5 world class footballers who are notoriously bad penalty takers

#2 Riyad Mahrez

Mahrez has carried over his poor penalty taking to Manchester City (Picture Credit: Givemesport)

Despite being one of the best players to watch in the Premier League, the Algerian winger's penalty skills leave much to be desired. The Manchester City forward's lack of skills from the spot were recently highlighted during his side's vital clash with Liverpool, and he was much criticised for his missed penalty in that game.

In total, the 27-year-old has missed five of the twelve penalties that he has taken in the Premier League and this makes him statistically the worst penalty taker in the entire league.

---

#1 Lionel Messi

Messi has struggled from the spot in recent years

Lionel Messi does not have the worst success percentage on this list, however, he has missed more than double the amount of penalties than any other included player. We also hold the superstar to higher standards than most players in world football, so it is surprising to learn that the 31-year-old's career record stands at 79 scored and 24 missed.

Seven of those misses have been worryingly recorded since 2016, and after being prolific from the spot in his early career, Messi now misses on a much more frequent basis.

His overall success rate is hovering around the 72% mark, and this puts the Argentine well behind the other best players on the planet such as Robert Lewandowski, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Barcelona star has yet to take a penalty since missing at the World Cup, so it remains to be seen if he can improve his record from 12 yards.