Messi and Argentina Stumble Onto Pickford’s Penalty Cheat Sheet

Argentina’s players stumbled onto Jordan Pickford’s penalty cheat sheet moments after their dramatic World Cup semi-final win over England. The England goalkeeper had scribbled detailed notes on how he planned to save spot-kicks from every Argentina player, taping them to his water bottle. However, he never got the chance to use them, because Argentina completed a stunning 2-1 comeback in normal time on Wednesday night, sealing the win before the match ever reached a shootout.

England had actually taken the lead first, courtesy of Anthony Gordon. Still, Enzo Fernandez soon leveled things for Argentina with a long-range strike. Then, in a dramatic late surge, Argentina found two more goals and booked their ticket to Sunday’s final against Spain.

Inside Pickford’s Penalty Cheat Sheet

According to a report from Talk Sport, Pickford’s cheat sheet listed every Argentina player by name. Each entry came with specific instructions for how the goalkeeper intended to react if that player stepped up to take a penalty. Some notes told him to fake a dive early or delay his movement until the last second. Others were refreshingly blunt.

For instance, Pickford simply planned to “go by feel” against attacking midfielder Thiago Almada. No elaborate strategy there. But for Lionel Messi, who had already missed a penalty earlier in the tournament, Pickford’s notes reportedly called for a clever double-move: shape one way first, then dive the opposite direction. The idea banked on Messi breaking from his usual pattern under pressure.

Interestingly, Tottenham defender Marcos Senesi actually demonstrated Pickford’s planned move to a puzzled Messi after the match. Since the notes were written in English, Messi apparently needed the translation and the physical reenactment to understand what Pickford had planned for him, Talk Sport reports.

As for Fernandez, whose thunderous strike had canceled out England’s opener, Pickford’s notes predicted he would place his shot straight down the middle. Fernandez reportedly reacted with visible relief once he realized his usual routine had been read correctly, pointing skyward after spotting the note. Talk Sport reported that Argentina’s fitness coach, Luis Martin, initially shared the image of Pickford’s bottle on Instagram, though PUNCH Online could not independently locate that post. Football transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano also shared the same image, and it has since circulated widely across social media.

Why the Penalty Cheat Sheet Never Mattered

Goalkeepers routinely study penalty takers before big knockout matches. They typically weigh past penalty history, preferred shooting sides, body shape just before a strike, and whether a player tends to shift habits under pressure. Pickford clearly did his homework. He even made a string of impressive saves throughout open play during the semi-final.

Yet none of that shootout preparation ever came into play. Argentina’s comeback meant the match never needed penalties at all, leaving Pickford’s meticulous notes as nothing more than a curious footnote to the game.

What the Leak Means for the Final

Despite that, AS USA reports that the leaked notes could still prove genuinely useful heading into Sunday’s final. With Argentina’s individual routines now public knowledge, Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon may not need to start his own preparation from scratch. Fernandez, in particular, might want to rethink his habit of placing penalties down the middle, since that tendency is no longer a secret.

Argentina certainly won’t shy away from a shootout if it comes to that. The team beat France on penalties to win the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, so they know the format well and have proven nerve under that exact kind of pressure before.

Pickford built a genuinely thoughtful cheat sheet, and Argentina’s players got a good laugh out of finding it. Sunday’s final against Spain will show whether any of that homework, borrowed or original, ends up mattering after all.