Gianluigi Donnarumma Penalty Shootout Record: Had Italy’s Keeper Ever Lost a Shootout Before Bosnia Loss?

Italy’s World Cup curse continued in the recent round of playoffs as the Azzurri were shockingly beaten by underdogs Bosnia in Sarajevo. The defeat ensures that the four-time world champions will miss a third straight World Cup, a scarcely believable drop for one of the beautiful game’s biggest names. Indeed, only three of the Italian squad that headed to the Balkans for the recent playoff final defeat were even professional footballers the last time their nation tiptoed onto the storied stage back in 2014, and by the time the next qualifying cycle rolls around, that number will likely be zero.

But it wasn’t just the fact that Italy lost in Bosnia, despite being huge 1/2 betting favourites pre-game. It was the manner in which they lost.

After losing central defender Alessandro Bastoni to a straight red card on the stroke of half time, Gennaro Gattuso’s men were forced to sit back and soak up pressure, hoping to cling on to the one-goal lead given to them early in the first half by Moise Kean. Even when Haris Tabaković equalised late on for the Bosnians, the Azzurri remained in their shell, knowing that they had an ace up their sleeve for the resulting penalty shootout: Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Donnarumma Powerless as Italy’s World Cup Curse Continues

The giant Manchester City goalkeeper has a stellar record in penalty shootouts, famously saving from both Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka as he helped Italy win the European Championships at Wembley in the summer of 2021. With him between the sticks, Italy were celebrating the 1-1 draw with Bosnia like it was a win, knowing that Gigio would win them the resulting shootout and secure his side’s World Cup return at long last. Except he didn’t.

Donnarumma didn’t manage to save any of Bosnia’s four penalties, while misses from Pio Esposito and Bryan Cristante ensured that the Azzurri’s wait to appear at the World Cup would extend into a 16th year by the time the 2030 showpiece rolls around. Now, the tournament will roll on without one of its main protagonists.

But roll on it does, and online betting sites have shown no sympathy to the Italians. The latest World Cup sports betting odds no longer feature Italy, who were a 33/1 contender before their playoff defeat. Instead, they list Bosnia as a whopping 250/1 to shot, a million miles behind 9/2 front-runners Spain.

But what of Donnarumma? He was considered to be the planet’s best penalty saver, by some distance, before this shootout defeat to Bosnia. Should that be the case? And perhaps more interestingly, has he ever lost a penalty shootout before? Here is the former AC Milan youngster’s entire penalty shootout record.

Paris Saint-Germain Beat Liverpool — 2025

Donnarumma’s most recent shootout came in Paris Saint-Germain colours in last season’s UEFA Champions League. After a 1-1 aggregate draw across two legs against Liverpool, the Anfield contest would be decided from the spot, but despite the raucous Merseyside crowd, it was the giant Gigio who stood tall. He saved from both Darwin Núñez and Curtis Jones to secure PSG’s victory, and the French outfit would ride that wave of momentum all the way to a first Champions League crown, beating Inter Milan 5-0 in the Munich-hosted final.

Nice Beat Paris Saint-Germain — 2022

To answer the question we posed at the start of this piece: yes, Donnarumma has lost a penalty shootout before. Once.

Back in January 2022, his star-studded Paris Saint-Germain team, led by a menacing front three of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar, met Nice in the Coupe de France round of 16. After a goalless draw, the contest went to penalties, and it looked as though Gigio would be the hero once again as he saved from Andy Delort to keep his side in the contest.

Unfortunately for both he and his Parisian teammates, however, he wouldn’t save another, and a miss from Dutch midfielder Xavi Simons handed the underdogs Nice the win. Up until the Bosnia defeat, this was Donnarumma’s only penalty shootout loss.

Italy beat England — 2021

Without doubt, the most iconic of Donnarumma’s shootout heroics came in the final of UEFA Euro 2020, rescheduled to the summer of 2021 due to global events. After a 1-1 draw against hosts England in the final, it looked as though it would be the Three Lions who claimed the crown after an early miss from Andrea Belotti. Then, Gigio turned the tables.

He saw Marcus Rashford’s penalty hit the post before then going on to save from Jadon Sancho to put England on the brink. Italy’s Jorginho would then see his penalty saved by Jordan Pickford to keep English hopes alive, only for Donnarumma to save the decisive spot kick from a teenage Bukayo Saka and ensure that the trophy headed to Rome.

Italy Beat Spain — 2021

In the semifinals of those European championships, Italy would have to come through another penalty shootout, this time against Spain. And once again, Donnarumma revelled in the role of the hero. Spanish midfielder Dani Olmo blazed his spot kick over the bar while the Italian keeper saved from striker Alvaro Morata, allowing Jorginho to sweep his side into the final.

The AC Milan Days

Donnarumma famously took over as the first-choice goalkeeper at boyhood club AC Milan at just 16 years of age. His first-ever penalty shootout would take place in his second season, with the Rossoneri facing off against rivals Juventus in the Italian Super Cup. There, he would prove his spot kick prowess, saving from both Mario Mandžukić and Paulo Dybala to hand Milan the win.

The following season, Milan would face Lazio in the semifinals of the Coppa Italia, and they would need a miracle if they were to progress after Ricardo Rodriguez and Riccardo Montolivo missed the Rossoneri’s first two penalties. Luckily, they found that miracle in the form of Donnarumma, who would save from Sergej Milinković-Savić, Lucas Leiva, and Luis Felipe to hand his side a scarcely believable win.

But perhaps the most impressive of all Donnarumma’s shootout exploits came in the 2021 Europa League playoff round. After an epic shootout that saw a mighty 24 spot kicks taken, Portuguese outfit Rio Ave would miss each of their final three spot kicks, Donnarumma saving the latter, to ensure that Milan progressed to the group stage after a stunning 9-8 shootout victory.