EURO penalty shoot-outs: What was the longest? Who saved the most spot kicks?

Penalty shoot-outs were not introduced until the fifth edition of the UEFA European Championship, in 1976. The only drawn finals games before then had been settled by the toss of a coin (Italy's 1968 semi-final against the Soviet Union) and a replay (Italy's win against Yugoslavia in the subsequent final).

The first match to be decided by penalties was the 1976 final, Antonín Panenka's chipped decider giving Czechoslovakia victory over West Germany – and giving his name to an audacious piece of skill. It was the first of 25 EURO penalty shoot-outs to date, and the first of only two in the showpiece game.

Team records

Which team has played in the most EURO shoot-outs?
7 Italy
6 England, Spain
5 Portugal
4 Netherlands, France, Switzerland
3 Czechoslovakia/Czechia, West Germany/Germany
2 Denmark, Poland
1 Croatia, Slovenia, Sweden, Türkiye

Which team has won the most EURO shoot-outs?
4 Italy, Spain
3 Czechoslovakia/Czechia, Portugal
2 England, Germany, France
1 Denmark, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, Türkiye

Which team has lost the most EURO shoot-outs?
4 England
3 Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland
2 France, Spain, Portugal
1 Croatia, Denmark, West Germany/Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden

Czechoslovakia/Czechia (3) and Turkey (1) are the only sides with 100% records in EURO shoot-outs, the Czechs having converted all 20 of their spot kicks so far. England's win against Switzerland in the EURO 2024 quarter-finals was only their second in six shoot-outs; the Netherlands have won only one of their four shoot-outs.

Record results

What was the longest EURO penalty shoot-out?
18 kicks: 1980 third-place play-off: Czechoslovakia 1-1 Italy, Czechs won 9-8 on pens
18 kicks: 2016 quarter-finals: Germany 1-1 Italy, Germany won 6-5 on pens

What was the shortest EURO penalty shoot-out?
6 kicks: 2024 round of 16: Portugal 0-0 Slovenia, Portugal won 3-0 on pens
7 kicks: 2008 quarter-finals: Croatia 1-1 Türkiye, Türkiye won 3-1 on pens

Italy figured in both mammoth shoot-outs, missing one kick in the 1980 saga and four in 2016 – the most unsuccessful attempts by any side in a single EURO shoot-out. That 2016 contest was the sixth EURO shoot-out to go to sudden death. In total, seven penalties were spurned on that occasion (39% of the kicks taken), although the miss record was worse in the Portugal-Slovenia EURO 2024 shoot-out in which three of the six attempts were saved (a 50% rate of failure).

Individual records

Which goalkeepers have featured in the most EURO shoot-outs?
4 Yann Sommer (Switzerland – 1 win, 3 losses: 17 conceded, 2 saved)
3 Gianluigi Buffon (Italy – 1 win, 2 losses: 12 conceded, 3 saved, 3 missed) 
3 Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands – 1 win, 2 losses: 12 conceded, 2 saved, 1 missed)
2 Iker Casillas (Spain – 2 wins: 4 conceded, 3 saved, 1 missed)
2 Diogo Costa (Portugal – 1 win, 1 loss: 5 conceded, 3 saved)
2 Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy – 2 wins: 4 conceded, 3 saved, 2 missed)
2 Łukasz Fabiański (Poland – 1 win, 1 loss: 9 conceded, 1 missed)
2 Bernard Lama (France – 1 win, 1 loss: 10 conceded, 1 saved)
2 Jordan Pickford (England – 1 win, 1 loss: 6 conceded, 3 saved)
2 Rui Patrício (Portugal – 1 win, 1 loss: 7 conceded, 2 saved)
2 David Seaman (England – 1 win, 1 loss: 8 conceded, 1 saved, 1 missed)
2 Unai Simón (Spain – 1 win, 1 loss: 5 conceded, 3 saved, 1 missed)

Which goalkeepers have featured in the most EURO shoot-outs?
Twelve goalkeepers have appeared in two or more shoot-outs, with England's Jordan Pickford and Portugal's Diogo Costa now sharing the honour of having saved the most shoot-out penalties (three) with Gianluigi Buffon, Iker Casillas, Unai Simón and Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Who has scored the most EURO shoot-out goals?
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Switzerland's Fabian Schär are the only outfield players to have been involved in four shoot-outs, Ronaldo burying all four of his attempts and Schär converting three. Italy's Leonardo Bonucci and Manuel Akanji of Switzerland have featured in three apiece, Bonucci converting twice and Akanji once.

