New Delhi: The recent Canada-Bosnia draw in Toronto and Czechia's loss to South Korea have sparked a debate on the reliance on set-pieces in the FIFA World Cup. The trend of teams prioritizing set-pieces, popularized by Arsenal's Premier League title victory, seems to be on the decline. Data shows that only three goals in the current World Cup have come from set-plays, a significant drop from the 43% of goals scored from set-pieces in the 2018 edition.
The underlying Expected Goals (xG) data behind Arsenal's success reveals that only 55% of their xG came from open play. However, the Canada-Bosnia game saw Canada generate 79% of their xG from open play, while Bosnia relied heavily on set-pieces, winning 43 aerial duels compared to Canada's 21.
FIFA's Technical Study Group has downplayed the possibility of a 'set-piece boom' at this World Cup, citing the limited time teams have to prepare for the tournament. The data so far seems to support this point, with teams focusing more on open play and clinical chance creation.
