Most Penalty Missed by a Player: Who Holds the Record?

Cristiano Ronaldo is generally cited as the player with the most missed penalties in top-level football. However, there is no single official FIFA database covering every professional match, so the exact total varies between statistical sources.

Most published career penalty records place Ronaldo’s missed spot-kicks in the low-to-mid 30s. Differences usually come from whether a database includes every club and international match, archived competitions, own-goal corrections, or only penalties taken during normal match play.

Why the penalty miss record is difficult to verify

The phrase “most penalty missed by a player” can refer to several different records. A career total may include league matches, domestic cups, continental competitions and international football, while another source may cover only major leagues.

• Match penalties: Spot-kicks taken during normal or extra-time play.
• Penalty shootouts: Attempts taken to decide a tied knockout match. These are often recorded separately and should not be mixed with match penalties.
• Competition records: A player can lead the Premier League, Champions League or World Cup for misses without holding the worldwide career record.
• Database coverage: Older matches and lower-profile competitions are not recorded consistently across all statistical websites.

Is Cristiano Ronaldo the all-time leader?

Ronaldo is the most frequently named answer when the question means missed penalties in a professional career. His long career, high number of penalty attempts and regular role as a spot-kick taker have all contributed to the total.

The closest widely discussed comparison is Lionel Messi. Messi has also missed more than 30 penalties in commonly used career databases, although his total is usually reported slightly below Ronaldo’s. The difference can change depending on the source and the date on which the statistics were collected.

That does not mean Ronaldo is an inaccurate penalty taker. A player who takes hundreds of penalties will naturally have more misses than a player who rarely takes them. The better measure of reliability is penalty conversion rate, which compares goals with total attempts rather than counting misses alone.

Most missed penalties in football competitions

Competition-specific records produce different answers. A domestic league may have one player with the most missed penalties, while the Champions League or international football may have another. These figures should not be presented as the all-time world record unless the competition, time period and statistical source are clearly stated.

Penalty shootouts create another source of confusion. A player may miss several shootout attempts during a career, but those misses do not always appear in ordinary penalty statistics. For that reason, lists of the most missed penalties usually focus on penalties awarded during a match.

Frequently asked questions

Who has missed the most penalties in football?

Cristiano Ronaldo is commonly listed as the player with the most career penalty misses in widely used professional football databases. The precise number is not universal because record-keeping standards differ.

Are penalty shootout misses included?

Usually, no. Most career penalty statistics count penalties taken during a match and list shootout attempts separately. Always check the definition used by the source.

Has Lionel Messi missed more penalties than Ronaldo?

Most commonly cited comparisons show Messi with a slightly lower number of career penalty misses than Ronaldo, although totals can vary between databases.

Does the player with the most misses have the worst conversion rate?

Not necessarily. A player can have the most misses because he has taken far more penalties than his peers. Conversion rate, which measures successful penalties against total attempts, gives a fairer comparison.