It almost sounds a bit bizarre to see "Cristiano Ronaldo" and "penalty miss" in the same sentence but thanks to the existence of uncertainty and unpredictability at the World Cup, that proclivity has been overridden. The 33-year-old relinquished the opportunity to get Portugal's second goal against Iran after seeing his spot-kick saved having been brought down in the penalty area earlier.
Prior to the ill-fate, a new record for the most penalty awarded in a single World Cup campaign was set. Thanks to the Video Assistant Referee, 19 penalties have been awarded so far at Russia 2018 of which 14 have been successfully converted.
The previous World Cup record was 18 which was first set in 1990. With the intercontinental tournament only nearing the end of the group stages, it is only safe to expect the new record to be extended by a mile.
Again, per the record books, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first Portuguese player in history to miss a penalty at the World Cup (excluding shootouts). His conversion rate for the Seleccao also suffered a downgrade as he has now missed 6 of the 14 penalties he has taken for his country. This accounts for 42% of the total spot-kicks.
Relatively, Iran's Alireza Beiranvand became the first goalkeeper to save a World Cup penalty from a Portuguese player in the tournament's history during the normal proceeding.
