Aim: Match status has been shown in previous studies to have a significant effect on different key technical variables in football, including passing (Paixão, Sampaio, Almeida & Duarte, 2015), possession (Lago & Martin, 2007) and interceptions (Garganta, Maia & Basto, 1997). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an evolving match status on specific key performance indicators (KPI’s) and style of play in the knockout stages of the Russia World Cup 2018. Specifically, the change in passing, possession, final third entries and interceptions.
Method: A total of 35 goals were grouped into match status, creating 70 evolving match status situations. A code window was created on SportsCode to analyse the data.
Results: A two-way mixed within subjects ANOVA showed significant main effects for possession (F1, 54 = 3.574, ηp2 = 0.249, p = 0.007, p < 0.05) and interceptions (F1, 54 = 2.635, ηp2 = 0.196, p = 0.033, p < 0.05) in the opponents half. No significant main effects were found for Pass Amount (F1, 54 = 1.968, ηp2 = 0.154, p = 0.098, p > 0.05), Pass Success (F1, 54 = 0.427, ηp2 = 0.038, p = 0.828, p > 0.05) and Final Third Entries (F1, 54 = 0.543, ηp2 = 0.048, p = 0.743, p > 0.05). Subsequently, an independent t-test with Bonferroni correction showed a significant difference between the Drawing to Winning group (42.05% ± 16.50%) and the Drawing to Losing group (57.94% ± 16.50%) (t28 = -2.637, p = 0.013, p < 0.025, d = 0.96) for possession after the status change. The same test also showed a significant difference in interceptions in the opponents half after a goal had been scored between the Drawing to Winning group (0.4 ± 0.63) and the Losing to Drawing group (1.5 ± 1.38) (t19 = 12.248, p = 0.019, p < 0.025, d = 1.02). No significant differences were found for any of the other variables (p > 0.5).
Conclusion: The main findings of the study show a significant decrease in possession and interceptions in the opponent’s half when in a winning match status. Future research into this area needs to take into account the timing of when a goal is scored and the ability of the teams involved.