The World Cup is in the lose-and-go-home stage of the tournament and the pressure keeps rising with every minute of every match.
The biggest pressure cooker of them all: the penalty kick shootout. Exhausted players and goalkeepers face off in a tense one-on-one confrontation that carries the hopes and dreams of entire nations.
Two of the first four matches in the round of 32 were settled by shootouts: Morocco beat the Netherlands and Paraguay bested Germany.
A miss can mean humiliation. A goalkeeper’s save or the final bulge of the ball in the back of the net can bring tears of joy to millions.
That kind of pressure can reach “inhumane” levels, almost all of it focused on the penalty takers, said Geir Jordet, a professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and author of the book, “Pressure: Lessons from the Psychology of the Penalty Shootout.”
“In our research, the only emotion everyone agrees is present is anxiety,” Jordet said.
Expect more shootouts, more pressure, more anxiety.
A record five games at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar were settled by penalty kicks, including the final when Argentina beat France.
“As you go into knockout football it’s something that becomes more prominent in the games,” England winger Noni Madueke said. “So like every part of our game we want to be at the highest level when it comes to that.”
The physical and mental distance from spot to goal
This tense battle of wills is fought over a 12-yard (11-meter) distance between the penalty spot and the goal line. The shootout was added to the game in 1970 and has settled several of the world’s biggest tournaments.
The first World Cup final to be settled by penalty kicks was Brazil’s 1994 victory over Italy. That shootout also produced one of the most infamous misses in soccer history when Italy great Roberto Baggio sent the final kick over the crossbar.
The penalty taker
Techniques vary.
Some take the kick quickly. Others pause, taking deep, calming breaths before they approach. Some run and strike it hard. A popular variation is the stutter-step, waiting for the goalkeeper to commit to which way he’s going.
The penalty taker faces the most pressure in the moment because he’s expected to score, Jordet told The Associated Press by email.
