England beat Nigeria on penalties at the Women’s World Cup and while research has showed that going first can be decisive, there is a lot more to it
As soon as Millie Bright won the coin toss and chose to kick first in England’s last-16 World Cup penalty shootout against Nigeria, it became an advantage for the Lionesses. Even after Georgia Stanway missed the opening spot-kick, England still had a very good chance to go through and it is likely the players were aware of that.
“Before the penalty shootout starts, it is not a 50-50, rather a 60-40 advantage towards whichever team goes first,” explains Ignacio Palacios-Huerta, a professor at the London School of Economics who has long researched the science of shootouts. “The main advantage is going first, that is what this probability of winning is driven by.”
