Not for the first time in recent years Cristiano Ronaldo found himself at the centre of a record-breaking moment, though it is not one that he will have many fond memories of.
Ronaldo’s spot-kick, saved by Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, was the 19th awarded at this summer’s World Cup, more than have been awarded in any previous staging of the competition. The tally soon reached 20, Karim Ansarifard scoring an added-time equaliser as Iran claimed a 1-1 draw against Portugal.
The previous record number of spot-kicks at a tournament had been 18 in 2002, which had eclipsed the 17 of 1998. With just under half of this year’s competition left to play it seems highly likely that the tally will head some way past 20 before next month’s final.
VAR has undoubtedly had a major impact on the proliferation of spot-kicks; both of those awarded in the Iran-Portugal draw involved consultations with the video assistant referees.
In Pictures | Iran vs Portugal, World Cup | 25/06/2018
Notably that match was the fourth of the competition in which more than one penalty was given and the second of the day, Saudi Arabia scoring and missing one in a win over Egypt. Harry Kane scored a brace from the spot in England’s 6-1 demolition of Panama whilst Mile Jedinak and Antoine Griezmann both netted in France’s win over Australia.
