The Independent's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission.
New study bursts myth of England players being bad at penalties
England have a notorious history of disappointment in penalty shootouts
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A scientific study in Nature has revealed a surprising lack of correlation between being English and missing penalties.
One of the long-held beliefs of international competition, for English football fans at least, has been that penalty shootouts were nothing more than a curse.
Gareth Southgate‘s team challenged that notion somewhat when they saw off Colombia on spot-kicks during the 2018 World Cup, but it might take more than a single win to completely bury the scars for some.
However, a detailed look at almost 500 shootout strikes at World Cups and European Championships showed no “significant differences between any of the analysed nations” compared to the overall sample mean averages.
The same held true for in-game penalties, with “no difference between success rates of penalty-takers from different nations.”
Even so, perhaps the mental resilience needed for the high-pressure situation of a shootout does affect some English players.
The study noted that English players performed worse in those penalties than during in-game spot-kicks, where they in fact marginally over-performed—but not to a level of statistical significance.
Perhaps another opportunity to set the record straight may arise at Euro 2021, where England will hope to reach the final which is set to be played on home soil at Wembley.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments