World in motion

How the
beautiful
game has
changed
over five
decades

How many people holding forth on the greatest World Cup players have actually
watched Peles six appearances for Brazil in 1970 from start to finish, or the
seven games played by Johan Cruyff for Holland in 1974 and by Diego
Maradona for Argentina in 1986? Not many, presumably. But Optas video
analysts have along with the other 520 games played at all World Cups from
1966 to the present day. Each kick of those 11 tournaments has been logged for
the first time, and the treasure trove of data reveals some fascinating trends in
the game as well as allowing for more informed pronouncements on who have
been the finest players. Headers and stoppage time are up, dribbles are down
and a goalkeepers job has been transformed. As for the greatest players, dont
let Pel hear the verdict . . .

Dribbles reduced to a trickle

Heading for change

Playing it safe

The sight of players taking the ball past

opponents is becoming rarer. One blip in
this trend came in 1994, when a recently
announced crackdown on foul play
perhaps emboldened skilful players

Headers have become a greater part of the

game in the past three World Cups. A
greater proportion of efforts on goal are
headers, while aerial challenges have also
increased. Short corners are less popular as
teams are more inclined to knock high balls
directly into the penalty area

bout six times mo

ore
Goalkeepers are about
more
rds or
likely to knock the ball long (35 yar
yards
ere in the 1970s..
more) than they were
n 1992 of the ban
n on
The introduction in
ng passes from
goalkeepers handling
ave discouraged
d short
team-mates may have
o a nearby defen
nder
passes or throws to
defender
me under pressu
ure, he
if that defender came
pressure,
mply return the b
all to
could no longer simply
ball
ands
the goalkeepers hands

Successful dribbles per game

Proportion of goal attempts headed

22
26

1974

1970

25

1974

1978

30

1982

18

15

2006

19%

1966

1982

41
1998

33sec

1974

1986

1990

41
2002

1978

1994

34
2006
%
30
25
20
15

1min 12sec
66 70 74 78 82 86 90 94 98 02 06

1994

1min 52sec

2002
2006

Teams seem to be sticking to a more

structured, pre-planned approach at
throw-ins nowadays. Players who happen
to be nearest the ball when it goes into
touch tend to leave it to be taken by the
normal thrower often the full back

3min 23sec
3min 9sec
3min 15sec

17.0%
0%
25.4%

1994

42.1%

1998

48.4%

1966

Referees have increasingly cracked

down on foul play

6.5

1970

6.2
5.6

1974

Bookings per game

5
4

6.0

1978

5.7

1982

5.3

1986
3

1990

1994

1998

2002
2006

4.8
5.4
4.8
4.4

2.21
2006

2.30
4.6%
4.7%

Shoot-outs

1970

5.7%
5.7%

1978
1982

1998: Ortega
%
5.3%

1994
1998
2002
2006

Greatest
World Cup XI
1966-2006

7.1

4.6%

7.0

Lilian Thuram
France, 1998

Marcel Desailly
France, 1998

Diego Maradona,
Argentina

Billy Bremner,
Scotland

Franz Beckenbauer
West Germany, 1966

7.6

Grzegorz Lato
Poland, 1974

Diego Maradona
Argentina, 1986

Ronaldo
Brazil, 2002

6.1
Giuseppe
Galderisi, Italy

2.52

Holland average
touch positions v
West Germany,
1974 final

Rensenbrink
brink
Van
Hanegem
m

7.6

30%

Cruyff
Cru
Rep
Re
R
Neeskens
Neesken
Nee
Ne
en
Jansen
Janse

ge
en
Rijsbergen

Penalty takers in shoot-outs seem

to freeze when they must score to
avoid defeat, according to Castrol
Performance Analysis. Conversely,
the prospect of imminent victory
fills the kicker with confidence

Suurbier
Suurbi

Haan
Haa
aan

40%
Scoring clinches victory

Holland average
touch positions v
Serbia and
Montenegro, 2006
group match

Robben
Sneijder
Cocu

Van Nistelrooy
Van Persie

Van Bommel
Van Bronckhorst
Heitinga
Ooijer
Van der Sar

Touches in opposition half by Holland

centre backs

55

1974 match
(Haan, Rijsbergen)

Johan Cruyff
Holland, 1974

Gerd Mller
West Germany, 1970

92%

2006 left back

Van Bronckhorst

Source: www.castrolfootball.com

28

1974 left back

Krol

Touches in own half

2006 centre forward
Van Nistelrooy

Words Bill Edgar

8.5

7.2

Touches as far right as centre circle

5.5
5.1

Patricio
Yez, Chile

1978

2006 match
(Ooijer, Mathijsen)

5.4
4%
5.4%
6.6
6%
6.6%

1974

36.9

2002

Mathijsen

Andreas Brehme
West Germany, 1990

Mrcio Santos
Brazil, 1994

5.9
5.7

7.0

17%

Proportion
missed

Missing means elimination

Most free kicks per 90 minutes, 1966-2006

4.9%

37.8

1986

Kroll

Conversion rate of penalties in

shoot-outs, 1966-2006, when:

