The 3 biggest penalty misses in World Cup history

The 2006 World Cup final was decided on penalties after neither side was able to find a winner. The cruelty of penalties is that one person must bear the brunt of failure and in this case, it was the French striker David Trezeguet.

Trezeguet had to score to level the shoot-out, but his well struck penalty kick hit the crossbar and rebounded out. The other players scored their penalties and Fabio Grosso scored the last one, winning the match for Italy and leaving Trezeguet utterly devastated.

Ghana and Uruguay met in an unforgettable quarter-final. With Africa hosting the World Cup, there was extra motivation for Ghana to become the first African nation to reach the semi-finals.

The score was 1-1 at the end of extra time and both teams seemed resigned to a shootout, However, Luis Suarez handled the ball on the goal line to stop Ghana from scoring, and he was given a straight red card. The Black Stars were awarded a penalty kick to win the game in the 120th minute. Asamoah Gyan stepped up and his shot hit the crossbar. The match went on to penalties and Ghana eventually lost.

Roberto Baggio was in the form of his life during that famous World Cup in the USA, scoring five goals to lead his side to the final. In the final, they faced Brazil who were equally in good form. Neither side could find the net in 120 minutes so it went to penalties.

After a number of penalties, Brazil legend Dunga scored for the Selecao to take things to sudden death. It was down to Baggio, who had to score to keep the Italians in it and the pressure was immense. Unfortunately, he skied his effort to hand Brazil the trophy.