The Netherlands have officially overtaken England for the most penalty shootout losses in World Cup history. That is not the kind of record any team wants to hold. But here we are.
Their latest heartbreak came in the round of 32 against Morocco at the 2026 World Cup. After a 1-1 draw in regulation, the Dutch stepped up to the spot and promptly missed three of their four attempts. Justin Kluivert, Quinten Timber and Crysencio Summerville all came up short. Morocco walked away winners. The Netherlands walked away with a dubious piece of history.
This was not an isolated incident. The Dutch have now lost four World Cup penalty shootouts overall. That puts them one ahead of England and tied with Italy, France and Spain — though each of those countries has played in more total shootouts. The Netherlands have been in five and lost four of them. That is a brutal 20% success rate.
The agony runs deep for Oranje
You have to go back to the 2010 final to find the last time the Netherlands lost a World Cup knockout match in regular time. Since then, every single elimination has come via penalties. In 2014, they lost a semifinal shootout to Argentina. In 2022, same story in the quarterfinals against the same opponent. And in 2026, Morocco joined the list.
The 1998 semifinal loss to Brazil on penalties still stings for older fans. That one denied them a shot at the final in France. Then in 2014, Argentina did the same thing. The Dutch have never won the World Cup. Their penalty record is a big reason why.
Italy and France have their own scars
Italy lost three penalty shootouts in a row from 1990 to 1998. The first one was at home in the semifinal against Argentina. Then came the 1994 final against Brazil, where Roberto Baggio sent his kick over the crossbar. He is still apologizing for that one. In 1998, France knocked them out the same way in the quarterfinals.
France were the very first team to lose a World Cup penalty shootout. That happened in 1982 against West Germany in the semifinal. They have also lost two finals on penalties — 2006 to Italy and 2022 to Argentina. No other country can say that.
Spain and England have history too
Spain have lost four shootouts as well. They went out in 1986 to Belgium, in 2002 to South Korea, in 2018 to Russia and in 2022 to Morocco. That last one was especially rough. They missed all three of their kicks and lost 3-0 in the shootout without scoring a single goal.
England used to be the punchline for penalty failures. They lost in 1990 to West Germany, in 1998 to Argentina and in 2006 to Portugal. Stuart Pearce, Chris Waddle, Paul Ince, David Batty, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher all had misses that became part of English sports lore. But they finally broke the curse in 2018 by winning a shootout against Colombia. Since then, they have not lost one at a World Cup. That leaves the Netherlands alone at the top of a list nobody wants to be on.
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