Sports Management Commons^™

What Do Publicly-Available Soccer Match Data Actually Tell Us?, Chester S. Labedz Jr., Robert Schumaker

Communications of the IIMA

Media analyses of soccer statistics and game play has accelerated in recent years. This is evident in visual displays of ball and player tracking, average player locations and distances they run. These media depictions aim to be attractive, entertaining and informative for viewers. But are such statistics predictive of goal scoring and match outcome? To answer this question we review the sixty-four matches of the 2014 World Cup and examine nine common match statistics, and others, to evaluate their predictive value for goal production and match outcome.