Kylian Mbappé has surprisingly become only the second player in the history of the French national team to miss a regular penalty (excluding penalty shootouts) at a World Cup. The Real Madrid superstar failed to beat Morocco’s Yassine Bounou in the 2026 World Cup quarter-finals. Ironically, Mbappé had successfully converted a crucial penalty against Paraguay in the previous round, yet his overall penalty record, particularly at the club level, remains heavily criticized.
Karim Benzema’s 2014 Ghost Haunts France Once More
By wasting this golden opportunity, Mbappé joined a notorious, exclusive shortlist alongside Karim Benzema. The current Al-Ittihad forward was previously the only French player to miss a World Cup penalty, doing so against Switzerland during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Furthermore, Benzema was also the last player to miss any penalty for France in any competition, which occurred during a friendly match against Wales back in June 2021.
Bounou Shatters France’s Spectacular 5-Year Winning Streak
Before Mbappé’s dramatic failure today, Les Bleus had successfully converted 17 consecutive penalties across all international competitions. Yassine Bounou’s heroic save officially shattered a flawless five-year scoring streak for Didier Deschamps’ men. Despite this setback, Mbappé remains firmly cemented in football history as France’s all-time leading goalscorer with 63 goals, and the second-highest scorer in World Cup history with 19 goals.
