In the year of the World Cup, which this year will take place in Qatar, let’s remember some unforgettable failures that happened in the world of football. For those who made the mistakes, there is the weight of having made a mistake at a crucial moment in the competition. But for the opponent, causes celebration, laughter, and jokes for many years to come.

For the athlete who has failed, there is psychological pressure throughout their career. It is part of the game, yes, but the truth is that this part comes at a cost for the athlete; athletes are usually people with a highly competitive mentality, for whom certain mistakes are intolerable.

So, let’s roll the ball, and check out some of these unforgettable moments:

In the 2014 Premier League, Chelsea and Liverpool were in a fierce fight to see who the champion would be. At one point, Liverpool legend and captain Steve Gerrard, who was in possession of the ball fell and left the ball with a Chelsea striker, who wasted no time in launching a counterattack, scoring the winning goal that paved the way for the title of the most important soccer championship in England.

Below, you see Gerrard down. He got up quickly, but the Chelsea player had already mastered the ball and advanced quickly, and he had only the goalkeeper in front of him; it was too late.

End of story: Chelsea as Premier League champion in 2014.

Spain won the 2010 World Cup for the first time ever with a 1-0 win over the Netherlands, thanks to a strike by Andreas Iniesta. Many soccer lovers remember this. But what not everyone remembers is that the star of the Dutch team, Arjen Robben, missed a goal when there was only himself, the ball, and the Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas. The Dutch player’s chances were immense, but the ball hit Casillas’ foot and went out of play.

The center forward of the Argentina national team missed the chance when he was face to face with Germany’s goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer.

In 2014, in a World Cup match between Argentina and Germany, Higuaín had the chance to bring the title to the South American continent; he received the ball, and stood face to face with Germany’s goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer, but missed the chance to score. And that missed goal would be crucial to the outcome, as Germany ended up winning that Cup.

Argentina, which had not won a world title since 1986, in Mexico, when the team was led by Diego Maradona, had to wait – and in fact, continues to wait – longer.

In the 2002 World Cup, until halfway through the second half of the final match, the game was tied between the Brazilian and German teams. Until a theoretically easy shot for the best goalkeeper in the world at the time, Oliver Khan, to save, culminated in an unforgettable failure. Kahn let the ball kicked by Rivaldo slip out of his hands, and on the rebound, Ronaldo, known as “Phenomenon”, did not waste the opportunity. Ronaldo would still score one more goal before the match ended. Game over, Brazil five-time world champion.

Few moments are as tense in a soccer match as a penalty shootout. Even more so when we are talking about a World Cup final between the two national teams that held the most world titles at the time, with three for each. The fact is remarkable both for the plot and for the form. Roberto Baggio was the star, captain, and number 10 of the Italian team. The most skillful player on the team missed the penalty kick by shooting too high over the goal saved by Taffarel, the Brazilian goalkeeper. Baggio had been awarded as the best player in the world by FIFA the year before, in 1993.

In 1994 Brazil won its fourth World Cup title, taking its place at the top of the ranking of World Cup titles and guaranteeing, more than ever, the status of being the ” land of soccer”.

Perhaps you have remembered other failures that are not here, but that is because soccer is full of them, and the truth is that every soccer fan will have an unforgettable failure in his or her memory.

In any case, I wouldn’t want to be in the shoes of these players who ended up going down in soccer history both for their careers, it’s true, but also for these unforgettable mistakes.