The TSG’s overview of the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament

In this article, we explore some of the high-level data, including a breakdown of how goals were scored, the impact of substitutions and how teams looked to defend and attack. In two additional articles, we explore in greater detail the theme of how teams used their overage players in this competition, and we also take an in-depth look at Spain, who beat hosts France in the final to become Olympic Champions for the second time in their history. 

A total of 96 goals were scored across the 32 games, with a tournament average of three goals per game. Interestingly, the knockout matches averaged 3.9 goals per game compared to 2.7 per game in the group stages. There were a total of 889 attempts at goal, with 59% of them made from inside the penalty area and 41% made from outside; 314 of the 889 attempts were on target. Of the 96 goals scored, 76 were scored from inside the penalty area, 19 were from outside and there was one own goal. 

In addition, 16 goals (17%) were scored from open-play crosses, while 19 (20%) were scored from set plays (10 penalties, 4 corners, 5 free kicks). In terms of the receiving actions that preceded the goal being scored, 35 goals (37%) came from passes, 14 goals (15%) came from loose balls and 5 goals (5%) came from rebounds.

During the tournament, our Technical Study Group (TSG) members noted that substitutions had genuine impact on games when introduced. Squad sizes were capped at 18 players, with 16 outfield players and two goalkeepers meaning the quality and full fitness of players was extremely important. 

Players brought on as subs scored 15 goals and provided 9 assists, therefore making 24 goal contributions. These figures represent 15.6% of all goals scored in the tournament and account for 15.5% of all assists.

Spain and Argentina’s subs made five goal contributions for their teams after being introduced, with La Roja’s replacements contributing four goals and one assist and La Albiceleste’s managing three and two. Japan’s subs contributed three goals and one assist while France and Ukraine’s subs registered one goal and one assist after coming into games.

As expected, the majority of substitutions were made during the second halves of games, with 19.3% made between 45 and 60 minutes, 29.3% between 60 and 75 minutes, 42.2% between 75 and 90 minutes, and 5.9% in the 90+ minutes time range. On average, there were 8.4 substitutions per match, with 8.8 in group stages and 7.5 in the knockout stages.

According to Kirsty Yallop, the reason for the substitutions were often to make a tactical impact on the game. 

“With such small squads, teams did not have the luxury of having a second player for each position so they often had players who could play in multiple positions in their panels. The quality of depth in squads was therefore really important. It was interesting to note that like-for-like substitutions due to injury or fatigue generally did not have a huge impact on the game, but tactical substitutes were often very impactful,” she explained.

In this section we look at the phases of play that teams used during the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament when they were in and out of possession. The dominant phases utilised by teams is indicative of their differing playing styles and approaches during tournaments, especially when their individual data is compared to tournament averages.

In possession

When teams are in possession, the build-up phase is often their most dominant phase as this where they are establishing possession and working the ball in order to progress it up field. During the men’s competition, teams spent almost half of their in-possession time in the build-up phase (48.6%). Argentina registered the highest share of time spent in the build-up phase with 55.6%, and Spain’s 53.6% comes in close second. Paraguay’s 33.5% was the lowest percentage of time in this phase, with Iraq’s 40.3% being the second lowest.

Both Paraguay (7.4%) and Iraq (6.4%) spent the highest percentage of in-possession time in the long-ball phase while the tournament average was 3.1%. France (1.7%), Spain (2%) and Uzbekistan (2%) were lowest ranked teams in this phase. 

Paraguay were also the highest-ranked team for percentage of time spent in attacking transition (22%) and counter-attack (2.7%) phases, compared to the tournament averages of 14.2% and 1.4% respectively. On the other hand, champions Spain were the lowest ranked team for both of these metrics, with 10.7% of their time with the ball spent in the attacking transition phase and 0.8% in the counter-attack phase. 

France recorded the highest percentage of in-possession time in the final third phase (21.7%) with Mali second highest on 19.4%. The tournament average was 15.2% with Dominican Republic coming in as the lowest ranked team in the final third phase at 8.6%.

According to Ibrahim Ba, “It was really interesting to see the different styles of play and how effective they could be. The tactical preferences of the coaches shows strongly in this data and this can be down to a coaching ideology or the system the coach feels is best suited to the players available. Ultimately the quality of the players dictates success, but it is always interesting to see how the contrasting styles and tactical approaches emerge during games.”

Out of possession

When teams do not have the ball, the use of blocks (mid and low) generally tends to be the most popular defensive tactic. In this tournament, that trend continued with teams spending an average percentage of 24% of their time out of possession in a mid-block and 20% in a low block. Israel were the team that registered the highest proportion of time without the ball in a mid-block with 31.6%, while Spain on 17.2% were the lowest. Egypt’s 29.9% was the highest percentage of time a team spent in a low block, while Uzbekistan’s 11.6% and France’s 11.8% were the lowest. 

When it came to defensive phases that originated higher up the pitch, high press averaged at 4.5% across all teams with Japan ranked highest on 6.2% and Ukraine second highest on 5.9%, while Israel (2.9%) and Mali (2.9%) were lowest. 

Counter-pressing was the fourth highest defensive phase with a tournament average of 10.3% with Argentina ranked highest on 14.2% of their time without the ball while Ukraine (7.7%), Iraq (8.1%) and USA (8.2%) were the lowest ranked. 

For Ibrahim Ba, the way teams played when they didn’t have the ball also reflected the strengths of players.

“This was interesting to analyse because even teams that used the same phases, played them differently. Many teams that used low blocks, counter-attacked quickly when they won the ball, looking to play forward early and release pacy players into space in behind but Spain had a different approach. They looked to build their attacks and played very considered passes, sometimes sideways, to open up space on the opposite side of the pitch instead of going directly forward. Again, it wasn’t just which phases teams preferred to defend in that was interesting, it was how they played in those phases also.”

Interestingly, winners Spain spent most of their out-of-possession time in a low block (24.2%) but ranked lowest in counter-attack (0.8%) and attacking transition (10.7%), demonstrating their desire to build play (53.6%) rather than have faster, more direct transitions to attack. 

In contrast, Paraguay spent the highest percentage of their time without the ball in a mid-block (30.9%) and recorded the highest proportions of time in attacking transition (22%) and counter-attack (2.7%). This data confirms that once they won the ball back, they wanted to counter-attack and transition as quickly as possible.