Maradona reigns supreme for winning free kicks

4.2%

1978

Penalty takers buckle

merson Leo
Brazil, 1978

Master of
the ball

39.6

1990

Jongbloed
JJo

4.7 Pel, Brazil, 1970

1994: Redondo

%
3.0%

1986

Proportion
missed

4.9 Thomas Hssler,

Germany, 1994

1986: Maradona

Converted

The World Cup has

showcased the invention
of Pel and Cruyff

5.1 Cruyff,
Holland, 1974

1982: Maradona
4.6%

1974

56

39 saved, 17 off target

Tournaments since 1978 where an Argentina player

recorded the most successful dribbles per 90 minutes

2.4%

130
Failed

5.5 Perico Leon,

Peru, 1970

1978: Valencia

25

14 saved, 11 off target

5.2 Antnio Simes,

Portugal, 1966

1990

The fluidity of Hollands total football in the Cruyff era

can be seen clearly. While their 2006 sides average
touch positions against Serbia and Montenegro were
spread across the pitch as they stuck broadly to
nominated positions, the 1974 version wandered so
far in the final that all ten outfield players recorded
average positions close to the centre circle

Failed

Maradona has been the pick of a line of great Argentine

dribblers. The triumphant Argentina side of 1978
possessed the four best dribblers of that tournament

1.4%

Most
offsides

Penalty takers are almost twice as likely to miss from

the spot in a shoot-out as in regular play. Shoot-outs
perhaps bring extra pressure and also require many
non-specialist penalty takers to step up

Creating
history
Most chances created per
90 minutes at a
tournament, 1966-2006

Goalkeepers have become

ecome far mor
more
re
likely to choose catching
hing high ballss
over punching them
Ratio of goalkeeper catches to pu
punches
unches
3.5
0
2.7 3.0
2.5 2.5
2.4 2.6 2.1
1.6 1.7
1.1

1966

Most fouls
per game

Totally different

Converted

Aerial threat handled

dled differently

easingly using
g
Goalkeepers are increasingly
their legs to keep the ball out

Fewest goals
per game

Spot of bother in shoot-outs

121

115 6600

Legs prove barrier

er

World Cups 1966-2006

1990

2.9%
2.9%
3.2%
3.2%
3.5%
3.7%
3.8%

Regular play

1994-2006
199
94-2006

1990

5.1

2.1%
2.3%

Penalties at World Cups, 1966-2006

45.0%
45
5.0%

Proportion of saves by
goalkeepers made with
ith legs

Number of throw-in takers per team

per game at World Cup

Yellow a greater peril

66 70 74 78 82 86 90 94 98 02 06

13.6%

1990

For many England fans, the national teams march

to the semi-finals to the strains of Pavarottis
Nessun Dorma masked the tournaments
unattractive fare

*old style ball

*old-style
ball, heavier when wet
**altitude

Throw-ins less shared around

2min 51sec

1998

1986

Matches played on the Highveld in South Africa

(Johannesburg, Pretoria, etc) may feature fewer
long-range goals than at sea level (Cape Town,
Durban, etc) even though balls fly slightly faster at
altitude. The two World Cups played at altitude in
Mexico featured a lower success rate for
long-distance shots. It is said that the higher above
sea level, the less likely the ball is to curve

1966*
1986**
1990
1998
1970**
1974
1978
2002
2006
1982
1994

9.4%

1966-1990
before
back-pass
rule change

35sec

1990

8.0%

Dull and dirty the

alternative view of 1990

Goals per shots from outside penalty area

Goalkeepers have become

ecome more in
inclined
nclined to
sweep up outside the
he box in the pa
past
ast two
decades. The back-pass
pass rule, estab
established
blished in
1992, means that waiting
aiting for a pas
pass
ss from a
team-mate who is under
nder pressure ffrom
rom an
attacker is a less attractive
ractive option
Minutes per instance
goalkeeper
ce of goalkeep
per
leaving area to clearr ball at World
d Cup

1min 5sec

52sec

1978

Distant efforts at altitude

are a long shot

Keepers are sweepers

eepers

10

1986

7.8%

2006

Proportion of corners hit short

1min 11sec

1970

1970

1974

2002

21 18 33 23

Average second-half stoppage

time per World Cup game

1982

19%

27 18 25 31

Referees have allowed far more stoppage

time in recent years (although usually still
not enough to cover time-wasting). The
increase in substitutions is probably not a
big factor in this change. After none were
allowed in 1966, the allocation has only
increased from two substitutes a team
(1970-1994) to three (1998-2006)

1978

2002

Aerial duels per game

More than a game of 90 minutes

1974

20%

16

2006

by a player during a match is

measured by how it changes the
probability of his team scoring
or conceding a goal. For
example, a successful pass from
a position on the pitch where
possession rarely leads to a goal
(such as his own half) to a
position where possession often
leads to a goal (such as in the
oppositions goal area) scores
highly. Pel impressed for Brazil
in 1970 but had shortcomings.
His goals-to-shots ratio was 15%,
compared with 58% for
Jairzinho, his team-mate. Pel
also committed twice as many
fouls as any other Brazil player
(24; Jairzinho was next on 12)

7.8%

1982

15%

1998

27

2002

1966

18%

1994

1994
1998

15%

1990

17

1990

Diego Maradona and Johan

Cruyff are in the greatest World
Cup XI for the 1966-2006 period
but Pel misses out, according
to the Castrol Index. The team
were chosen on the basis of
performances at a specific
tournament, rather than across
all World Cups. Every
contribution (pass, tackle, etc)

1970 6.5%

16%

1986

20

1966

15%

1982

22

1986

13%

1978

Moving moments

keeper passes h
it long
Proportion of goalkeeper
hit
35 yards or more

12%

66
19
70
19
74
19
78
19
82
19
86
19
90
19
94
19
98
20
0
20 2
06

1970

14%

1966

19

1966

Pel eclipsed

1974 centre forward

Cruyff

18