28 shootouts · 43 years of fear from twelve yards
Penalty Roulette.
Twenty-eight shootouts. Forty-three years of fear from twelve yards. The geography of where the ball goes when there is everything to lose.
The first World Cup shootout took place in 1982. Since then, every knockout match level after extra time has ended here — at the spot. Some nations are spectacular at it (Germany 3–0, Croatia 4–0, Argentina 5–1). Others have built decades of trauma around it (England 1–3, Netherlands 1–3, Spain 0–3). The roulette is not random. It rewards composure, mind games and goalkeeping habits — and punishes the strikers who carry the weight of nations.