14 days to go: Spain’s spot-kick success
FIFA counts down to the World Cup 2026 with a daily statistical story.
Spain hold the World Cup record for the most successive penalties scored in games: 14 from 1934 to 2006. Jose Iraragorri (1934), Roberto Lopez Ufarte (1982), Juanito (1982), Andoni Goikoetxea (1986), Emilio Butragueno (1986), Michel (1990), Pep Guardiola (1994), Txiki Begiristain (1994), Fernando Hierro thrice in succession (1998 and 2002), David Villa (2006), Fernando Torres (2006) and Villa again (2006) were responsible for converting the spot-kicks.
During that time, only two of the five penalties taken against Spain – by Denmark’s Jesper Olsen and Republic of Ireland’s Robbie Keane – were scored. Brazil’s Waldemar de Brito and Republic of Ireland’s Ian Harte had their attempts saved by Ricardo Zamora and Iker Casillas respectively, while Uruguay’s Ruben Sosa blazed his effort over the crossbar.
La Roja finally spurned a World Cup spot-kick – 76 years after first taking one – at South Africa 2010. David Villa was guilty, stroking the ball wide against Honduras to deny himself a hat-trick. Curiously, Xabi Alonso then missed Spain’s next penalty, in the quarter-finals against Paraguay, only for Villa to spare his blushes with a late winner. Alonso and Ferran Torres netted Spain’s subsequent penalties in World Cup matches to leave their overall record at taken 18, scored 16 and missed two. By contrast, the Iberians have lost four of their five shootouts in the competition.
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