What's going on with penalties - is it time to end the 'stutter'?

Mbappe's only previous penalty miss for France came in World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan in March 2021

Whether or not France's World Cup campaign ends with a third world title, few will remember Kylian Mbappe's penalty miss in their quarter-final victory over Morocco.

The match in Foxborough was goalless when Mbappe was fouled by Noussair Mazraoui. The France captain stuttered in his run up, looked up at goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, and saw his tame penalty easily saved.

Mbappe made amends on the hour mark when his sensational curling effort broke a stubborn Morocco defence, before Ousmane Dembele doubled France's lead six minutes later to

secure a 2-0 win

.

But his earlier blunder, uncharacteristic for the joint-top scorer in this tournament, begs the question: Is it time players stopped with the 'stuttering' penalty kicks?

In the list of things football traditionalists hate about the modern game, stuttering run ups are high up alongside players wearing gloves with short sleeve shirts, diving, and of course the video assistant referee (VAR).

There is no strict definition of a stutter, but under Fifa rules, a

player is allowed to stop or feint

during the run-up as long as they don't do it directly before kicking the ball.

It's nothing new - John Aldridge, Mexico legend Hugo Sanchez and Pele all used the stutter to gain an advantage - but it can backfire spectacularly if the goalkeeper doesn't commit to diving early.

Mbappe joins Bruno Guimaraes, Jorgen Strand Larsen, Lionel Messi and Harry Kane (though he was able to retake his penalty against Croatia, which he scored without having a stutter in his approach) in missing penalties after stuttering in the run-up.

Of the 26 'stutter' penalties taken during this World Cup - penalty shootouts included - 11 have not been scored, which leads to a conversion rate of 57%.

"This stuttering penalty seems to be the one. The goalkeepers seem to have got a march on it now," said Ian Wright on ITV.

Marko Arnautovic, Raul Jimenez, Neymar, Mbappe, Cristiano Ronalo, Yoane Wissa and Kai Havertz have used the technique successfully.

Meanwhile, 24 of the 35 'non-stutter' penalties taken have been scored, a conversion rate of 68%.

In general, this has been a poor World Cup for players looking to convert from 12 yards.

A total of 30% of non-shootout penalties have been missed this summer, the second most of any World Cup since records began in 1966.

When shootout penalties are added to the equation, then the miss rate rises to 35%, the highest of any World Cup since 1966.

"If your keeper goes the right way, you must hit the side netting with pace, even then it still might be saved.

"A very good penalty is no longer a certainty, so you have to re-think it. I need to make sure he goes the wrong way, hence the stutter, you try to send them the wrong way.

"Of course the goalkeepers have the data, they know what everybody does, there is no hiding what you prefer because it shows up. There is a constant running battle to figure out how you get the advantage.

"Mbappe knows what his advantage is: preparation. He has a set up [placing the ball before taking the penalty], he went through it twice today but problem is that he had to go through it three times, and the third time [he missed]."

Mbappe adopted a stutter technique for his penalty against Morocco

This was only Mbappe's second penalty miss for France, and he has now scored 14 of the 16 he's taken.

At club level his conversion rate dips a bit, with 50 goals from 62 attempts.

In Bounou he came up against a formidable opponent - the Moroccan has only been beaten by two of the nine World Cup penalties he has faced including shootouts (four saves, three misses).

On Thursday Mbappe was arguably not helped by a lengthy wait to take his penalty - a VAR check meant that three minutes and 12 seconds elapsed between the awarding of the penalty and Bounou's save.

Laurens added: "It was a weak shot and easy save. Bounou is the best goalkeeper at penalties.

"Routines are so important in football. That clearly distracted Mbappe. I thought he went very quickly once he was given the go-ahead."

Speaking on ITV, former Republic of Ireland midfielder Roy Keane said: "It is unfair to have to wait over three minutes. I know these are world-class players. It is a pressure situation. Why does he have to wait three minutes?

"Time is the enemy for a striker. The advantage is sort of going back to the goalkeeper and the team that concedes the penalty."

Ian Wright added: "The longer you have to wait to take a penalty, the more you are starting to doubt what you are going to do."