France captain Kylian Mbappe missed a penalty in their quarter-final against Morocco, but goals from Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele secured a 2-0 win.
The match in Foxborough was goalless when Mbappe was fouled by Noussair Mazraoui, and the Frenchman stuttered in his run-up before seeing his tame effort easily saved by Yassine Bounou.
Mbappe made amends on the hour mark with a sensational curling effort, but his earlier miss has reignited debate about whether stuttering run-ups are still an effective technique.
Of the 26 stutter penalties taken during this World Cup, including shootouts, only 15 have been scored, producing a conversion rate of just 57%.
By contrast, 24 of the 35 non-stutter penalties have found the net, a considerably healthier conversion rate of 68%.
Ian Wright, speaking on ITV, suggested goalkeepers have worked out how to combat the technique, saying: “This stuttering penalty seems to be the one. The goalkeepers seem to have got a march on it now.”
Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin offered a broader explanation on BBC Radio 5 Live, describing an evolving battle between strikers and increasingly athletic keepers.
“There is an arms race going on. It is definitely harder to score a penalty now. The reason being, the goalkeepers are bigger now, more athletic,” Nevin said.
He added: “A very good penalty is no longer a certainty, so you have to re-think it. I need to make sure he goes the wrong way, hence the stutter, you try to send them the wrong way.”
Nevin also pointed out that data has levelled the playing field considerably, with keepers able to study every penalty taker in detail before facing them.
“Of course the goalkeepers have the data, they know what everybody does, there is no hiding what you prefer because it shows up. There is a constant running battle to figure out how you get the advantage,” he said.
In Bounou, Mbappe faced a goalkeeper in exceptional form at this tournament, with the Moroccan stopping seven of nine World Cup penalties he has faced including shootouts.
A three-minute-and-12-second VAR delay between the awarding of the penalty and Bounou’s save did Mbappe few favours, according to those analysing the incident.
French football journalist Julien Laurens, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, put Mbappe’s miss down to “the breakdown of his usual routine and it is just a terrible penalty.”
Laurens added: “It was a weak shot and easy save. Bounou is the best goalkeeper at penalties. Routines are so important in football. That clearly distracted Mbappe.”
Roy Keane, speaking on ITV, was critical of the delay, arguing the wait unfairly shifted the pressure back towards the penalty taker rather than the goalkeeper.
“It is unfair to have to wait over three minutes. I know these are world-class players. It is a pressure situation. Why does he have to wait three minutes?” Keane said.
Wright echoed those concerns, stating: “The longer you have to wait to take a penalty, the more you are starting to doubt what you are going to do.”
Despite the miss, Mbappe’s penalty record for France remains strong, with 14 scored from 16 attempts, while at club level he has converted 50 from 62 attempts.
This World Cup has broadly been a difficult one for penalty takers, with 30% of non-shootout penalties missed, the second highest rate since records began in 1966.
