According to the game stats, South Korea had 60% of the possession in this game. We see the same split in the passing data, both in raw completed passes and location-weighted passes:
| Mins | Team | Passes | Weighted | Team | Passes | Weighted |
| 93.95 | South Korea | 414 | 97.2 | Uruguay | 252 | 56.7 |
| SK Poss% | SK Pass% | SK Weight% |
| 60 | 62 | 63 |
So they dominated Uruguay and were unlucky to lose, right? Not exactly. When two of the top 20 teams in the world play each other, we see huge score effects – the trailing team will dominate possession while the leading team plays to limit opportunities. This game was essentially split into four distinct time periods by score:
| Score | Mins | Team | Passes | Weighted | Team | Passes | Weighted |
| 0-0 | 7.63 | South Korea | 26 | 4.8 | Uruguay | 31 | 7.8 |
| 0-1 | 60.60 | South Korea | 304 | 72.2 | Uruguay | 143 | 30.6 |
| 1-1 | 12.58 | South Korea | 24 | 4.2 | Uruguay | 51 | 13.1 |
| 1-2 | 13.13 | South Korea | 60 | 16 | Uruguay | 27 | 5.2 |
Combining by goal differential, we see that Uruguay controlled the passing when the game was tied:
| Score | Mins | Team | Passes | Weighted | Team | Passes | Weighted |
| Tied | 20.22 | South Korea | 50 | 9.0 | Uruguay | 82 | 20.9 |
| Down 1 | 73.73 | South Korea | 364 | 88.2 | Uruguay | 170 | 35.8 |
Or put more simply:
| Score | SK Pass% | SK Weight% |
| Tied | 38 | 30 |
| Down 1 | 68 | 71 |
When it counted, South Korea got dominated. The possession stats merely reflect that they spent most of the game trying to tie a much better team.
