Lionel Messi has recently opened up about the penalty technique that he used during the World Cup 2022. It has been almost a year since Messi’s Argentina lifted the World Cup trophy in Qatar. In what was probably his last World Cup, Messi was voted the player of the tournament and won the Golden Ball. In this article, we will take a look at the change in Messi’s technique that helped Argentina become World Champions.
Lionel Messi recently appeared in an interview with the Argentine journalist Sebastian Vignolo. During the interview, Messi spoke at length about various topics. He talked about his participation in the 2026 World Cup and Argentina’s chances at Copa America next year. He also talked about how he changed his penalty technique after Argentina’s game against Poland.
https://x.com/AlbicelesteTalk/status/1730627123159683077?s=20
During Argentina’s final group-stage fixture against Poland, Lionel Messi missed a penalty. Talking about his miss, Messi said, “After that penalty kick against Poland, I started shooting in different ways during the training.” He further revealed how he brought back his old technique where he waited a bit more before shooting for the goalkeepers to commit.
The Argentine skipper also revealed that he practiced shooting penalties more against Argentina’s second and third-choice goalkeepers, Franco Armani and Geronimo Rulli. He practiced much less with Argentina’s first-choice keeper, Emiliano Martinez, who saved two penalties in the quarterfinal and one in the final.
How many penalties has Lionel Messi missed in his career?
While finding a flaw in Lionel Messi’s playing style is like attempting to find a needle in a haystack, the Argentine ace has struggled with penalties throughout his career. In his almost two-decade-long career, Messi has taken 139 penalties. Out of the 139 attempts, Messi has scored 108 and missed 31, and has a success percentage of 77.7%. In contrast, Cristiano Ronaldo has a success percentage of 84.5% and has scored 158 out of 187 penalties.
Lionel Messi, however, was prolific from the spot during the World Cup 2022. The Inter Miami star scored four penalties in the tournament. He scored against Saudi Arabia, missed one against Poland, and scored a penalty against the Netherlands in the quarterfinal, against Croatia in the semifinal, and against France in the final. He also scored from the spot in the shootout in the semifinal and the final.