As the World Cup reaches the quarter-final stage, BBC Sport and Opta have analyzed every World Cup shootout penalty ever taken, updating their data after four memorable shootouts in the last 32 and last 16 rounds. The analysis covers 360 penalties taken in 39 shootouts since 1982, revealing that Argentina is the most successful country in shootouts, having won six of their seven, while Croatia has won all four of theirs. The Netherlands and Spain share a record four shootout defeats, and Mexico has the worst success rate from the spot at 29%. Only two players have scored penalties in three different World Cup shootouts: Argentina's Lionel Messi and Croatia's Luka Modric, both with a 100% success rate in shootouts. However, Messi's record from the spot during World Cup games is only four from eight. The analysis also highlights goalkeepers, with Croatia's Danijel Subasic and Dominik Livakovic, West Germany's Harald Schumacher, and Argentina's Sergio Goycochea each saving four spot-kicks in World Cup shootouts. Statistically, players who pick one side of the goal have a better chance of scoring than those who go down the middle, with 73% scoring to their right, 71% to their left, and only 58% succeeding with a central kick.
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