Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate open-play crosses at the 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament, with spe- cific reference to the mechanism and match status of the crosses. Descriptive statistics (i.e., frequency counts and percentages) and chi-square tests of association were used to analyse the data. The study observed a total of 949 crosses, resulting in 20 goals scored (2.1%). Descriptive statistics highlighted that offensive teams had more goal-scor- ing attempts when they used counter-attacks (18.6%) compared to organized (18.2%) and direct (10.9%) attacks. A greater number of goal-scoring attempts were observed when teams used out-swinging crosses (17.4%) as opposed to in-swinging (15%) and straight (13.5%) crosses. There was a significant (p < 0.05) association between the type of attack and match status. Winning teams preferred to adopt a counter-attacking style of play; losing teams used more direct attacking strategies, and drawing teams utilized more organized attacks. Losing teams took the highest number of crosses from Zones 1 (61.1%) and 2 (56.7%) compared to other zones. These findings provide practical implications for football coaches to tailor match tactics to replicate crossing scenarios at international competitions.
Highlights
The majority of match analysis studies in association football have centred on the key game aspects of scoring and creating scoring opportunities (Pulling et al, 2018; Wright et al, 2011)
While the findings indicate the type of crosses and when they occurred during a match, a shortcoming of the study is the limited acknowledgement of performance indicators such as the type of attack and the number of attacking and defensive players within the penalty box in relation to cross outcome
Despite the higher percentage of attempts at goal compared to the 2014 World Cup (Pulling et al, 2018), there was a low scoring rate at the 2018 World Cup. This result may suggest that football coaches are developing and implementing better defensive strategies to deal with crosses, or teams are implementing more of a possession-based and central attacking strategy
Summary
The majority of match analysis studies in association football have centred on the key game aspects of scoring and creating scoring opportunities (Pulling et al, 2018; Wright et al, 2011). Goal scoring is a key indicator of successful performance in football, as winning a game is dependent on scoring more goals than the opposition (Araya & Larkin, 2013). From open-play situations, this attacking tactical strategy has been found to contribute to 13% of goals scored at the 2006 and 2010 FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Cups and 28% at the 2002 FIFA World Cup (Mara et al, 2012; Smith & Lyons, 2017; Vecer, 2014). While crossing may contribute to goal-scoring opportunities, this area of performance analysis has received little
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