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In normal time or in a shootout, a look at the players who famously missed penalties at the men's World Cup. ..

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The award of a penalty is sometimes celebrated as if it were a goal, but there is still work to be done. And sometimes, the pressure can be too much. Any player can convert from 12 yards on the training ground – or should be able to. But in a high-pressure situation, it is much more difficult. That has caused some of the world's finest footballers to miss penalties when it matters most – be it during the match itself or in a shootout. Here, a look at some of those players who famously missed penalties at a men's World Cup. .. Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard each won over 100 caps for England and were often paired together in central midfield – even though the presence of both appeared to create a lack of balance in the middle of the park. Two years after England's defeat on penalties to Portugal at Euro 2004, history repeated itself at the 2006 World Cup as both Lampard (who scored in the previous shootout) and Gerrard were unable to convert in a 3-2 spot-kick loss in Gelsenkirchen. Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo was the hero, saving from both players and also keeping out Jamie Carragher's effort. Brazil were expected to set up a mouthwatering World Cup semi-final meeting with Argentina at Qatar 2022, but things didn't go to plan for Tite's team after Neymar's opening goal in extra time. The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. With time running out, Bruno Petković levelled for Croatia and in the shootout, Rodrygo's penalty was saved by Dominik Livaković. Later, Marquinhos crashed his effort against the post and a 4-2 shootout loss saw Brazil heading home. Franco Baresi's penalty miss in the 1994 World Cup final shootout against Brazil may not be as famous as Roberto Baggio's, but it was similar. After putting in an impressive defensive shift to keep Brazil at bay in normal time, Baresi ballooned his penalty over the crossbar at the start of the shootout, which ended in a 3-2 loss for Italy as Baggio blasted his kick high of the target too. Baresi does have a World Cup winners' medal, though, having been part of Italy's squad in 1982. Kylian Mbappé scored two penalties for France in the 2022 World Cup final against Argentina and converted another in the shootout. Unfortunately for Les Bleus, his team-mates were less clinical. Kingsley Coman's effort was saved by Emiliano Martínez and the Argentina goalkeeper tried his best to put off Aurelien Tchouaméni, throwing the ball away before the midfielder's kick. And it worked as Tchouaméni dragged his shot wide in a 4-2 loss to the South Americans. Spain played some good football at the 2022 World Cup, but Luis Enrique's side struggled for goals and paid the price in a last-16 loss to Morocco on penalties. Following a 0-0 draw in Al-Rayyan, Spain missed all three of their penalties and victory for Morocco was confirmed when Sergio Busquets' effort was saved by Yassine Bounou. England do not have a good record when it comes to penalty shootouts at major tournaments and the Three Lions' sorry spot-kick streak started at the 1990 World Cup. After Stuart Pearce's kick was saved by the legs of Bodo Illgner, Chris Waddle needed to score to keep England in the shootout against West Germany in the teams' semi-final clash in Turin, but the winger blasted his effort over the crossbar. Waddle was consoled by West Germany captain Lothar Matthäus, who went on to lift the trophy four days later. Michel Platini was France's star player at the 1986 World Cup and the former Juventus forward netted for Les Bleus in their quarter-final clash with Brazil. But the three-time Ballon d'Or winner was unable to convert in the shootout, firing his effort over the bar on his 31st birthday. His blushes were spared, though, as France went on to win the shootout. Robert Lewandowski missed a glorious opportunity to fire Poland into the lead against Mexico in a group game at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa guessed right, diving low to his left to save the former Bayern Munich striker's spot-kick. The match finished 0-0, but Poland went on to sneak into the last 16 ahead of El Tri. Argentina reached the final of the 1990 World Cup despite a largely unconvincing campaign in Italy, which featured a shock defeat to Cameroon, a backs-to-the-wall win against Brazil and two penalty shootout successes. One of those was against Yugoslavia in the quarter-finals, with goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea the hero as Argentina won 3-2 on penalties. Five players failed to convert, including Diego Maradona, whose weak effort was saved by Tomislav Ivković, but the South Americans advanced and went on to beat hosts Italy in another shootout in the last four. And Maradona scored the winning kick on that occasion. David Trézéguet was the only France player to miss a penalty as Les Bleus lost 5-3 to Italy in a shootout in the 2006 World Cup final. Trézéguet blasted his spot-kick against the crossbar and was in tears after the match, then again as the French players were given a heroes' welcome in Paris the following day. After Uruguay's Luis Suárez had handled the ball on the line to stop a certain goal, Asamoah Gyan stepped up to take a penalty kick at the end of extra time which would have sent Ghana to the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup. But the striker smashed his effort against the crossbar and Uruguay, sans Suárez after his red card, earned a reprieve. Gyan went on to score in the shootout, but Uruguay won 4-2. Cruel. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brilliant hat-trick against Spain in his first appearance at the 2018 World Cup and followed up that display with the winner against Morocco in Portugal's second game. But the former Real Madrid forward was left frustrated in their third match as his penalty was saved by Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand in a 1-1 draw. Portugal went out to Uruguay in the last 16. Harry Kane missed a golden opportunity to draw England level at 2-2 with France in the teams' World Cup quarter-final clash at Qatar 2022. The England captain had already scored one spot-kick, but blasted his second over the crossbar, perhaps pressured by facing a goalkeeper who knew him well in Tottenham team-mate Hugo Lloris. France held on for a 2-1 win and went on to reach the final. Lionel Messi is considered by many to be the finest footballer of all time, but the Argentina great has missed a few big penalties over the years. One of those came at the 2018 World Cup in a group game against Iceland, when the former Barcelona star's spot-kick was saved by Hannes Halldórsson. The game ended 1-1. Messi also failed to beat Wojciech Szczesny from 12 yards in a group game against Poland at the 2022 World Cup, but was on target from the spot several times as the South Americans went on to win the tournament in Qatar. Zico was one of Brazil's stars at the 1982 World Cup, but the former Flamengo forward was hampered by injury in the 1986 tournament and only appeared as a substitute in Mexico. He helped Brazil win a penalty in the quarter-finals against France, but hit his spot-kick too close to goalkeeper Joël Bats, who made an easy save. Zico later netted in the shootout after the teams drew 1-1, but Brazil were beaten 4-3. Roberto Baggio's brilliance was key as Italy progressed to the World Cup final in 1994, so it is unfair that the forward's penalty miss ended up being the tournament's defining image. Two of his team-mates, Franco Baresi and Daniele Massaro, had already missed. Baggio, not fully fit but usually so reliable from the spot, then blasted his effort over the bar. He stood rooted to the spot as Brazil's players celebrated victory. Cruelly, it is the lasting image of a wonderful career and he was never quite the same again. Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine. 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