Urheilu’s experts Miika Nuutinen and Jonne Kunnas reviewed the tournament so far. Ten special statistical picks were found in the initial rounds.
Miika Nuutinen,
Jonne Kunnas
In this article, we will discuss ten of the most special statistics of the World Cup before the quarter-finals.
1. Positioning of goalkeepers in transition?
Cameroon used very different goalkeepers in the tournament. Andre Onana wanted to participate strongly in playing with the ball and sometimes even ranked above the top players. This resulted in a very interesting input map. A different goalkeeper was needed for the next match – as a result, Onana went home in the middle of the games – and after that, Cameroon’s goalkeeper Devis Epassy did not exactly participate in the opening of the game.
2. Has beauty disappeared from the game? Why doesn’t anyone succeed in “sticks” anymore?
At the World Championships, there have been surprisingly few successful “stabs”. Here are the top ten stabbings.
3. Lukaku’s freezing high open game goal expectation in the match against Croatia
For Romelu Lukaku hit really big individual goal expectation readings at the end of the Croatia match. However, it’s pointless to laugh at Lukaku’s missed spots too much. Not everyone can even get to similar places. However, Lukaku created more goals in the second period of the match against Croatia alone than, for example, Morocco in the entire group stage.
4. Why doesn’t anyone feed Gakpo?
Dutch rising superstar Cody Gakpo has succeeded in scoring excellently and played a breakthrough tournament. Why isn’t anyone feeding him though? The accompanying feed map tells confusing language that Holland had great difficulties in finding Gakpo. It is also worth noting that Gakpo’s own assist percentage has remained low – less than 70%.
5. Good old British football? The South Korean coach alone received more cards than the entire England team combined
Head coach of South Korea Paulo Bento has so far recorded warnings and also suspension as the only head coach of the tournament. Confusingly enough, the entire England team has not received a single warning so far in the tournament.
The record-breaking statistic can be mostly explained by England’s dominant style of play. England’s ball control is built to protect against turnovers, and on the other hand, the clear structure of the defense does not allow the opponent to attack large spaces, and as a rule, attempts at possession and fouls occur at a higher than average rate compared to the opponents.
6. Aboubakar finishes the tournament with a smile
of Cameroon Vincent Aboubakar is the first player in the World Cup since 2006 and Zinedine Zidane who succeeds in scoring in the match and gets sent off. This didn’t seem to bother Aboubakari, who was celebrating the finish, but he leaves these games with a smile on his face.
7. Japan’s record possession in wins over Germany and Spain
Only twice in the recorded history of the World Cup has a team lost a match that has passed more than 700 times in a match. Both happened in these games and Japan was responsible for both victories. Germany fell first and then Spain in the final match of the group stage. In the match against Spain, Japan’s ball control was only 17.7%.
8. Costa Rica’s first shot
184 minutes and 11 seconds. That’s how long it took Costa Rica to get their first shot in the tournament. Sure enough, this shot sank into the goal. with this hit, Japan fell in the group stage match.
9. Brazil’s team game
Brazil became the first team in World Cup history to use 26 players in a single tournament. Brazil got the count already in the quarterfinals against South Korea.
10. The most one-legged players of the tournament?
According to statistics provided by StatsBomb Rodrigo De Paul has served about 82 passes so far in the tournament. Only two of these are given on the left leg. Welsh Joe Rodan on the other hand, gave only one pass in the whole tournament with his left foot. As a whole, Roden had about 46 assists.
The World Cup continues on Friday with the first quarter-final matches. On Friday, Croatia and Brazil will meet at 17:00. The match will be broadcast live on TV2, Areena and ‘s World Cup football live coverage. Holland and Argentina starts at 21:00. The match will be broadcast live on MTV3, but the highlights will be broadcast immediately on ‘s digital services. A recording of the game can be viewed at Areena after midnight.