World Cup 2018: Ranking the Best Penalty Takers in Russia

#18 Diego Costa (73.68%)

Diego Costa

Amidst all the hoopla surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s hattrick, one thing that was slightly forgotten was Diego Costa’s amazing performance against Portugal. The Atletico Madrid striker was a nuisance for the Portuguese defence as he provided a physical dimension to Spain’s usually pass-heavy attack.

After having struggled in the 2014 World Cup, Costa’s performance was a relief to Spanish fans. Despite such encouraging performances, Costa is one man that Spain do not want to be taking penalties. His club managers seem to have recognized this as Costa has only taken two penalties over the past four seasons.

The better part of these was spent at Chelsea where the presence of Eden Hazard prevented the Spaniard from taking penalties (apart from Costa’s notorious miss versus Liverpool). Yet even without Hazard, Costa’s previous performances at the spot (mostly for Atletico Madrid) suggest that he should be nowhere near a spot-kick (73.68% for his career).

Strangely enough, Spain will not have many alternative options as no qualified Spanish player ranks above Costa. This is mainly due to the majority of Spain’s squad coming from Real Madrid and Barcelona where Ronaldo and Messi are the unquestionable penalty takers. Rather interestingly, La Roja seem to have settled on Sergio Ramos as their penalty taker- something that back-fired in the 2016 Euros.