5 times Cristiano Ronaldo missed big penalties in his career after Portugal edge past Slovenia despite his miss
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most lethal goalscorers in football history. Over a glittering 22-year career so far, he has set a vast array of individual goalscoring records on the club and international level.
An underrated facet of his game is his ability to score penalties consistently with very few misses. Ronaldo has taken 194 penalties in his career, scoring 164 of them to put his overall conversion rate at 84.5%.
However, he missed an all-important penalty against Slovenia in the Round of 16 at EURO 2024. In the 105th minute, with the game tied at 0-0, Ronaldo stepped up to the spot, but was denied by opposition shotstopper Jan Oblak. Despite Oblak's extra-time effort, he couldn't save the 39-year-old's penalty in the shootout as Portugal won 3-0.
Despite the gravity of the fixture, it was not the most important penalty that Ronaldo had missed in his career. Here are five crucial occasions on which he couldn't convert his spot-kicks:
#5 - vs Barcelona, April 23, 2008
Ronaldo was handed a golden chance to open the scoring just two minutes into the first leg of Manchester United's 2007-08 Champions League semi-final tie against Barcelona. With the game being held at the Camp Nou, it would have been a pivotal away goal for the Red Devils.
However, the then-23-year-old winger scuffed his penalty wide. The game ended 0-0, but United won 1-0 at Old Trafford courtesy of a Paul Scholes strike and set up a final date with Chelsea (more on that later).
#4 - vs Austria, June 18, 2016
During Portugal's victorious campaign at EURO 2016, Ronaldo had a moment to forget in the group stage. After having drawn their opening game 1-1 against Iceland, Fernando Santos' side faced Austria in the second game, desperate for a win.
With the game tied at 0-0, defender Martin Hinteregger fouled the ex-Real Madrid superstar inside the box, giving him the chance to score his first goal of the tournament. However, he hit the left post, and the game ended goalless.
#3 - vs Valencia, May 9, 2015
The 2014-15 La Liga title race was contested by fierce El Clasico rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona. With three games to go, the Blaugrana led by just two points, and Los Blancos knew they had to win all three games to have a chance at lifting the trophy.
Against Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu on Matchday 36, things were falling apart for Real as they went 2-0 down inside 30 minutes. However, just before halftime, they were awarded a penalty, and Ronaldo stepped up to get his side back into the contest.
Unfortunately for him, Valencia shotstopper Diego Alves guessed right and saved his penalty. While Real did manage to draw the game 2-2, they eventually lost the title to Barcelona.
#2 - vs Chelsea, May 21, 2008
The 2007-08 Champions League final between Premier League rivals Manchester United and Chelsea finished 1-1 after 120 minutes. Ronaldo had scored the opener in the 26th minute, but Frank Lampard equalized in the 45th.
Both teams had converted two penalties each before the Red Devils superstar stepped up to the spot. He stuttered in his run-up, before striking a weak shot which was parried away by Blues goalkeeper Petr Cech.
However, John Terry's infamous slip and Nicolas Anelka's miss meant that United lifted the trophy, winning 6-5 on penalties.
#1 - vs Bayern Munich, April 25, 2012
In the semi-finals of the 2011-12 Champions League between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, the aggregate score read 3-3 after 2-1 wins for both sides at home.
In the ensuing shootout, David Alaba scored Bayern's first penalty, with Ronaldo surprisingly stepping up to take Real's first. He had already scored twice in normal time in the second leg, but could not get the better of Manuel Neuer a third time.
The German dived low to his left to keep the Portuguese talisman's shot out, which helped the Bundesliga giants win the shootout 3-1.