Football’s Worst Ever Misses!

on February 25, 2015 at 11:18 am

While Lionel Messi’s header from his rebounded penalty last night wasn’t one of the worst misses ever, it surely proves the Barcelona star is a mere mortal.

To make the little Argentinian feel better about himself, as I’m sure he’s reading, we’ve compiled a list of missed sitters that were far, far worse.

Ronny Rosenthal
No “how did he miss that?” countdown would be complete without Rosenthal’s howler for Liverpool against Aston Villa in 1992.

The Israeli striker was mainly an impact substitute at Anfield, but his time at the club will be best remembered for missing this open goal.

Philipp Hofmann
Philipp Hofmann is a talented young German striker, so I’m sure we’ll Seymour of him (sorry). However, his miss from two yards out for Kaiserslautern would even have been converted by the late actor of the same name.

Christian Benteke
Benteke hasn’t exactly been in fine goalscoring form for Aston Villa this season, and this miss for Belgium last year shows him at his worst.

It’s the sort of chance the striker would usually tuck away, which makes it all the more shocking.

Fahad Khalfan
One of the most intriguing aspects of the 2022 World Cup is that the hosts Qatar, who’ve never reached the finals before, will qualify automatically as hosts.

However if Fahad Khalfan is the standard of player available to them, it might be another reason for FIFA to reconsider their controversial decision.

Peter van Vossen
The Dutch striker scored nine goals in 31 international appearances so he wasn’t exactly a novice in front of goal.

However this miss for Rangers in the Old Firm derby epitomised his time at Ibrox, where he scored just five goals in three seasons.

Rui Miguel
It takes a certain level of skill, or lack of, to miss from the goal-line but that’s exactly what CSKA Sofia’s Rui Miguel contrived to do here.

He hung his head in shame, but still managed a smile as his side won the Europa League clash against Cliftonville 3-0.

Rocky Baptiste
I actually laughed watching this one, but I doubt Harrow’s brilliantly-named Rocky Baptiste did after this preposterous miss. He did all the hard work, beating the last defender and rounding the keeper before somehow blasting the ball wide.

As you can see from the video, he made amends later in the game with a super strike from 35 yards – making his earlier miss all the more bewildering.

Fernando Torres
One of the more high profile misses on the list, this gaffe from Fernando Torres for Chelsea against Manchester United characterised his time at Stamford Bridge.

Adam Barrett
Another goal-line opportunity that was harder to miss than score, Gillingham’s Adam Barrett could only hold his head in his hands after blasting this chance over the crossbar.