Best penalty takers in the Premier League: How Raul Jimenez record compares with greats of EPL era

Penalties are some of the most intense moments in a football player's career.

The pressure from the spot is ramped up, with players knowing they are expected to score with every effort, even if that's unrealistic over the course of a long career.

Well, unrealistic for most, but not all. Some players simply have ice in their veins.

The Sporting News details the most successful players in Premier League history from 12 yards.

MORE: Top goal scorers across the 2025/26 Premier League season

Which player has the best penalty record in the Premier League?

The best record for penalties taken in Premier League history is Raul Jimenez, whose 100% record through 12 penalties is the best in the league's history. No player has attempted as many spot kicks as the Mexico international across his stints with Wolves and Fulham and scored every time.

Jimenez's 12 from 12 in Premier League action is one more than the 100% record of Yaya Toure, who was perfect across his 11 penalties in league play.

He has scored his 12 penalties against 11 different goalkeepers, only doubling up on Christian Walton of Ipswich Town by bagging two in the same match.

Best penalty takers in Premier League history

Only two players in Premier League history have a perfect record through double-digit attempts: Raul Jimenez and Yaya Toure.

Behind them, Dimitar Berbatov was nine-for-nine, but does not make the volume cut.

The record was held by Toure until his 11-of-11 record was surpassed by Jimenez who scored against Manchester United on February 1, 2026 to put himself at the top of the list. Cole Palmer had a chance to tie Toure, but missed with his 11th effort against Leeds in March, 2025.

Best penalty record by percentage in Premier League history

Minimum 11 penalties taken

Who has scored the most penalties in Premier League history?

Alan Shearer holds the record for most Premier League penalties scored with 56.

Most penalties scored in Premier League history

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Who has the worst penalty record in the Premier League?

Alan Shearer has missed the most Premier League penalties of any player with 11, but it's hard to call the league's all-time top taker as the "worst" given the misses are more of a volume than anything. He is tied with Wayne Rooney, who took 33 across his career.

In fact, this is an extremely difficult question, because for the most part, if a player is a poor penalty taker, they would not be given more opportunities to take penalties.

As a result, it's exceedingly hard to quantify, as shown above where those who have missed the most are also legends of the game.

Rooney is probably a candidate for the answer, with his 67% success rate well below the traditional expectation. Others who boast low score records with a fair amount of attempts include Juan Pablo Angel (5/10), Steed Malbranque (6/10), and Dwight Yorke (6/10), but all were eventually yanked from spot-kick duties due to their failures. Raheem Sterling (4/10) fares even worse, although his attempts for Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and England are spread across all competitions.

One player who displayed a poor return from a sizable volume was Michael Owen who struck just 14 times from his 21 attempts for a 67% success rate, similar to Rooney's.

Who is the best penalty taker ever?

Given the vastness of competitions across the world, this is an exceedingly difficult metric to quantify, but there are a few candidates.

GiveMeSport ranked the best penalty takers in football history from available data, identifying Cuauhtemoc Blanco as the best ever, with a 95% success rate across 73 attempts, with just two misses in his entire career which spanned 1998 to 2015.

Another candidate is Dutch star Ronald Koeman, who holds the record for most consecutive penalties scored in the Spanish top flight with 25, and finished his career with an astonishing 94% success rate from 103 attempts (97 scored, 6 missed).

The individual with the best record in England would be Rickie Lambert, who played multiple years with Southampton, Liverpool, West Brom, and Cardiff City. Lambert scored 48 of his 51 career penalty attempts, but he does not appear on the Premier League's all-time greats because he only attempted seven (without a single miss) in the top flight.

Southampton is something of a hotbed for English greats from 12 yards. Club legend Matt Le Tissier's 25/26 put him on the list of the best Premier League takers. Across all competitions, his record was a remarkable 43/44, with only Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Mark Crossley able to deny him in a March 1993 Premier League match. Le Tissier then strung together a run of 27 perfect penalties.