Messi becomes first player with two missed penalties in a single World Cup

Lionel Messi etched his name into the World Cup record book again — but not for a reason he would have chosen. The Argentina captain saw his penalty saved by Egypt goalkeeper Oufa Shobeir in the Round of 16 match of the 2026 tournament. Egypt struck first in the 15th minute, and Messi had a golden chance to level the score just six minutes later from the spot. But Shobeir guessed correctly and kept the ball out. It was the second time in this World Cup that Messi failed to convert a penalty — he had already missed one against Austria in the group stage, a match Argentina still won 2-0. With that miss, Messi became the first player in World Cup history with two penalty failures in a single edition. He also surpassed Harry Kane for the most penalties taken in World Cup history — eight to Kane’s seven. Only Messi (four missed penalties overall) and Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan (two) have more than one missed spot kick in World Cup history. For context, Kane has missed just one of his seven, while Gyan missed two of four.