Among other achievements and records, star footballer Lionel Messi has enjoyed a glittering career that has seen him lauded as one of the greatest men to ever have graced the sport.
Any athlete will face their fair share of problems, however, such as his penalty record. It is a question that fans and analysts ask, How Many Penalties Has Messi Missed?
This guide, one of the most thorough investigations of his penalties ever produced, goes into assiduous detail about how and why these spot-kicks are going awry.
We will find out in a minute how many times the Argentine hasn’t managed to score from the penalty spot, looking at both high-pressure matters and league games.
Messi’s Overall Penalty Record
Statistics Overview:
- Total penalties taken: 141
- Total penalties scored: 109
- Total penalties missed: 32
- Conversion rate: 77%
Comparison with Cristiano Ronaldo:
- Total penalties taken: 167
- Total penalties scored: 142
- Total penalties missed: 25
- Conversion rate: 85%
Analysis of Messi’s Penalty Misses
Club vs. International: Number of Penalties Missed in Each:
If we break Messi’s penalty misses down to club and international levels, we receive some fascinating numbers.
Club Level:
- Total penalties taken: 111
- Total penalties scored: 86
- Total penalties missed: 25
- Conversion rate: 77.5%
International Level:
- Total penalties taken: 30
- Total penalties scored: 23
- Total penalties missed: 7
- Conversion rate: 76.7%
Key Matches Where Missed Penalties Had Significant Consequences:
2012 Champions League Semi-Final vs. Chelsea:
In 2012, probably the most memorable of Lionel Messi’s penalty misses was in the second leg of that season’s UEFA Champions League semi-final against Chelsea.
Messi’s penalty hit the crossbar with a place in the final on the line. Barcelona would draw the game eventually 2-2, crashing out the competition, as Chelsea progressed on aggregate.
2016 Copa America Final vs. Chile:
A notable other missed shootout penalty came in the final of the 2016 Copa America Centenario against Chile.
That was made all the worse when Messi sent the ball high over the crossbar in a shootout, with a miss that caused Argentina to lose and keep their wait for another major trophy gradually going on.
2018 World Cup Group Stage vs. Iceland:
After all, Messi already had missed a decisive penalty in Argentina’s opening group-stage match against Iceland at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The Iceland keeper stopped his effort but the game finished 1-1 Meanwhile, this miss only spoke to the fairly average performances of Argentina in the group stages as they scraped through to the knockout rounds.
Penalty woes not only hurt Messi and his reputation, they also cost his teams drastically in key games and such results truly underline the weight with which he had missed these critical chances.
Trends in His Penalty-Taking Success and Misses Throughout His Career:
A study of Lionel Messi’s penalties during his aging progress, both in his best and darkest times scoring from the twelve-spot gives a picture of marked peaks and valleys.
Here Messi, in his early years at Barcelona, had displayed very high conversion rates exemplifying the increase of combativity and self-possession. As he went into his peak years of 2010-15, he had become one of the most successful penalty takers in top-flight football, sometimes scoring under pressure in big match moments.
But since 2015, his conversion dipped somewhat in patches or possibly phases when confidence or maybe patterns of a few keepers when it came to their strategies?
There are recurring patterns when looking at his misses. Nonetheless, a small number of misses in a few crucial games where the stakes were real (someone tell these statisticians that finals and knockout stages exist) might still be put down to ultimate pressure.
On the other hand Messi’s confidence appears more unshakeable in normal league matches and lesser important games where his conversion rate tends to be higher.
Impact of Missed Penalties on Messi’s Career
Short-term Consequences:
In the tournaments and games Lionel Messi have played in, missed penalties has instantly contributed to major changes in several outcomes.
As in 2012, when he missed the penalty against Chelsea not only changed the course of that semi-final but also knocked Barcelona out of the final completely.
That miss altered the course of the team in one of football’s best tournaments as it caused a straight hit to their morale and their performance.
Another missed penalty by Messi at the 2016 Copa América Centenario final similarly changed the shootout balance, and Argentina ended up losing.
That led to Messi and Argentina missing out on another international tournament win and instead further enhancing the narrative of close but no cigar that shadowed them at the time.
His missed penalty in the group stage against Iceland in the 2018 World Cup had begun to unravel Argentina’s campaign early on.
The draw meant further group-stage battles for qualification to the knockout rounds, which in turn translated into more pressure on both Messi and the team.
Long-term Reputation:
The missed penalties are now registered as another blot in Lionel Messi’s legacy, a poor reflection not only in the public eye but on the man himself, that one greatest-ever footballer who keeps on falling short when it matters most.
Even though the well-rounded game and many accomplishments of Bryant can often seat him as one of the best players to ever play the game, these missed chances have consistently marred an otherwise brilliant career.
Those performances including the infamous incidents in question are perennially pointed to by critics and detractors as emblematic of what supposed inconsistency occurs when he is put under pressure.
Such has been the nature of the missed penalties that it added to this narrative of Messi being unable to deliver at the big moment, particularly with Argentina, with whom he has failed to win a major tournament.
Penalty misses have cost the Barca living legend his status as the greatest of them all, argue some, given that he cannot boast quite the sort of quote-worthy conversion rate in crucial moments which those contemporaries can Cristiano Ronaldo most significantly.
In addition, however, these misses are repetitive of the kind that can echo in Messi’s head in a penalty situation, such as we saw against Bosnia.
Still, frankly speaking, Messi should deserve recognition as well because up to this point, his durability and consistent match-winning performances have further cemented his status as one of the most iconic players in football history.
Conclusion
Lionel Messi’s career has been full of highs and the odd notable low, with much written about his efforts from 12 yards.
His achievements and contributions in the sport as a whole cannot be denied yet these missed spot-kicks at crucial junctures have given his legacy a lot of layers.
To this date, Messi has failed 29 times to convert from the penalty spot in competitive games among all tournaments, a figure that surprises and is curious for fans as well as various analysts.
These narrative-altering missed opportunities created the question marks that surrounded his clutch ability, particularly in high-pressured scenarios.
But the fact is that even with those missteps, this Messi continues to show fortitude and pure specialness that will have the history books hail him as one of football’s immortals.