Lionel Messi has achieved countless successes at club and national team level, enthralling football fans around the world with his transcendent talent.

However, Messi is not without weaknesses. One of them is his lack of consistency when taking penalties. At the 2022 World Cup, El Pulga scored many important goals from the 11-meter mark to help Argentina win the championship, but before that, the penalty spot was often associated with sad memories for the 37-year-old superstar.

In this article, The Sporting News will analyze Messi’s performance on penalties, both in matches and in shootouts.

Messi’s record when taking penalties

Throughout his career, Messi has taken 141 penalties (as of July 5, 2024), scoring 110 goals and missing 31, achieving a success rate of 78%. This statistic does not include penalty shootouts but only counts penalties in official match time.

Messi has missed many penalties at crucial moments. The most memorable moment was when Leo missed a penalty in the 2016 Copa America final against Chile, causing Argentina to lose 2-4. Messi was so sad and disappointed that he announced his retirement from international football, but he later retracted this decision.

At the 2024 Copa America , Messi missed another penalty in the quarter-final against Colombia. This time, El Pulga tried to take a panelka kick, but the ball hit the crossbar. Luckily for Messi, his teammate Emiliano Martinez – a goalkeeper who is excellent at saving penalties, helped Argentina still qualify for the next round.

Despite scoring two penalties in the 2022 World Cup final against France, Messi has also missed several penalties at other World Cups. He missed one against Iceland in 2018, and also missed a penalty against Poland in 2022, when goalkeeper Wolcjech Szczesny blocked his spot kick.

Is Messi good or bad at taking penalties?

Messi’s penalty kick efficiency is not too bad, but it is clearly worse when compared to other strikers – for example Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese superstar successfully took 146/175 times, achieving an efficiency of up to 83%.

Messi himself wants to improve this skill. In 2018, he shared with Catalunya Radio: “I want to improve my penalty kicking ability. However, this is not something that can be done just by practicing. Penalties in training are really different from real matches.”

In general, professional players aim to have an 80% penalty success rate, based on historical data, so Messi could be considered below average in this regard.

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Statistics of Messi’s missed penalties

Below is a list of Messi’s penalty misses, along with the match results and the goalkeeper he faced.

According to data from Transfermarkt.us

MatchDayGoalieResultMinuteRatio when performedFinal scoreBarcelona vs. VillarealJanuary 31, 2008Diego LopezBlocked76’1-01-0Barcelona vs. Benidorm CD11/12/2008Juan Carlos CaballeroBlockedeighty six’1-01-0Barcelona vs. Huelva RegistrationApril 11, 2009Asier RiesgoBlocked81’2-02-0Barcelona vs. PanathinaikosSeptember 14, 2010Alexandros TzorvasBlocked55’3-15-1Real Betis vs. BarcelonaJanuary 19, 2011CastoSelf-inflicted wound53’3-13-1Barcelona vs. SevillaOctober 22, 2011Javi VarasBlocked90’0-00-0Valencia vs. Barcelona01/02/2012Diego AlvesBlocked57’1-11-1Barcelona vs. ChelseaAugust 24, 2012Petr CechSelf-inflicted wound49’2-12-2Germany vs. ArgentinaAugust 15, 2012Marc-Andre ter StegenBlocked32’0-01-3Barcelona vs Atletico MadridAugust 28, 2013Thibaut CourtoisSelf-inflicted wound89’0-00-0Barcelona vs. Real BetisApril 5, 2014Antonio AdanBlockedeighty six’3-13-1Levante vs. BarcelonaSeptember 21, 2014Jesus FernandezSelf-inflicted wound42’0-10-5Brazil vs. Argentina10/11/2014JeffersonBlocked40’1-02-0Barcelona vs. Atletico MadridJanuary 21, 2015Jan OblakBlocked85’0-01-0Manchester City vs BarcelonaFebruary 24, 2015Joe HartBlocked90’1-21-2Athletic Bilbao vs. BarcelonaAugust 23, 2015Groka IraizozBlockedthirty first’0-00-1Barcelona vs. LevanteSeptember 20, 2015Ruben MartinezSelf-inflicted wound75’3-14-1Barcelona vs. Celta VigoFebruary 14, 2016Sergio AlvarezSelf-inflicted wound81’3-16-1Barcelona vs. GetafeMarch 12, 2016Vicente GuaitaBlocked11’1-06-0Argentina vs. ChileJune 26, 2016Claudio BravoSelf-inflicted woundshootout0-0Chile wonBarcelona vs. EibarMay 21, 2017Yoel RodriguezBlocked70’1-24-2Alaves vs. BarcelonaAugust 26, 2017Fernando PachecoSelf-inflicted wound39’0-00-2Barcelona vs. DeportivoDecember 17, 2017Ruben MartinezBlocked70’3-04-0Espanyol vs. BarcelonaJanuary 17, 2018Diego LopezBlocked62’0-01-0Argentina vs. IcelandJune 16, 2018Hannes Thor HalldorssonBlockedsixty four’1-11-1Barcelona vs. Real ValladolidFebruary 16, 2019Jordi MasipBlocked85’1-01-0Brazil vs. ArgentinaNovember 15, 2019AlisonBlocked13’0-00-1Barcelona vs. ValenciaDecember 19, 2020Jaume DomenechBlocked45’1-12-2Barcelona vs. Paris Saint-GermainMarch 10, 2021Keylor NavasBlocked45’1-11-1Valencia vs. Barcelona05/02/2021Jasper CillessenBlocked57’1-12-3Paris Saint-Germain vs. Real MadridFebruary 15, 2022Thibaut CourtoisBlocked62’0-01-0Poland vs. Argentina11/30/2022Wojiech SzczesnyBlocked39’0-00-2Argentina vs. Ecuador04/07/2024Alejandro DominguezSelf-inflicted woundshootout1-1Argentina wins

