Ronaldo, Messi, Rooney: Who's scored the most penalties in the 21st century?

Scoring from the penalty spot is far from easy.

Sure, from the comfort of an armchair, it looks like smashing a football past an opposing goalkeeper should be a stroll in the park, particularly for a professional who practices virtually every single day.

But as most lovers of the sport know, scoring a penalty is mighty difficult, particularly when it’s under pressure with the eyes of the world watching.

It’s a tough art form to master, but both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have done so, the pair each beating a plethora of world-class goalkeepers from 12 yards during the course of their careers.

But which of them has scored the most penalties at club level? Well, the answer to that question and many others has been provided by the folks over at PopFoot.

They’ve drawn up a list of the 20 most prolific penalty goal scorers in the 21st century and unsurprisingly, the Ballon d’Or hoarding duo occupy the top two spots.

Let’s take a look at the 20-man list in full…

20. Bruno Fernandes – 39 goals

19. Mark Noble – 40 goals

18. Wayne Rooney – 40 goals

17. Steven Gerrard – 42 goals

16. Radamel Falcao – 44 goals

15. Sergio Aguero – 46 goals

14. Neymar – 46 goals

13. Ruud van Nistelrooy – 50 goals

12. Edinson Cavani – 50 goals

11. Frank Lampard – 51 goals

10. Robert Lewandowski – 53 goals

9. Ronaldinho – 57 goals

8. Oscar Cardozo – 58 goals

7. Dusan Tadic – 58 goals

6. David Villa – 60 goals

5. Ciro Immobile – 61 goals

4. Francesco Totti – 73 goals

3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 78 goals

2. Lionel Messi – 84 goals