Kylian Mbappé’s penalty miss against Morocco could have become the defining image of France’s World Cup quarter-final. Instead, it became only one part of an extraordinary statistical performance from the French captain.
Mbappé recovered from the failed spot-kick to score and provide an assist as France defeated Morocco 2-0 and advanced to the semi-finals for the third successive World Cup. His eventful evening also placed him inside one of the tournament’s most exclusive and unusual groups.
Only four players in the last 60 years have scored, assisted and missed a penalty during the same World Cup match. Remarkably, half of those instances have occurred within the space of three days at the 2026 tournament.
Four players, one extraordinary World Cup combination
The first player to complete the unlikely treble was Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan against the Czech Republic in 2006.
Gyan gave Ghana the lead after just 68 seconds, producing what was then the fastest goal of that World Cup. He later missed an opportunity to extend the advantage from the penalty spot, striking the post, but recovered to create Ghana’s second goal for Sulley Muntari.
It completed a famous 2-0 victory – Ghana’s first at a World Cup – and offered an early demonstration of how a player could influence every major attacking dimension of a match, even after wasting its clearest opportunity.
Eight years later, Karim Benzema repeated the feat during France’s emphatic 5-2 victory over Switzerland at the 2014 World Cup.
Benzema had a first-half penalty saved by Diego Benaglio but refused to allow the miss to shape his performance. He later scored France’s fourth goal and supplied assists during a dominant attacking display as Didier Deschamps’ side overwhelmed the Swiss defence.
For 12 years, Gyan and Benzema stood alone on the list. Then came two additions in three days.
Lionel Messi became the third player during Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 victory over Egypt in the round of 16. With Argentina in danger of elimination, Messi had a penalty saved but subsequently scored and created another goal as the defending champions produced a remarkable comeback.
Mbappé then followed him against Morocco.
After missing from the spot in the first half, the France captain broke the deadlock with a superb finish before contributing the assist that helped secure his country’s place in the last four. The miss became a footnote rather than a turning point.
Also Read: Kylian Mbappe redeems penalty miss as France beat Morocco 2-0 to reach World Cup semifinals
The statistic captures more than attacking productivity. Scoring and assisting in the same World Cup match already demands considerable influence. Adding a penalty miss introduces failure, pressure and the requirement to recover while the entire football world is watching.
That is what connects Gyan, Benzema, Messi and Mbappé. Each experienced the emotional drop of a wasted penalty but remained central to his team’s victory.
The 2026 examples, however, carry an added significance. Messi and Mbappé have defined different generations of the modern game, yet they remain locked together on football’s greatest stage – scoring, creating and even suffering the same rare failure.
Within three days, the two biggest names at this World Cup turned an unwanted moment into another shared piece of history.
