Here are the passing statistics for games through 6/14:
Away | Pass | Inc | Pass% | Dist | Home | Pass | Inc | Pass% | Dist | |
Denmark | 221 | 87 | 71.8 | 62.0 | Holland | 470 | 85 | 84.7 | 53.6 | |
Mexico | 535 | 95 | 84.9 | 52.5 | South Africa | 271 | 96 | 73.8 | 54.6 | |
Nigeria | 228 | 99 | 69.7 | 50.4 | Argentina | 477 | 87 | 84.6 | 51.5 | |
Ghana | 323 | 95 | 77.3 | 54.6 | Serbia | 337 | 94 | 78.2 | 58.8 | |
France | 371 | 101 | 78.6 | 49.4 | Uruguay | 259 | 106 | 71.0 | 57.8 | |
Cameroon | 360 | 127 | 73.9 | 56.7 | Japan | 257 | 109 | 70.2 | 59.9 | |
Paraguay | 258 | 160 | 61.7 | 60.9 | Italy | 382 | 176 | 68.5 | 51.5 | |
Australia | 422 | 78 | 84.4 | 55.7 | Germany | 561 | 66 | 89.5 | 56.7 | |
USA | 249 | 126 | 66.4 | 54.6 | England | 371 | 122 | 75.3 | 54.6 | |
Slovenia | 387 | 105 | 78.7 | 56.7 | Algeria | 348 | 100 | 77.7 | 59.9 | |
Greece | 316 | 115 | 73.3 | 54.6 | South Korea | 306 | 110 | 73.6 | 56.7 |
The way to read this table is the following: Germany completed 561 passes and made 66 unsuccessful ones, for an 89.5% completion rate. Their average pass was made 56.7 yards from Australia's goal line. Winning teams were slightly more likely to pass the ball more and complete a higher percentage of passes, but it's no guarantee of winning.
Perhaps (?) more instructive is the passing completion rate into the 18-yard box:
Away | Pass | Inc | Pass% | Home | Pass | Inc | Pass% | |
Denmark | 6 | 19 | 24.0 | Holland | 10 | 20 | 33.3 | |
Mexico | 17 | 21 | 44.7 | South Africa | 5 | 16 | 23.8 | |
Nigeria | 8 | 26 | 23.5 | Argentina | 18 | 19 | 48.6 | |
Ghana | 10 | 27 | 27.0 | Serbia | 9 | 21 | 30.0 | |
France | 14 | 32 | 30.4 | Uruguay | 4 | 17 | 19.0 | |
Cameroon | 12 | 37 | 24.5 | Japan | 6 | 23 | 20.7 | |
Paraguay | 7 | 23 | 23.3 | Italy | 11 | 41 | 21.2 | |
Australia | 13 | 27 | 32.5 | Germany | 23 | 18 | 56.1 | |
USA | 10 | 27 | 27.0 | England | 13 | 29 | 31.0 | |
Slovenia | 2 | 20 | 9.1 | Algeria | 8 | 22 | 26.7 | |
Greece | 11 | 47 | 19.0 | South Korea | 8 | 21 | 27.6 |
Germany dominated in this department, but at the same time, Slovenia managed to win despite barely getting the ball into the box. So merely passing the ball to a good offensive positive is not an indicator that you'll score goals.
What about at the individual level? These are the top 30 pass leaders so far:
First | Last | Team | Passes |
Francisco | Rodriguez | Mexico | 95 |
Philipp | Lahm | Germany | 83 |
Bastian | Schweinsteiger | Germany | 83 |
Lionel | Messi | Argentina | 79 |
Gianluca | Zambrotta | Italy | 77 |
Per | Mertesacker | Germany | 76 |
Gerardo | Torrado | Mexico | 75 |
Daniele | De Rossi | Italy | 72 |
John | Terry | England | 70 |
Wesley | Sneijder | Holland | 70 |
Rafael | Marquez | Mexico | 69 |
Luke | Wilkshire | Australia | 69 |
Arne | Friedrich | Germany | 69 |
Patrice | Evra | France | 69 |
Nadir | Belhadj | Algeria | 69 |
Ricardo | Osorio | Mexico | 67 |
Robert | Koren | Slovenia | 67 |
Nicolas | N’Koulou | Cameroon | 67 |
Carlos | Salcido | Mexico | 66 |
Bacary | Sagna | France | 66 |
Thomas | Muller | Germany | 66 |
Simone | Pepe | Italy | 65 |
Claudio | Morel Rodriguez | Paraguay | 65 |
Juan Sebastian | Veron | Argentina | 64 |
Medhi | Lacen | Algeria | 63 |
Gregory | Van der Wiel | Holland | 63 |
Anthony | Annan | Ghana | 63 |
Marko | Suler | Slovenia | 63 |
Miso | Brecko | Slovenia | 62 |
Javier | Mascherano | Argentina | 62 |
With only one game played, and a multitude of different stadiums with different scorers, it's hard to say that this list means anything yet.