How to win a penalty shootout (with game theory)
Planet Money
- Published
- July 3, 2026
- Duration
- 17:57
- Summary source
- description
- Last updated
- Jul 22, 2026
Discusses Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest soccer scorer of all time. But when it comes to penalty kicks,…
Summary
Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest soccer scorer of all time. But when it comes to penalty kicks, Messi is merely average. Why? Maybe the answer involves game theory.According to game theory, there’s an optimal strategy for taking penalty kicks. This strategy involves an idea that was once somewhat controversial in economics — that is, until economists…
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Show notes
Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest soccer scorer of all time. But when it comes to penalty kicks, Messi is merely average. Why? Maybe the answer involves game theory.According to game theory, there’s an optimal strategy for taking penalty kicks. This strategy involves an idea that was once somewhat controversial in economics — that is, until economists started studying soccer players in real life. On today's show, we kick it over to the hosts of the Soccernomics podcast to explain how game th