What have we learned so far about the World Cup’s new tournament structure?
The World Cup’s expanded roster of players has led to larger rank gaps between teams and coincided with more goals per game, according to data analyzed by Northeastern’s NetSI Sport group.
Group stage matches of the biggest World Cup come to a close today.
What insights can be gleaned so far from the tournament’s new format, designed to accommodate the expanded roster of 48 teams, up from 32 in previous tournaments?
Here are some notable trends, according to data analyzed by Northeastern’s NetSI Sport research group.
More global representation, particularly for African nations
All six FIFA continental confederations — the sports organization’s regional governing bodies — were able to add more teams from their respective geographic regions with the tournament’s expansion.
The Confederation of African Football, in particular, doubled its number of represented countries from five to ten. The Confederation for the first time added Cape Verde, which has had a strong showing so far early in the tournament.
Larger rank gaps in matches
From the Democratic Republic of Congo versus Portugal to Ghana versus England, there were more matchups against top-ranked teams and underdogs in the group stage of this World Cup compared to others.
According to the data, the median FIFA World Ranking gap between opposing teams was 31 places. That’s up 11 from 2022.
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More goals on average per game
On average, players are making 2.95 goals per game so far in this year’s World Cup group stage, nearly .5 percent higher than the 2022 World Cup.
Klein largely attributes the increase to star players like Argentina’s Lionel Messi and France’s Kylian Mbappé making high risk shots.
Data analysis provided by Brennan Klein, director for Northeastern University’s NetSI Sport research group.
