Published On 7/8/2026
Argentine star Lionel Messi’s miss of a penalty kick during his country’s match against Egypt in the round of 16 of the World Cup in 2026 sparked widespread controversy in English media circles, regarding the “Tango” captain continuing to take penalty kicks.
Messi had missed a penalty kick in the first half of the match that ended with Argentina’s 3-2 victory over Egypt, before he made up for it by scoring the equalizing goal, contributing to leading his country to the quarter-finals.
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During the ITV analysis studio, broadcaster Mark Bogac wondered whether the time had come to exempt Messi from taking penalty kicks, in light of the decline in his numbers from the penalty spot in the World Cup finals.
Bogac said: “Lionel Messi – despite all his genius – missed another penalty kick. It is the second he missed in this edition of the World Cup, and it is a negative number for him. He missed half of the penalty kicks he took in the history of his participation in the World Cup, with the exception of penalty kicks. Shouldn’t someone tell him: You are not good at taking penalty kicks?”
Messi lacks confidence?
For his part, Roy Keane pointed out that Messi’s record on penalty kicks is not ideal, saying: “We were watching the shot and we did not feel that he would score. His numbers are not good, and it is surprising that a player of Messi’s size seemed to lack confidence in himself when executing.” According to The Sun newspaper.
On the other hand, former Arsenal star Ian Wright refused to diminish the status of the Argentine captain because of the missed penalty kick, while former Manchester United star Gary Neville saw that convincing a player of Messi’s caliber to give up taking penalty kicks is extremely difficult, saying: “Players of this stature want to take every penalty kick and every free kick, and it is very difficult to convince them to give up that.”
Messi has a mixed record in executing penalty kicks during the World Cup Finals, as he missed four out of eight kicks he executed during the matches without counting penalty kicks, which brings back the debate about the extent of his continued role as the first penalty kick taker in the Argentine national team.
