When it comes to passing, shooting and crossing one team outclassed all others in the World Cup group stage. When it came to winning, sadly, Germany didn’t do quite so well

The group stage is over, 48 of the 64 matches have been played, 122 goals have been scored and after the first rest day of the tournament this is the perfect time for a statistical analysis of the World Cup so far. So let’s take a deep breath and dive into a worryingly deep but also enjoyably refreshing sea of stats.

Passers

Spain may have only a few survivors of the tiki-taka generation that won the competition in 2010, but they still pass the ball more than anyone else. Passing is of course a good thing: eight of the tournament’s top 10 passers qualified from their groups, the exceptions being Germany, whose statistical excellence was not reflected on the pitch. They were out-passed only by Spain and Saudi Arabia, who were No4 in the pass charts (though tellingly they were joint fourth at backwards passes and just joint 14th at forward passes).

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Spain, the tournament’s top passers, play Iran in Kazan at the 2018 World Cup. Photograph: Francois Nel/Getty Images

Most successful passes in a game

1. Spain (v Iran) 701

2. Spain (v Portugal) 700

3. Spain (v Morocco) 678

4. Argentina (v Iceland) 673

5. Brazil (v Costa Rica) 645

Fewest successful passes in a game

1. Iran (v Morocco) 127

2. Iceland (v Argentina) 132

3= Iran (v Spain) 139

4= Iran (v Portugal) 139

5. Sweden (v Mexico) 147

Long balls

In general, teams that play a lot of long balls don’t also play a lot of short balls. So Spain attempted the most short passes, but were 24th in the long-ball charts. Brazil were third on the short-passing statistics, but 31st on long passes. Saudi Arabia however enjoy long and short passes equally, ranking No2 on short passing and No3 on long passing. As for individuals, of the 15 players who have played the most long balls, 14 are goalkeepers. The other is Toni Kroos. The good news is that Toni Kroos played very good long balls. The bad news is that Germany were still rubbish.

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Most long balls attempted

1. Navas 69 (48% successful)

2. Halldorsson 63 (46%)

3. Olsen 62 (39%)

4. Ochoa 61 (59%)

5. Schmeichel 58 (45%)

6. Ndiaye 57 (35%)

7. Beiranvand 56 (30%)

8. Akinfeev 55 (58%)

9. Kroos 53 (91%)

10. Penedo 52 (38%)

Hard workers

Three of the five teams that ran the furthest during the group stages qualified for the knock-out stages, though so did two of the five teams that ran the least. But there is an enormous disparity between how hard some teams work to defend their area and win back possession, and the more laid-back attitude preferred by others. Denmark, the tournament’s hardest grafters, collectively outran Argentina, the most indolent side, by almost 250m per minute spent without the ball. Serbia, Costa Rica and Egypt were rewarded for their hard work by being among the top five teams ranked by ball recoveries. Spain were in last place, but tellingly no team won the ball more often in their opponents’ half than their 13.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lionel Messi of Argentina slides in to tackle Bryan Idowu of Nigeria during the World Cup Group D match in St Petersburg. Photograph: Jamie Squire/Fifa via Getty Images

Distance run by teams in metres per minute out of possession – the top five

1. Denmark 735.8

2. Serbia 719.1

3. Costa Rica 713.6

4. Egypt 704.1

5. Australia 668.6

Distance run by teams in metres per minute out of possession – the bottom five

32. Argentina 497.4

31. Spain 505.1

30. Germany 522.8

29. Croatia 556.1

28. Saudi Arabia 557.2

Shooting

Germany only scored two goals in their group games, the joint lowest tally (along with 12 other teams). This may not come as a complete surprise to those who watched them labour through their matches but the statistics say otherwise: they had the most shots, the second-most shots on target, the most shots blocked and the most shots that hit the woodwork (level with Costa Rica). Nobody had more shots from inside the area, and not from outside the area either. When it came to shooting the only area where they didn’t excel (other than actually scoring, of course) is from set pieces: they only had one such attempt, the joint lowest. England and Portugal were joint top on that ranking, with seven.

