A penalty is often looked upon as a sure shot way of scoring a goal. After all, the odds must be stacked against a man using only his hands to defend a 24-by-eight-foot space from a ball that has a circumference of just 29 inches. This World Cup has changed that notion. 

As many as 13 out of 32 penalties in shootouts have been saved by goalkeepers here so far. That’s nearly 41 percent. And five of the 12 penalties awarded through regulation time and extra-time have been unsuccessful (42 percent).