Kylian Mbappé had a high-profile example of the stuttering penalty early in France’s match with Morocco. Brought down in the box by Noussair Mazraoui, the Real Madrid forward added a hesitation to his run-up and saw the spot-kick saved by Yassine Bounou.
Popularised by Pelé, the stuttering run-up is enjoying a moment at the tournament. The technique is intended to disrupt a goalkeeper’s timing and potentially expose which way the keeper will dive, and in the VAR era it can make it harder for a goalkeeper to remain on the line if unsure when the kicker will strike the ball.
The method drew attention after Harry Kane’s stuttered penalty was initially saved by Dominik Livakovic in England’s 4-2 opening-group win over Croatia, only for the referee to order a retake. Kane told the BBC he had studied footage of Livakovic and believed the keeper tended to move early, and that the stutter offered a chance to draw him off the line; Kane said he altered his technique for the retake and converted.
Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart, speaking on the BBC, said the move makes it hard for keepers to hold their ground once the taker introduces a hesitation. The approach has not been universally successful for kickers: Bruno Guimarães, Jørgen Strand Larsen and Kane have all missed stuttered penalties, while Lionel Messi failed with a stuttered run-up against Austria and also had a penalty saved by Egypt using a regular run-up.
Penalty conversion at this World Cup has dipped: 39 of 60 spot-kicks have been scored, a 65% rate and the lowest since 1938. The proportion of stuttered penalties this summer is 14 of 22 (64%), compared with 25 of 38 (66%) for those taken without hesitation, according to ESPN and ESPN’s Global Sports Research.
