Characterisation of Goal Scoring Patterns during Open Play Related to Zone Pitch Division and Number of Players Involved in the 2018 FIFA World Cup

• Main Authors: Joaquin Cerda, Javier Sanchez-Sanchez, David Viejo-Romero, Luis Jimenez-Linares, Jesus Vicente Gimenez, Jorge Garcia-Unanue, Jose Luis Felipe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: types of goals; pitch division; involved players; machine learning; football
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/16/5601
• ISSN: 1424-8220

The aim of this study was to characterise all the goal scoring patterns during open play (elaborate attacks versus counterattacks) related to zone pitch division and the number of players involved in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. An Iterative Dichotomiser 3 (ID3) decision tree algorithm was used to classify all the goal scoring patterns (94 goals in 64 matches). The results did not show statistical differences between the type of scoring goal during the 2018 FIFA World Cup (<i>p</i> > 0.05; ES = Moderate). According to the result of the patterns of how the goals were achieved, an ID3 algorithm decision tree with seven classification decision nodes was calculated. Consequently, this study may aid national team coaches for the next World Cup to establish notational analyses and spatial-temporal relations to understand how scoring patterns during open play are related to zone pitch division and the number of players involved.