7 elite players with shocking penalty records in 2024-25: Vini Jr, Haaland…
Stars from Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen are among the elite players with surprisingly poor penalty records in 2024-25.
Generally speaking, a good penalty taker will be able to convert at least 75% of the spot-kicks they are awarded, but all of the players on this list have dipped below that percentage this season.
We’ve taken a closer look across world football and have found seven top players with surprisingly shoddy penalty records this season.
Vinicius Junior
The Brazilian winger is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world right now, but when it comes to taking penalties, he’s had some absolute stinkers of late.
Kylian Mbappe has predominantly been Real Madrid’s penalty taker this season, but Vinicius has taken two himself and he’s failed to score either of them.
Last month, he blazed his penalty against Atletico Madrid over the bar and his latest spot-kick against Valencia was ridiculously tame.
Vinicius did somewhat rectify his miss by scoring later in the game, although Real Madrid still went on to lose 2-1.
“Bellingham, Mbappe, and Vinicius have missed,” Carlo Ancelotti told reporters following Vini’s latest miss.
“I’ve tried to give him confidence, but he missed this one too.”
Considering he’s now missed his last two spot-kicks, we can probably assume that Mbappe or Jude Bellingham will be taking them from this point onward.
Erling Haaland
Across his entire career, Haaland boasts a very respectable penalty conversion rate of 85.9%.
However, in 2024-25, his conversion rate from the penalty spot has dropped to 57.1%.
Having missed penalties against Sporting, Everton and Bournemouth, it’s been a relatively poor season from Haaland when it comes to scoring from the spot.
Florian Wirtz
The Bayer Leverkusen star is one of the most talented youngsters in Europe right now, although his penalty record has been a bit sketchy this season.
Prior to 2024-25, Wirtz had never missed a penalty, but that changed back in August when Jonas Omlin saved his spot-kick. Although, in fairness to the 21-year-old, he did score the rebound.
Having also failed to convert his penalty against Freiburg, Wirtz only boasts a conversion rate of 60% from the penalty spot this season.
Hugo Ekitike
The former PSG star has been doing well since joining Eintracht Frankfurt, having already scored 19 goals across all competitions.
While his record from open play has been second to none, his spot-kicks haven’t exactly been at the same level.
As of writing, the 22-year-old has taken three penalties this season, but he’s only managed to convert one of them.
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Vincenzo Grifo
The 32-year-old has been enjoying a good season with Freiburg, but the less said about his penalty record, the better.
Of the four penalties that he’s taken in 2024-25, he’s only been able to convert one of them, giving him a miserable conversion rate of just 25%.
Raheem Sterling
Throughout his entire career, Sterling has had a pretty shoddy record when it comes to penalties.
For that reason, he hasn’t been handed many opportunities in recent seasons to hone his craft from the penalty spot.
He failed to convert his penalty against Girona earlier in the season, which now means he’s missed his last three consecutive penalties. Ouch.
Karim Benzema
The Frenchman failed to convert a penalty against Al-Fayha earlier this season meaning that he’s currently got a 0% conversion rate from the spot.
Surprisingly, Benzema has struggled to stick many penalties away since joining Al-Ittihad back in 2023.
In total, the 37-year-old has taken six penalties since moving to Saudi Arabia and he’s only managed to score two of them. For a player as good as Benzema, that’s a shocking penalty record.