analysis
The first week of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was marked by caution among many teams, with some goalless draws. But now the teams dare more – and the games are becoming more attractive.
The second group game of the German national team against Spain (1:1) was a real treat. Two great soccer nations played a game that was top-class in terms of play, technique and tactics. Both teams acted on an equal footing, were not satisfied with the draw, pushed for the winning goal in the final phase and could have scored it given the numerous chances.
“The People’s Crane“: “A splendid spectacle“
It was arguably the best game of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar so far and caused excitement around the world. For example, the Dutch newspaper “The People’s Crane“about the match:”Like a red mosaic floating across the fields in Qatar, Spain is in harmony and beauty. Playful and skillful. But as Spain appeared to inflict Germany’s second defeat, substitute striker Niclas Füllkrug offered a fresh perspective. The second half of this early World Cup top game was a wonderful spectacle.”
Immediately before the German game against Spain, Croatia beat Canada 4-1. A day later, two more games followed, which fall under the “spectacle” category. First, Serbia and Cameroon drew 3:3 in an exciting match, then Ghana beat South Korea 3:2.
“Safety first” in the first week of the World Cup
With a little delay, the 2022 World Cup seems to be finally getting off to a good start. Things looked very different in the largely tough first week of the tournament. This was characterized by numerous discouraged appearances by many teams, where the motto “Safety first” seemed to read.
A new negative record seems possible
This trend towards minimizing risk at the beginning of the 2022 World Cup can be illustrated by numbers: Qatar has already gone 0-0 five times – the tournament record is seven games without a goal. For comparison: in 2018 in Russia there was only one goalless draw.
It seems quite possible that a new World Cup negative mark will be set up in Qatar, after all there will be a full day of preliminary rounds and then the knockout round.
Further proof of the cautious start to the World Cup: in Qatar it was 0-0 in 16 of 32 games at halftime – in every second game. In the zero number between Uruguay and South Korea, neither of the two goalkeepers had to fend off a shot on goal in the entire game. Even if the quality of football games is not measured solely by goals, these are striking facts.
Oliseh: “Teams don’t want to take any risks at the beginning”
But why is it that so many teams put goal avoidance before scoring goals in their first tournament game? “This happens because the teams don’t want to take too much risk at the beginning“said Sunday Oliseh, who is in Qatar as a member of the Technical Study Group (TSG) of world association FIFA. The former Bundesliga player evaluates the games with TSG, which is headed by coaching legend Arsène Wenger, to identify trends and developments in the game recognize world football.
The defensive tactics of many countries in the first game are therefore no surprise for the Nigerian. “Data shows that 70 percent of teams who lose their first game are eliminated in the group stage – everyone knows that“, he said.
Zaccheroni: “Save at least one point in the first game”
The Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni, who also belongs to TSG, takes a similar view. “Many teams use a cautious five-man approach when opponents have possession in order to remain very compact“, he analyzed. “They wanted to secure at least one point from the first game.”
Defending is easier than attacking
The concern of having your back against the wall after a defeat in the second group game is one reason for the moderate level of the first week of the World Cup.
Short preparation time, no automatisms
Another is the fact that many players often had to appear in several competitions with their clubs until shortly before the World Cup. The preparation time with the national teams was extremely short, so only a few things could be automated. As a result of this, an old football adage came into play for many teams in their opening match: Defending is easier than attacking.
So far, the teams that have worked together well have acted offensively at this World Cup – for example because they have been playing together for a long time. There are also teams whose individual quality is so high that they prefer to act rather than react. But these are in the minority.
Pressing as a popular stylistic device
Finally, there is also the tactical orientation, which is similar in many teams. Many teams focus on intensive pressing and counter-pressing when the opponents have possession instead of playing the game themselves.
“By counter-pressing, players save a long way back to defend their own goal – and they can prevent the opponent from having time to exploit a disorder in the backward movement. In this respect, counter-pressing is not only an offensive, but also a defensive stylistic device‘ said Oliseh.
To put it simply: it is much easier for many teams to rely on the pressing element and counterattacks after winning the ball than to create chances when they own the ball.
There was also a spectacle on the first day of the game
But even on the first day of the World Cup there were definitely games that excited the fans. For example the 4:1 of the French against Australia, the 6:2 of England against Iran or the exciting offensive fireworks of the Spaniards in the 7:0 against Costa Rica.
The German bankruptcy against Japan (1:2) or the sensational defeat of Argentina against Saudi Arabia (1:2) were probably very entertaining for the neutral observer.
The level rose on the second round of the 2022 World Cup. Not only because of the games with many goals – also tight games like France against Denmark (2:1) knew how to convince.
At the level of past world championships
It is evident that in their second game significantly more teams went on the offensive – of course also because they were partly under pressure from their first game.
And so few goals – despite the many zero numbers and lame first halves – have not been scored in Qatar so far. At 2.53, the average per game is already almost at the level of the World Championships in Russia 2018 (2.64) and in Brazil 2014 (2.67). In South Africa 2010 (2.27) the value was significantly lower than previously in Qatar.
If Zaccheroni and TSG have their way, the World Cup will improve significantly anyway. “As the tournament progresses we will see that the teams will dare more” he predicted.
So fans and all those interested in football can look forward to what’s to come. After all, that was also the case in past tournaments: most of the big sporting moments came from the knockout phase. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has only just picked up speed.