Imagine yourself making the slow walk from midfield to the 12-yard penalty mark, with 89,000 people watching in the stadium, and 1.5 billion more on television. This was the reality for each penalty taker in the 2022 World Cup Final between France and Argentina. It takes less than half a second for the ball to hit the back of the net, but the psychological battle starts long before the referee’s whistle. Today, I take a look at the magic of the penalty shootout.