Sports
Penalty shootout trend at 2026 World Cup: Going second leads to victory
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Penalty shootout trend at 2026 World Cup: Going second leads to victory
All four penalty shootouts at the 2026 World Cup have been won by the team that went second, extending a recent pattern in the competition.
- All four penalty shootouts at the 2026 World Cup were won by the team taking the second penalty.
- In three of those cases, the captain who won the coin toss chose to go first and lost; in the fourth, Egypt opted to go second and won.
- Over the past 15 World Cup shootouts, 13 have been won by the team going second.
- Only two of the 12 teams that missed the opening penalty in a World Cup shootout have recovered to win.
Latest developments
- Argentina has won six of its seven World Cup penalty shootouts.
- Spain has been eliminated four times on penalties at the World Cup, a record tied with the Netherlands.
Coverage
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