All penalty records assessed 

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The group stages of Euro 2024 provided plenty of drama, but now it’s the real deal. The knockout stages begin this Saturday, with Switzerland taking on holders Italy in Berlin, before hosts Germany face Denmark in Dortmund. All nations are now just three wins away from the final. The pressure is on. Across the group stages there were as many as 14 draws. A draw then meant a point-a-piece, but now it would lead to extra-time and then potentially the dreaded penalty shootout. At some stage we will almost certainly be seeing players take that long walk from the half-way line.

With there likely to be shootouts at some point over the next few weeks with so much on line, we wanted to find out which nations have the most clinical penalty takers, and which players and teams are best equipped to do the business from the spot. We have compiled a list of all the players at Euro 2024 with the best penalty conversion rates since the last Euros in 2021 (only including players to have taken 10+ penalties). Germany have picked up the reputation of being one of the strongest historical sides in penalty shootouts, whilst it’s the opposite for England, but how do their current penalty takers compare? We have also put together the average conversion rate of every nation’s five most frequent penalty takers since the last Euros to see which team have the most reliable spot-kick takers this time around.

The players with the most clinical penalty records at Euro 2024

When looking at all players to have taken 10 or more penalties since the conclusion of the last Euros three years ago, four players have a 100% record from the spot. Leading the way in first place due to taking more penalties with 14 successful strikes is Austria’s Marco Grüll. He actually wasn’t on the pitch when Austria got their only penalty of Euro 2024 so far, with Marko Arnautovic dispatching the spot-kick against Poland. In second place is Germany’s Niclas Füllkrug who has 13 from 13 since the last Euros, and will surely be substituted on for potential shootouts. Then joint third with 11 successful penalties is England’s Cole Palmer and Switzerland’s Xherdan Shaqiri.

In fifth is Turkey’s Hakan Çalhanoğlu, who has scored 21 of his 22 penalties in the last three years leaving him with a 95.45% conversion rate. Then it’s two Georgians in Georges Mikautadze with a 94.74% conversion rate including the two he he has scored already at this summer’s tournament, and Giorgi Gvelesiani who has a 94.12% striker rate from 17 penalties. They are followed by England’s Ivan Toney with 93.33% from 15 penalties. Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo comes in next with 93.10% from 29 penalties taken, and another Three Lion in Bukayo Saka completes the top 10 with 92.86% from 14 spot-kicks.

When it comes to the worst conversion rates from all players still competing at Euro 2024 from the last three years Georgia’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia holds the unenviable position of first place with just a 60% conversion rate from 10 penalties. Perhaps explaining why he hasn’t been on penalty duty this tournament. Then it’s Slovenia’s Andraz Sporar with 64.29% of his 14 spot-kicks scored. He’s followed by Italy’s Lorenzo Pellegrini and Portugal’s Rúben Neves who have both scored just 70% of their 10 penalties. Completing the worst five is Georgia’s Giorgi Kvilitaia, with 72.73% of 11 penalties scored.

The teams with the most clinical penalty takers at Euro 2024

When it comes to the nations who will be best prepared for a penalty shootout based on their players conversion rate for club and country since the last Euros in 2021, the results are pretty surprising. To conclude these results, we have taken the five players from each nation’s squads who have taken the most penalties in the last three years and then calculated the average conversion rates from those five players. Incredibly England, who are usually synonymous with losing penalty shootouts rank number one on the list. Between Harry Kane, Toney, Saka, Palmer and Jude Bellingham, the Three Lions boast at 95.42% average conversion rate. It could be time for England to put their penalty demons in the past this summer. 

In second place are Switzerland with an average conversion rate of 92.50% from their five most frequent takers in recent years. They are followed by Portugal with 89.29%, including Ronaldo’s record of 93.10% from his 29 spot-kicks. Austria, who have become many people’s Euro 2024 dark horses, come in fourth with 89.00%, and Germany – the perennial penalty winners, take fifth with 85.56%. At the other end of the scale Romania are worst off with an average conversion rate of just 70.76% from their five most frequent takers.

Of course scoring a penalty in a regular club game in 90 minutes doesn’t replicate the pressure that comes from that long walk to the 12 yard spot with your whole country watching at a major tournament. The five most frequent players may not even be selected to take the nation’s first penalties. However, it gives a very good indication of which nation’s boast the most deadly penalty takers going into the knockout stages of Euro 2024. And England look better placed than ever to put their ‘penalty hoodoos’ behind them in Germany this summer.