Tactical differences between winning and losing teams in elite women's football

Abstract

Research into women's football has increased dramatically in recent years. Despite this, in the field of collective tactical performance, publications are still scarce. The objective of this study was to analyse and describe how dynamic offensive actions came about in the winning and losing teams in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France and to establish differences between the two groups. From an observational methodology, an ad hoc observation instrument was developed and 1,883 offensive actions that took place in the final phase of the championship were analysed. Two types of statistical tests were carried out to verify the existence of differences between groups. The chi-square test was applied for the qualitative type criteria and the Mann Whitney U test for the continuous type criteria with a significance level of p < .05. The existence of significant differences was demonstrated for the following criteria: temporality, match status, total time in possession, time in possession in opponent’s half, opponent’s defensive organisation, wide start area and result of the action. The teams that won the matches showed a greater ability to develop their attacks in the first moments of the first and second halves, as well as a greater collective quality to maintain possession of the ball in the opponent's half and to finish their actions successfully. These results can be used with the aim of implementing training and competition strategies to increase performance in elite women's football.