Which World Cup had the most penalty shootouts in the history? How many have we had after Egypt vs. Australia?
Egypt beat Australia to move on to the round out 16 for the first time in history, and they did it by beating the Socceroos in a penalty shootout.
This has been a historic World Cup for a number of different reasons. More games. More goals. Lot of drama. With the round of 32 coming to an end we are heading towards a record setting pace of penalty shootouts after the first round of knockout matches.
Plenty of penalty drama
The new look World Cup, which was inaugurated this summer, has treated us to some historic performances, dramatic endings and yes, plenty of penalty shootouts already. The tournament that some thought was going to be diluted because of the amplified 48 team field and the extra knockout round has been pulsating from the very start.
Egypt and Australia just wrapped a thriller to being final match day the round of 32. The Egyptians topped the Aussies in the penalty shootout for their first knockout stage win in history. It was the third match that went to penalties since the group stages ended last Saturday.
Of the 14 games that have been played in the round of 32, three of them have already gone to penalties. The first of which was the most stunning result of the tournament so far. Paraguay forced Germany to a shootout and beat the four time World Cup winners. Then Morocco beat the Netherlands in a tense shootout to knock the Dutch side out before the round of 16. Now it’s another African team moving on after a dramatic finish from Dallas, Texas.
Qatar record in jeopardy
At this pace, the record of five penalty shootouts in a World Cup, which was set in Qatar four years ago is on pace to be shattered this summer. Croatia beat Japan in the first match to go to penalties in the 2022 edition and that was followed by Morocco beating Spain in the round of 16. Two of the four quarterfinal matches went to penalties with Croatia again going to a shootout and beating Brazil, and Argentina beating Netherlands in a dramatic match between to giants of the game. France and Argentina finished off the World Cup with a penalty shootout with the Albiceleste earning their third star from Qatar.
Obviously this World Cup is different. There were more teams, and groups in the group stages. Now there is an extra round of knockout matches. It’s normal that more games, we see more records being broken. There are still two more matches to be played in the round of 32 with Argentina and Cabo Verde and Ghana and Colombia yet to kickoff.
With the two matches left in this round, and the eight in the round of 16 followed by four in the quarters and two in the semis, you would think the record of five is in danger. Especially when you consider that the deeper we go into the tournament the more the teams start to even out in quality.
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