professional soccer players with the Houston Dash and Dynamo.
“I would have to say that shots on goal like that in hockey and soccer, especially in a World Cup or an Olympic moment like that, might be some of the most pressure-packed moments that you could imagine in sports because the whole world is watching,” Andrews said. “Everyone in that arena is laser focused on you, and I think that ups the ante substantially.”
Penalty kicks mix ritual, repetition, confidence
Rituals play a crucial role in penalty taking. Some soccer players employ a stutter step in their run-up, others count specific paces off the ball and many take a deep, centering breath before they start. Those routines aren’t rooted in superstition, but in consistency, Perkins-Ball said.
“Consistent routines help players focus their attention,” Perkins-Ball said. “It helps them regulate emotions and it creates a sense of familiarity in a very unfamiliar environment. Things are chaotic. It’s a lot of things we can’t control, so the routine really becomes like an anchor. It helps ground us.”
Ideally, a player’s preparation should begin months before it’s his or her turn to take a penalty, Andrews said. Even if a player is picked to kick at the last minute, consistent practice and having an established routine they can immediately lock into will help them calm their mind and body before they step up to the spot.
Most teams that reach the knockout round of a World Cup predetermine before the game starts which players will kick if a penalty shootout becomes necessary. However, Germany appeared to select its penalty takers just minutes before a round-of-32 shootout against Paraguay. Three German players missed and Germany lost the shootout, 4-3.
Taking a penalty comes down to confidence more than anything, Andrews said. Building confidence requires preparation, focus and gaining knowledge and experience.
“You have to already be prepared at the highest level, and that means not just physically, but mentally and emotionally,” Andrews said. “I always say performance equals talent plus belief. … It’s really about developing a mindset that gets you into the present moment, not worrying about what if I miss and disappoint my team and fans.”
‘He wasn’t mentally and emitionally prepared’
Even with thousands of practice penalties on the training pitch, there’s no replicating the experience of a World Cup penalty. When 18-year-old Australian defender Lucas Herrington missed a penalty during his team’s round-of-16 shootout loss to Egypt, many questioned why the Socceroos trusted that responsibility to a teenager playing in his second-ever World Cup game.
“He missed, and it was predictable,” Andrews said. “You could tell by his body language that he wasn’t mentally and emotionally prepared for that moment. Physically, he was, but the belief wasn’t there.”
If a player misses a penalty, it can be a massive blow to their confidence and negatively impact their ability to execute in the future.
Andrews teaches athletes a technique called eidetic imagery, which involves repeatedly rescripting a moment in your mind to effectively trick the subconscious into believing that you achieved a successful outcome. That can help process the fear, shame or embarrassment associated with an upsetting event.
“If you ask anybody that’s missed a kick like that, they have an image of it in their mind,” Andrews said. “These are called holographic imprints in the brain. The brain takes snapshot images of the worst experience and then it loads them up with emotion and sensation and sound and light. It’s no different than a car wreck or an ACL injury or missing a kick at the World Cup – the brain processes it the same way.”
Mistakes and failure are part of sports. Perkins-Ball said many athletes have perfectionist personality traits, which while helpful for work ethic, can also lead to stress and anxiety.
“I think it goes back to acknowledging what you can’t control and what you can, and really acknowledging the nature of the game,” she said. “When things don’t go my way, that doesn’t mean I’m any less of a performer. It just means that I have to figure out better ways to adapt to failure or overcome a mistake, and do that as quickly as possible. And that’s what makes the difference between really memorable elite performers and, well, the less memorable ones.”
