
Open goal misses can be one of the most entertaining or infuriating aspects of football, depending which side of the fence you occupy at the time.
Kevin De Bruyne missed a sitter in Man City’s 1-3 defeat to Chelsea at the weekend, crashing it against the bar from near-point-blank range.
But it wasn’t quite as bad as any of this bunch – enjoy this round-up of twenty-one of the worst open goal misses ever captured on film:
Milan Đuričić for Lokomotiva v Turbina
This recent example from a lower league match in Serbia virtually defines the phrase “it would have been easier to score”. How is this even possible?
Rocky Baptiste for Harrow Borough v Waltham Abbey
He’s lucky his side won 5-3 here, albeit he’ll never live this down all the same:
Yakubu Aiyegbeni for Nigeria v South Korea
Then at Everton, Yakubu displayed an uncharacteristic absence of poise in this final group stage match at the 2010 World Cup:
Although he later converted a penalty, a 2-2 draw proved insufficient for the Super Eagles to qualify for the knock-out stage.
Diego Forlán for Manchester United v Juventus
The Uruguayan was deadly almost everywhere else he went, but this moment perhaps best sums up his Old Trafford woes:
Peter van Vossen for Rangers v Celtic
What a fixture to be doing something like this in:
Ronny Rosenthal for Liverpool v Aston Villa
The Israeli’s spell at Spurs is best remembered for a blistering extra time hat-trick in the FA Cup at Southampton.
His time at Liverpool, however, primarily evokes memory of this unfortunate incident:
He even had it under control!
Steve Stone for Nottingham Forest v Reading
He was quite the England player for a while, but not for stuff like this:
Chris Iwelumo for Scotland v Norway
Recently appointed assistant manager at Chester, Iwelumo has much to do to shake off his association with this eye-catching blunder:
Ali Sami Yachir for MC Alger v CR Belouizdad
A belter from the Algerian league:
Fahad Khalfan Al Bloushi for Qatar v Uzbekistan
And yet they still want this guy’s nation to host the 2022 World Cup:
Edin Džeko for Roma v Palermo
The former Man City striker scored twice in this match, but this is arguably more memorable:
Nwankwo Kanu for West Bromwich Albion v Middlesbrough
A last-minute opportunity to draw his side level:
Philipp Hofmann for Kaiserslautern v Union Berlin
Not to be confused with Philip Seymour Hoffman, not least since Philipp Hofmann is unlikely to want to ‘see more’ of this:
Jon Dahl Tomasson for Feyernoord v NAC Breda
Once of Newcastle United, this shocker came during the Dane’s Eredivisie days:
Noah Hickey for Central United v North Shore United
One from New Zealand, this was featured in bloopers video Nick Hancock’s Football Hell:
To make matters worse (or better?), he was mistakenly referred to in the video clip as Noel Hickey.
Ilija Sivonjić for Dinamo Zagreb v Cibalia Vinkovci
He somehow manages to trap the ball on the goal line, stopping it from going in:
Adam Barrett for Gillingham v Stevenage
Wonder if it came as any consolation whatsoever that the stand he somehow skied it into was mostly empty?
Jakub Błaszczykowski for Borussia Dortmund v Freiburg
This one had Jürgen Klopp raging:
Jeremy Bokila for Guangzhou R&F vs Yatai
A super miss from the Chinese Super League:
Arnaldo Vera for Libertad v Emelec
At least his Paraguayan team won 5-1 against their Ecuadorian opponents in this Copa Libertadores group match:
Non-league match
No names for this one – can anyone shed any light?