Penalty shoot-outs have decided AFCON finals, World Cup ties and countless qualifiers. Which African teams handle the pressure best? Our database records 266 shoot-out wins by African teams.
What the data shows
South Africa have been involved in the most shoot-outs (28), winning 13. Teams with a long history of tournament football naturally appear most often, but success rates vary widely, as the table shows.
Shoot-outs at the biggest tournaments
51 matches at the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup involving African teams have gone to penalties in our records, including 9 AFCON or World Cup finals. Several of the most famous AFCON finals were settled from the spot, from Ivory Coast's marathon wins to Zambia's 2012 triumph.
Is it a lottery?
Research on shoot-outs suggests they are not pure luck: preparation, choosing confident takers, goalkeeper research and taking the first kick all matter a little. But with small samples, a team's record over a handful of shoot-outs says more about history than about future chances. Read the shoot-out rules.
