There’s no crueler way to exit a World Cup than losing on penalties. The walk from the center circle to the dressing room, the silence, the knowledge that one miss will follow you forever. But a small group of countries have never felt that sting. They’ve stepped up, they’ve converted, and they’ve walked off winners every single time.
If you exclude West Germany, which went 3-for-3 in penalty shootouts before reunification, only three nations have won multiple World Cup shootouts without ever losing one. Croatia leads the pack with four wins. They beat Denmark and Russia in 2018, then knocked out Japan and Brazil in 2022. All four went the same way: Croatia walked off while their opponents walked off devastated.
Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saved all three Japanese penalties in the round of 16 two years ago. Luka Modric scored in three of those four shootouts, missing only the Japan one because he’d been subbed off in extra time. That’s the kind of detail that separates good teams from penalty specialists.
Paraguay keeps finding ways to survive
Paraguay just knocked Germany out at the group stage in 2026, and in the process they snapped the Germans’ perfect penalty record. That win, a nervy 5-4 sudden-death affair, gave Paraguay their second shootout victory without a loss. Their first came in 2010 against Japan, when all five takers scored cleanly.
Goalkeeper Orlando Gill became the hero against Germany, saving spot kicks from Premier League players Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade. Jose Canale converted the winner after Jonathan Tah missed for Germany.
Morocco did it the same night
On that same evening in 2026, Morocco beat the Netherlands 3-2 on penalties to advance. Ismael Saibari scored the winner. He also scored in Morocco’s previous shootout, that 3-0 dismantling of Spain in 2022 where Yassine Bounou saved two Spanish attempts.
Those three nations — Croatia, Paraguay, Morocco — are the only ones with multiple shootout wins and zero losses. But they aren’t alone in the perfect-record club.
Belgium has one shootout, a perfect 5-for-5 win over Spain in the 1986 quarterfinals. Bulgaria went 3-1 against Mexico in 1994 without even needing Hristo Stoichkov to take a kick. Sweden outlasted Romania 5-4 in sudden death that same year despite missing their first attempt.
South Korea’s 2002 run included a 5-3 quarterfinal shootout win over Spain, with every Korean taker converting even against Iker Casillas in goal. Ukraine somehow survived 2006 after Andriy Shevchenko missed their first penalty against Switzerland. The Swiss missed all three of theirs, and Ukraine won 3-0. Portugal beat England in 2006 on penalties, with a 21-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the winner after Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher all missed for England.
And then there’s Ghana. Forced into a shootout against Uruguay in 2010 only because Luis Suarez handled the ball on the line and Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting penalty, Ghana went on to lose 4-3. One of the cruelest sequences in World Cup history. They’re at 0-1 in shootouts and probably still thinking about it.
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