Crosses

Another area in which Germany’s numbers are bizarrely high. This was traditionally England’s forte, but in Russia, Germany have hit 2.5 times as many crosses as the English, and not far off twice as many as the next crossiest team. But their flank-focused forays were very one-sided: while the average team at the World Cup attacked 27 times down the left flank, 28 times down the right and 21 times through the middle, Germany attacked a bang-average 27 times down the left, a slightly below-par 19 times down the middle, and a wildly excessive 49 times down the right, where Joshua Kimmich was the tournament’s top crosser. No other team attacked down either side more than 39 times (Brazil, down Neymar’s favoured left side). England, meanwhile, are beautifully balanced, with 24 attacks down each flank and 21 down the middle.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Joshua Kimmich sends in yet another cross during Germany’s match against Sweden at the 2018 World Cup. Photograph: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Lop-sided sides

Germany 73 right-wing crosses/35 left-wing crosses

Sweden 29/15

Senegal 28/16

Belgium 27/12

Denmark 24/9

Russia 19/39

Losers

The two players who have lost the ball most often are Neymar and Lionel Messi, the Brazilian being dispossessed fully six times more often than the comparatively saintly Cristiano Ronaldo. Neymar and Messi are also the players who have attempted the most dribbles, but the others at the top of those rankings have been better at keeping the ball. Neymar is clearly a highly skilled footballer, but he’s no Nordin Amrabat.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Neymar, the tournament’s dreamiest dribbler, during Brazil’s game against Serbia at the 2018 World Cup. Photograph: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images

Most dispossessions per 90 minutes (minimum 200 minutes played)

1. Neymar 6

2. Messi 4.7

3. Rogic 4.4

4= Ruiz 4

4= Milinkovic-Savic 4

Most dribbles per 90 minutes (minimum 200 mins played)

1. Neymar 9.7

2. Messi 9

3. Isco 7

4. Al Dawsari 7

5. Amrabat 6.7

Referees

Sergei Karasev, from Russia, and Uzbekistan’s Ravshan Irmatov are the officials who enjoy booking players the most, both considering more than one in five of all the fouls they award card-worthy (neither, it’s worth noting, officiated Senegal, the only team eliminated because of their disciplinary record). At the other end of the scale, when Poland’s Szymon Marciniak and America’s Jair Marrufo are in charge, only 4% of fouls lead to a caution. In total there have been 1,571 fouls, leading to 160 yellow cards (and a single straight red, for Colombia’s Carlos Sánchez) at the rate of one card per 9.77 fouls.

Fouls awarded per yellow card shown

1. Karasev (Russia) 4.33

2. Irmatov (Uzbekistan) 4.6

3. Brych (Germany) 6

4. Sikazwe (Zambia) 6

5. Rocchi 6.43

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Belgium’s Vincent Kompany works up a sweat by moving very slowly against England at the 2018 World Cup. Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images

Speed demons

Cristiano Ronaldo is the fastest player at the World Cup so far, having been clocked at precisely 34km/h. England’s Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford are among seven players tied in sixth place, with a top speed of 33.1km/h. But the slowest outfield player at the tournament – counting only those who have played 15 minutes or more, long enough to launch into a sprint or two and thus excusing the slothful Danny Welbeck, whose top speed was just 22.7kmh but whose appearance against Belgium was conveniently timed at four seconds less than our minimum – is also very familiar.

Slowest outfield players

1. Vincent Kompany (Belgium) 20.7kmh

2. John Guidetti (Sweden) 22.1kmh

3. Wilder Cartagena (Peru) 22.1kmh

4= Filipe Luis (Brazil) 22.9kmh

4= Paolo Dybala (Argentina) 22.9kmh

The World Cup in charts: every game, every goal from Russia 2018 Read more

England update

England have not often featured in these charts, but that doesn’t mean that they haven’t excelled at anything, or indeed disappointed. Here’s a quick run-down:

England lead the way at:

Average number of passes in attacks that lead to goals (15.3). Tunisia are second with 14.7, followed by Spain and Belgium on 11.7. England’s average goal-scoring attack lasts for an impressive 37.8 seconds.

(15.3). Tunisia are second with 14.7, followed by Spain and Belgium on 11.7. England’s average goal-scoring attack lasts for an impressive 37.8 seconds. Goals scored from set pieces England have scored six times – 75% of their total – from set pieces.

England have scored six times – 75% of their total – from set pieces. Passing accuracy with 91% (level with Spain).



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Here are some things that would make Gareth Southgate happy. Photograph: Antonio Calanni/AP

England are also pretty good at:

Not losing the ball inside their own half – they are third, one behind Japan and two behind Germany, and also third on ball-losing overall, behind Spain and Japan.



inside their own half – they are third, one behind Japan and two behind Germany, and also third on ball-losing overall, behind Spain and Japan. Winning aerial duels – only Russia (63%) and Serbia (61%) can better England’s 60%.

– only Russia (63%) and Serbia (61%) can better England’s 60%. Brisk, accurate passing. At 16.3 passes per minute of ball possession England are just behind Poland and Brazil, with Spain’s passes the zappiest of all at 18.8 per minute.

But they are not so good at: