A sports psychology expert revealed the method by which Mustafa Shobier, the Egyptian national team goalkeeper, confronted the penalty kick taken by the Argentine legend Lionel Messi during their match in the World Cup.
Messi scored a goal and assisted another, leading the Argentine national team to a 3-2 victory over their Egyptian counterpart last Tuesday at Atlanta Stadium in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The match featured a historic moment when Mustafa Shobier saved a penalty from Messi, marking the second one the Argentine star has missed in the current edition of the World Cup and the fourth in the tournament's history, making him the all-time leader in misses.
The British newspaper "Daily Mail" sought to understand the reason behind Messi's repeated penalty misses in the World Cup through an interview with sports psychology expert Jair Jordet, professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and the leading specialist in the psychological aspect of penalty kicks.
Jordet stated that Messi does not struggle with taking penalty kicks, having missed 34 out of 150 penalties taken throughout his career, with a success rate of 77%, which falls within the normal range of 76 to 79%.
The sports psychology expert explained that the Argentine star alternates between two methods in taking penalty kicks. The first relies on the goalkeeper, where he approaches the kick slowly, observing the goalkeeper's movement before choosing the direction of the shot.
The other method is independent of the goalkeeper, where he selects a predetermined direction and commits to shooting there without looking at the goalkeeper's movement. This is the method Messi relied on against Shobier, choosing to shoot toward the left corner.
Jordet said that the reason for Mustafa Shobier's success in saving that penalty was twofold: first, he moved early, which gave him a great chance to make the save if the ball was shot in the corner where he was positioned, which is exactly what happened.
The second reason is that Messi himself lacks sufficient power and accuracy in his penalty kicks compared to other stars, such as English striker Harry Kane or Polish player Robert Lewandowski, which makes his shots more saveable.
It is worth noting that Messi became the first player to miss two penalties in a single World Cup edition, while Mustafa Shobier became the fourth goalkeeper to save two penalties in one edition after saving the first against Iran in the group stage.