Players who have scored four EURO shoot-out penalties
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

Players who have scored three EURO shoot-out penalties
Fabian Schär (Switzerland) 

Players who have scored two EURO shoot-out penalties
Federico Bernardeschi (Italy), Laurent Blanc (France), Leonardo Bonucci (Italy), Youri Djorkaeff (France), Cesc Fàbregas (Spain), Paul Gascoigne (England), Mario Gavranović (Switzerland), Vincent Guérin (France), Kamil Glik (Poland), Ladislav Jurkemik (Czechoslovakia), Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Bixente Lizarazu (France), Marián Masný (Czechoslovakia), Arkadiusz Milik (Poland), Gerard Moreno (Spain), João Moutinho (Portugal), Nani (Portugal), Zdenĕk Nehoda (Czechoslovakia), Anton Ondruš (Czechoslovakia), Antonín Panenka (Czechoslovakia), Stuart Pearce (England), David Platt (England), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Alan Shearer (England), Bernardo Silva (Portugal), Zinédine Zidane (France)

EURO shoot-outs by round: when are penalties most likely?
The competition has expanded over the years from a four-team tournament to the current 24-team line-up, with new rounds being introduced and the third-place play-off being abandoned. Until now, shoot-outs have been most likely at the last-eight stage, with almost 40% of all quarter-finals settled on penalties.

Round of 16: three of a possible 24 games so far have gone to penalties – 13% chance of a shoot-out
Quarter-finals: 12 of a possible 31 games – 39% chance
Semi-finals: seven of a possible 30 games – 23.33% chance
Third-place play-off: one of a possible six games – 17% chance
Final: two of a possible 16 games – 12.5% chance

Every EURO shoot-out

1976 final: Czechoslovakia 2-2 West Germany, Czechoslovakia won 5-3 on pens
1980 third-place play-off: Czechoslovakia 1-1 Italy, Czechoslovakia won 9-8 on pens
1984 semi-finals: Denmark 1-1 Spain, Spain won 5-4 on pens
1992 semi-finals: Netherlands 2-2 Denmark, Denmark won 5-4 on pens
1996 quarter-finals: Spain 0-0 England, England won 4-2 on pens
1996 quarter-finals: France 0-0 Netherlands, France won 5-4 on pens
1996 semi-finals: Germany 1-1 England, Germany won 6-5 on pens
1996 semi-finals: France 0-0 Czechia, Czechia won 6-5 on pens
2000 semi-finals: Italy 0-0 Netherlands, Italy won 3-1 on pens
2004 quarter-finals: Portugal 2-2 England, Portugal won 6-5 on pens
2004 quarter-finals: Sweden 0-0 Netherlands, Netherlands won 5-4 on pens
2008 quarter-finals: Croatia 1-1 Türkiye, Türkiye won 3-1 on pens
2008 quarter-finals: Spain 0-0 Italy, Spain won 4-2 on pens
2012 quarter-finals: England 0-0 Italy, Italy won 4-2 on pens
2012 semi-finals: Portugal 0-0 Spain, Spain won 4-2 on pens
2016 round of 16: Poland 1-1 Switzerland, Poland won 5-4 on pens
2016 quarter-finals: Poland 1-1 Portugal, Portugal won 5-3 on pens
2016 quarter-finals: Germany 1-1 Italy, Germany won 6-5 on pens
2020 round of 16: France 3-3 Switzerland, Switzerland won 5-4 on pens
2020 quarter-finals: Switzerland 1-1 Spain, Spain won 3-1 on pens
2020 semi-finals: Italy 1-1 Spain, Italy won 4-2 on pens
2020 final: Italy 1-1 England, Italy won 3-2 on pens
2024 round of 16: Portugal 0-0 Slovenia, Portugal won 3-0 on pens
2024 quarter-finals: Portugal 0-0 France, France won 5-3 on pens
2024 quarter-finals: England 1-1 Switzerland, England won 5-3 on pens

Last updated: 6 July 2024