The 10 players with the most penalties scored in football history: Messi, Ronaldo…
Scoring from 12 yards out with a dead ball feels like one of the easiest things to do in football, but tucking away penalties is actually an artform.
Sure, anyone can get lucky and rifle a penalty top bins if given the chance to take one every now and then, but being able to become a consistent threat from the penalty spot is a skill in itself that requires huge mental strength, as well as obvious technical ability to keep goalkeepers clueless.
We’ve looked at the 10 players to have scored the most penalties in football history and it’s a star-studded list, with a few surprises.
10. Ronaldinho – 70
Remembered best for his outrageous flair and skill throughout a game, Ronaldinho was equally lethal in deadball situations and finished his career having scored 70 times from the spot.
The Joga Bonito icon left his mark on everything he did on the pitch, with his free-kicks and penalties being no different. Ronaldinho’s run-up was like no other, making use of his hips, and his technique was outstanding.
9. Alan Shearer – 72
The Premier League’s record scorer, Shearer being lethal from 12 yards was one of the many weapons in the arsenal that made him one of the game’s greatest ever strikers.
Fifty-six goals from 67 attempts means he is still the most prolific penalty-taker in Premier League history, almost 20 years on from hanging up his boots. Not bad going, that.
8. Alessandro Del Piero – 77
Another elite technician and playmaker, Del Piero flies under the radar these days, but he was joyous in his peak and dangerous from the spot.
He stepped up and scored a penalty as Italy beat France in the final of the 2006 World Cup, etching his name into the history books with a moment from 12 yards that only players like him can make look routine.
The Juventus legend missed just 15 throughout his entire career. Insanity.
7. Robert Lewandowski – 82
Nicknamed ‘Lewangoalski’ by former teammate Thomas Muller, with a conversion rate of 82 penalties scored and just nine missed – so far – we’re surprised social media hasn’t dubbed the Polish gunman ‘Penmandowski’ or something similar.
You can have that one for free, football Twitter. You’re welcome.
6. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 85
It’s incredible to think how much better Ibrahimovic could’ve been if he didn’t rock that ponytail and talk about himself in the third person for so long because he was a genuine genetic freak of a footballer.
Someone of his size should never have been so technical, but also so flexible. At his peak, Zlatan was one of the most complete forwards one could imagine. His personality wasn’t for everyone, but it did ensure he was dynamite from the penalty spot.
Ibrahimovic became the oldest scorer in Serie A history with a spot-kick against Udinese in 2023. We doubt it’ll be eclipsed anytime soon.
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5. Francesco Totti – 86
They simply don’t make them like Totti anymore. A football romantic’s hero, the one-club-man was also Roma’s chief penalty taker for much of his wonderful career, bagging 86 in total and missing 20.
The Italian was also responsible for one of the most filthy spot-kicks ever scored at EURO 2000, knocking the Netherlands out in the semi-final with a Panenka to win the shootout.
4. Roberto Baggio – 101
The divine ponytail himself, Baggio is more famous for a penalty he missed rather than any of the 101 he scored in his career.
He rifled his spot-kick over the crossbar in the 1994 World Cup final penalty shootout, handing Brazil the trophy in heartbreaking fashion in a moment that could’ve been perilous for his career – and would’ve been for many others.
Not Roberto, though. Never. Cool as f*ck.
3. Lionel Messi – 110
You know you’re brilliant when people online nickname you ‘Pessi’, but the funniest thing about the legendary Argentine is that he was distinctly bad from the spot for a long time before he eventually figured it out.
Penalties proved to be the only chink in Messi’s armour and the only known proof that he was human after all. He’s taken and scored an astonishing number of spot-kicks, but has been known to miss them too. In 2015, of the 10 he took, he only managed to score five.
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2. Ronald Koeman – 113
Football Twitter would’ve had a field day with Koeman if he played in the modern era as a defender with a knack for scoring penalties. In fact, they simply wouldn’t have been able to comprehend the Dutchman.
A player way ahead of his time, Koeman is world football’s top-scoring defender and excelled when it came to taking free-kicks, too. His penalties, though, were a work of art and he mastered the art of disguise, finishing his powerful run-ups with neat, well-slotted spot-kicks.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo – 163
The undisputed GOAT from the spot, Ronaldo took the ‘Penaldo’ nickname and absolutely ran with it. One hundred and sixty-three penalties converted. That is unfathomable.
Unfortunately, he too has proven he is human and that father time will come for us all. Ronaldo was reduced to tears at EURO 2024 after Jan Oblak stretched to save his penalty in the last 16.
He bounced back to score in a penalty shootout they would end up winning, but the moment was a sobering reminder that we aren’t getting any younger.