Kylian Mbappe's stuttered penalty miss against Morocco in the quarter-finals has reignited a fierce debate about one of football's most polarising techniques — and fresh data from this tournament suggests players who use it are now at a significant disadvantage.

The stutter: a tactic under pressure

The stuttering run-up is not a new invention. Legends including Pele, Hugo Sanchez, and John Aldridge all employed deliberate hesitations in their approach to wrong-foot goalkeepers. Under FIFA rules, players may stop or feint during a run-up, provided they do not do so at the exact moment of striking the ball.

Yet what was once considered a clever psychological weapon is increasingly misfiring. Of the 26 stuttered penalties taken at this World Cup — including shootouts — only 15 were scored, producing a conversion rate of just 57 percent. By contrast, 24 of the 35 non-stuttered penalties were converted, a rate of 68 percent.

A poor World Cup from the spot

Penalties in general have been unreliable at this tournament. Some 30 percent of non-shootout spot kicks have been missed — the second-highest miss rate at any World Cup since records began in 1966. When shootout penalties are included, that figure climbs to 35 percent, the worst since 1966.

Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, argued that goalkeepers have fundamentally changed the equation: