After 64 games and a record 172 goals, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar came to an end. Argentina was crowned world champion for the third time with its dramatic penalty shootout victory over France.
The trends of the 2022 competition, the first tournament held in winter and summer Middle Eastwere analyzed by the company Gracenote, which collects sports statistics.
1. Greatest number of zebras in 64 years
The Qatar Cup was a tournament of underdogs, with 15 matches won by smaller teams against more established teams.
They started with the victory of the Saudi Arabia 2-1 over Argentina on the third day of the tournament—one of 12 upsets in the group stage, which is a record for the competition.
There were also eliminations of Spain e Portugal for Morocco in the round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively, and the victory of Croatia in quarterfinals against Brazil.
This means that 24% of games ended in what Gracenote classifies as “upset” and what we Brazilians call “zebra”. This is the highest percentage of victories for teams with less chance since Sweden in 1958 (26%), which may reveal a trend of less distance between the top teams and those considered weaker.
According to Gracenote’s methodology, an upset happens when “the winning team had less than a 33.3% chance of winning in 90 minutes in the group stage or a maximum 47% chance of eliminating the opponent” in the knockout stage .
2. Fewer shots on goal… more goals
There were ‘only’ 1,458 shots on target in this year’s tournament, the fewest since Gracenote started recording statistics in 2002. The average number of shots taken during a match in Qatar was 22.8.
But that didn’t stop the rain of goals, with a record 172 goals scored —the most since the tournament was expanded to 32 teams in 1998🇧🇷 The previous record was 171 goals scored in France 1998 and Brazil 2014.
In average goals per game, only the US Cup (1994) had a higher number than Qatar, with 2.71 goals per game. Qatar had 2.69 goals per game on average in 2022.
There were 117 different players scoring goals — five less than in the World Cup in Russiafour years ago.
More goals were also scored from inside the penalty area than any of the four previous competitions for which data was collected in the statistic. About 93% of the goals were scored from inside the penalty area, with a record 62.7% of completions inside the penalty area.
3. ‘Cleanest’ World Cup this century and longest stoppage
Referees handed out 227 yellow cards — the most since 2010, which Gracenote says is due to tighter officiating. Only four red cards were shown — the same amount as in the Russian Cup.
But the number of fouls has fallen for the fourth consecutive tournament and reached its lowest level this century, 1,599 — perhaps a reflection of the fact that referees are being encouraged to let the game flow.
A total of 23 penalties were scored during the 90 minutes of play at an average of 0.36 per game. This is the result of the second Cup with VAR (video referee).
The amount of break time was a big talking point at the start of the tournament, and matches averaged 11 minutes of added time – up from six minutes in 2018 – due to tighter league rules. Fifa about wasted time.
4. Young stars
The 2022 competition had the most under-20 players than any other World Cup. Ten under-20 players played, with a presence in 20 matches.
That includes 19-year-old England midfielder Jude Bellingham and 19-year-old Germany midfielder Jamal Musiala. However, the youngest players at the tournament in Qatar were midfielders: Spaniard Gavi, Australian Garang Kuol, and German Youssoufa Moukoko, aged just over 18. When facing Japan in a match valid for Group E, Moukoko, aged just 18 years and three days, became the youngest player to defend Germany in a World Cup.
French striker Kylian Mbappé, who turned 24 on Tuesday (20), still holds the record for most World Cup appearances under 20, with six appearances in 2018.
5. Veterans
It wasn’t just a good year for the young players, but also for the more senior players — competitors aged 35 and over.
A total of 27 veteran players were present for 83 matches in the 2022 tournament, 32 matches more than the previous record set at the 2002 World Cup.
the argentinian Messi, 35, and Croatian Luka Modric, 37, were the veterans who played the most in Qatar, with seven matches each. They were also great highlights of the World Cup.
At the age of 39, Brazilian right-back Daniel Alves became the oldest player to defend the Brazilian national team in a World Cup.
This text was published in site da BBC News Brazil.
