Garrincha, Pele, Rivelino, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho… many more names can be added if you want. In addition to these legends, there is no shortage of skilled dribbling footballers in Brazilian football. Yes! Although this can be said in one sentence, the picture is completely different in the World Cup.
Sports data analytics platform Opta said Brazil had the lowest dribbling success rate in the group stage of the 48 teams participating in the World Cup. Carlo Ancelotti’s team was successful only 20 times out of 59 dribbling attempts in the group stage. A success rate of 34 percent.
Brazil is seventh in the list of dribbling attempts at this World Cup. However, they are not alone in this position. Curacao, the smallest country in terms of population to have participated in the World Cup and which was eliminated in the group stage, also shares the seventh place. However, African teams dominate the dribbling attempts.
Morocco topped the list with 76 dribbling attempts, followed by Algeria with 75 two-and-a-half attempts and Ivory Coast with 70 three-and-a-half attempts.
Vinicius leads the Brazil team in dribbling success rateAFP
Vinicius Junior is the most successful dribbler among Brazilian players. He has been successful in dribbling seven times. Among them, Vinicius was successful in dribbling five times in the match against Scotland, along with scoring two goals. His other two successful dribbles were in the match against Haiti.
Croatia surpassed everyone in dribbling success. They succeeded in 68 percent of their dribbles; where they succeeded 23 times out of a total of 34 attempts. However, if we consider only the total number of successful dribbles without any percentage of dribbling attempts, Ivory Coast surpassed everyone. The African team successfully dribbled a total of 42 times.
‘First Touch’
There have been 215 goals scored in 72 group stage matches at this World Cup. More than half of these goals (119) were scored by footballers with their first touch. Norway’s Erling Haaland scored four goals and Lionel Messi scored three of his six.
The average goal per match in the group stage of the World Cup this time is 2.9, which is higher than the goal average in the group stage of the Qatar World Cup (2.5 goals per match). However, it is also important to remember that four years ago, the World Cup was held in Qatar with 32 teams. This time, for the first time, 48 teams are participating in the World Cup, so the number of matches is also higher.
Messi is very good at scoring goals with his first touch.AFP
A total of 25 percent of goals in the group stage of this World Cup have come from set pieces. According to Opta statistics, 28 goals were scored from corner kicks, 5 from direct free kicks, 6 from throw-ins and 7 from set piece combinations. Eight goals were scored from penalties.