Messi’s record in penalty shootouts

Surprisingly, despite his below-average penalty kick efficiency, Messi still does very well when he has to take on the responsibility of a penalty shootout. The proof is that in the decisive shootout, the former Barcelona striker has only missed twice in his entire career.

Not only that, Messi is very brave when he always takes the first kick. If he succeeds, he will bring the advantage in score and spirit to the whole team, but if he fails, the pressure will weigh heavily on the shoulders of the remaining players.

Throughout his career, Messi’s team has lost four penalty shootouts. However, only once has Messi directly missed and caused his team to lose the match, the rest of the time he was successful.

According to data from  MessivsRonaldo.app

TeamTournamentsDayCompetitorResultMessi’s turnKick resultsArgentina2011 Copa America – quarter-finalsJuly 16, 2011UruguayLost (5-4)Round 1SuccessArgentina2014 World Cup – Semi-finals07/09/2014NetherlandsWin (4-2)Round 1SuccessArgentina2015 Copa America – QuarterfinalsJune 26, 2015ColombiaWin (5-4)Round 1SuccessArgentina2015 Copa America – Final04/07/2015ChileLost  (4-1)Round 1SuccessArgentina2016 Copa America – FinalJune 26, 2016ChileLost  (4-2)Round 1Broken stoneArgentina2021 Copa America – Semi-Finals06/07/2021ColombiaWin (3-2)Round 1SuccessPSG2022 French Cup – Round of 16January 31, 2022NiceLost  (6-5)Round 1SuccessArgentina2022 World Cup – Quarterfinals09/12/2022NetherlandsWin (4-3)Round 1SuccessArgentina2022 World Cup – Final12/18/2022FranceWin (4-2)Round 1SuccessInter Miami2023 Leagues Cup – quarter-finals06/08/2023FC DallasWin (5-3)Round 1SuccessInter Miami2023 Leagues Cup – FinalAugust 19, 2023Nashville SCWin (10-9)Round 1SuccessInter Miami2023 US Open Cup – Semifinals08/23/2023FC CincinnatiWin (5-4)Round 1SuccessArgentina2024 Copa America – Quarterfinals04/07/2026EcuadorWin (3-2)Round 1Broken stoneTOTAL   Win 9,

Lose 4 11 Successes,

2 Misses