Portugal secured their spot in the UEFA Nations League Final Four after a thrilling qualification match against Denmark, but the game also saw star Cristiano Ronaldo miss a penalty. The miss, saved by Denmark’s Kasper Schmeichel, led to Ronaldo surpassing Lionel Messi in a negative milestone.
Portugal was forced to secure a positive result after a 1-0 defeat in the first leg and came close to taking the lead early in the second leg. In the 3rd minute, Denmark‘s Patrick Dorgu fouled Ronaldo inside the box, and after a VAR review, the referee awarded a penalty.
Ronaldo stepped up to take the spot kick, but Schmeichel guessed correctly and made the save. Despite this, Ronaldo redeemed himself later in the game, scoring and helping Portugal secure their place in the semifinals. However, the missed penalty marked an unwanted achievement for the forward.
With his penalty miss, Ronaldo now holds the record for the most penalties missed in soccer history, with 32. He surpasses Lionel Messi, who had previously held the record alongside the Portuguese with 31 misses.
Ronaldo has scored the most penalties of any player, converting 173 out of 205 attempts, giving him a miss rate of approximately 15.6%. Messi, on the other hand, has scored 109 goals from 140 penalties, with a miss rate of about 22.1%. His most recent miss came in 2022.
see also
Cristiano Ronaldo breaks two records in Portugal’s victory: A Guinness World Record and another milestone
The two soccer legends are well ahead of others on the list. The third player with the most missed penalties is Italian legend Francesco Totti, with 20 misses from 106 attempts, followed by Zlatan Ibrahimovic with 16 misses from 92 attempts, and Antonio Di Natale with 15 misses from 58 attempts.
Ronaldo’s lower conversion rate with Portugal
While Ronaldo has been the go-to penalty taker throughout his career at both club and national levels, his conversion rate with Portugal is lower compared to his club performances. At club level, Ronaldo has taken 175 penalties, converting 152 for a conversion rate of 86.9%. However, with Portugal, his rate drops to 70%, having scored 21 goals from 30 attempts.
In contrast, Messi’s conversion rate is higher for Argentina than for his club. For Argentina, he has scored 24 out of 29 penalties, resulting in an 82.8% conversion rate, while for his club, his conversion rate is 76.6% with 85 goals from 111 attempts.
