Comments / New

World Cup: Winners vs Losers

34 of 48 Group Play matches ended with a win, and the winning teams enjoyed an advantage in most game-level statistics:

Passes Weighted Wt Pass% Shots/G Goals/G Shot%
Winners 399 86.05 21.6 13.09 2.03 15.5
Losers 321 68.05 21.2 9.38 0.35 3.8
Winner% 55.4 55.8 58.2 85.2 80.5

The winning teams completed more passes, and though their average possession location wasn't any closer to their opponent's goal than the losing team, they had more offensive zone opportunities. Their percentage of shots taken was slightly higher than this (58% vs 55%) but the key difference was that the winning teams were more likely to put the ball in the net from the same locations as the losing teams. Some of this is because the winning teams really do have better scorers, but a lot of it is simply luck and not sustainable in the long-run, unlike ball possession.

Looking for an easy way to support Arctic Ice Hockey?
Use our Affiliate Link when shopping hockey merch this holiday season!

Talking Points