Why have there been so many missed penalties at Euro 2025?
Ahead of Saturday's quarter-final between France and Germany, only 12 of the 25 penalties taken at the tournament had been scored, including just five of the 14 in England's shoot-out victory over Sweden.
The following night, Spain missed two penalties in their 2-0 victory over Switzerland, with Mariona Caldentey and Alexia Putellas both failing to score from the spot in what was ultimately a comfortable victory for the world champions.
Norway striker and former Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg also missed two penalties during the tournament, including in her country's quarter-final defeat to Italy on Wednesday. Both of Hegerberg's penalties missed the target completely.
England and Sweden's penalty shoot-out also featured the lowest conversation rate in Women's Euro history, with 36 per cent scored. The only other shoot-out to have a conversation rate under 50 percent was the previous time a knockout match went to penalties, which was Denmark's win over Austria in the 2017 semi-finals.
While England and Sweden's penalties attracted criticism and some ridicule on social media, both goalkeepers played their part: Hannah Hampton made two saves, including to keep England in the tournament, while Jennifer Falk saved four kicks, but, bizarrely, also blazed her penalty over the bar when she had the chance to send Sweden into the semi-finals.
'I think both keepers made a few incredible saves a piece in that shoot-out,' England defender Esme Morgan said on Saturday. 'The word I would just use is ridiculous. I've never seen anything like it before, and I was thinking, goodness me, what is going on, but thankfully it turned in our favour.'
Penalty conversation rates tend to be lower during shoot-outs at major international tournaments, where the pressure is extreme. Some studies have shown that average conversion rates in penalty shoot-outs is around 75 to 80 percent, with similar results for men and women.
The three penalty shoot-outs at the 2023 Women's World Cup all saw conversion rates of between 64 and 66.6 per cent. Nine of 14 penalties were scored during the last-16 match between Sweden and USA, 13 of 20 were scored between Australia and France and six of nine were scored between England and Nigeria.
The penalties taken at last year's men's Euros tended to be of a high quality, with France scoring all five of their penalties against Portugal and England scoring all five of their penalties against Switzerland. Both shoot-outs saw just one player miss. Slovenia, however, missed all three of theirs in defeat to Portugal, who only had to score their three to win.
But the past two campaigns in both the Premier League and Women's Super League in England indicate that, while success from the spot may vary between seasons, conversation rates between men and women are similar when the first-choice taker stands over the ball during a regulation match.
In the Women's Super League last season, 28 penalties were scored out of the 31 awarded, a conversion rate of just over 90 per cent. In the season before, 18 out of 23 were scored (78.2 per cent).
The Premier League saw a record 93 out of 104 penalties scored during the 2023-24 season, at a conversation rate of 89 per cent. In the following season, 68 penalties were scored from 82 attempts (83 per cent).
England had practised their penalties before the Sweden quarter-final, with Beth Mead expressing frustration that some players couldn't deliver on the day. The exceptions were Alessia Russo, Chloe Kelly and Lucy Bronze, who scored her first penalty for England by going straight down the middle.
'I think we're all frustrated in the sense that we had our system, we've practised them every day, we've got our routines, and sometimes it doesn't go to plan,' said Mead after she missed England's third penalty. 'I'm just happy we're on the good side of it today.'
'We practised penalties a lot in the lead up to the tournament, maybe it was just one of those crazy days, something in the air,' Morgan said. 'But I'm sure we'll continue to practice and make sure we're prepared should that situation arise again.'
Of the 13 penalties that have been missed at Euro 2025, it should be noted that three have come against the host nation Switzerland. Hegerberg missed her first penalty in the opening game in Basel, with Caldentey and Putellas also failing to convert against the hostile home fans in Bern.
There was also the strange sight of Sweden's goalkeeper stepping up to take their decisive fifth penalty of the shoot-out, with head coach Peter Gerhardsson later confirming that the players had wanted the decision to be taken out of their hands and had asked the coaching staff to draw up a list of penalty takers, from one to 11.
While that was a surprising decision, which certainly shocked England's Hampton, the reality of a penalty shoot-out is someone has to miss. Against England, it was the unfortunate 18-year-old Smilla Holmberg who missed Sweden's decisive effort.
By the next morning Holmberg had received a text from Sweden football legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with Holmberg's father revealing that Ibrahimovic told her to keep believing in herself and to take the next one.
"She is strong and she has received a lot of support from both the team, supporters, friends and relatives, she even got a text message from Zlatan here this morning," Holmberg's father Ola Persson told Swedish radio.
"The most important thing is that no-one defines a career by those misses.'
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