On July 23, 1966, in a World Cup quarterfinal in front of 40,248 at Everton's Goodison Park, Portugal and North Korea played one of the most frantic and celebrated matches in soccer history. Led by the brilliant Eusebio, playing in his only World Cup, the Portuguese had torched Hungary, Bulgaria and a disappointing Brazil by a combined 9-2 to advance to the knockout rounds, while North Korea had finished a surprising second in their group, losing badly to the Soviet Union and drawing with Chile before shocking Italy, 1-0, in Middlesbrough and eliminating one of the tournament favorites.
The North Koreans continued riding the wave of underdog energy early on. In a quick transition during the first minute of the game, Im Seung-Hwi fired off a shot from long range; it was blocked, but landed at the feet of Pak Seung-Zin, who scored from a closer distance. They kept going. In the 22nd minute, Portugal keeper Costa Pereira misplayed a cross, which quickly led to a tap-in for Lee Dong-Woon and a 2-0 lead. Two minutes later, it was 3-0.
However, the upstarts would quickly run out of gas. From the 27th minute on, Portugal attempted 22 shots to North Korea's four. Eusebio scored an incredible four goals in 33 minutes to give the favorites the lead, and Jose Augusto finished off a 5-3 win with a short-range finish in the 80th minute. Probably the best team in the tournament, the Portuguese fell victim to a pair of Bobby Charlton strikes and lost to the English hosts, and eventual champions, 2-1 in the semis.
Thanks to some brilliant archival work, you can watch extended highlights of the match on FIFA's website. (You'll also quickly come to realize how far ahead of his time Eusebio really was.) You can read more about it here, and thanks to the work of the data collectors at Stats Perform, we can dive into the data, too.
The teams attempted 47 combined shots, 43% of which were on target and 51% of which were from inside the box.
The shots were worth a combined 4.4 xG (3.4 for Portugal, 1.0 for North Korea), or 0.09 per shot.
Portugal had possession 57% of the time, a little bit above its tournament average of 52%.
Each team racked up 125 possessions. Portugal began its possessions an average of 38.6 meters up the pitch, while North Korea averaged 26.1 meters.
The teams attempted 795 total passes (Portugal 442, North Korea 353) and completed 72% of them (78% for Portugal, 65% for North Korea). Portugal attempted 48 crosses to North Korea's 10; both teams completed about 30% of them.
Portugal started 7% of its possessions in the attacking third and finished 57% of them there. North Korea: 2% and 30%, respectively.
Fifty-five years and about four months later, in front of 39,641 at the same venue, Liverpool beat Everton 4-1. The game featured far fewer shot attempts (16 for Liverpool, eight for the underdog Toffees), but 58% of them came from inside the box, and they were worth a combined 4.0 xG -- 0.17 per shot, nearly double that of Portugal-North Korea. The teams attempted 868 passes, 9% more than Portugal-North Korea, and completed 76%. Liverpool completed 82% of its passes, while dominating 68% of possession. The teams attempted only 33 combined crosses and completed just 18% of them.
The teams each possessed the ball 116 times, a dramatic departure from the Premier League's season average of just 93.2. Liverpool began its possessions 38.5 meters up the pitch, starting 10% of them in the attacking third and finishing 38% of them there; Everton: 36.3 meters, 6% starting in the attacking third and 27% ending there.
Statistics tie a sport's present to its past. It gives us a language with which to communicate, evaluate and debate. It also provides a level of context that nothing else can.
A sport like baseball has been blessed with both this inherent understanding and an incredibly measurable sport. Basketball, too, albeit to a lesser degree. Soccer, however, is far less measurable and got a terribly late start. Stats Perform has data like this for major soccer leagues going back a bit more than a decade, but if you want to look up the stats from, say, the 1994-95 Premier League season or Liverpool's 1977 European Cup win over Borussia Monchengladbach, good luck.
Stats Perform did, however, provide us with a small miracle by logging World Cups, starting with England 1966. Through 14 tournaments, undertaken every four years, we have glimpses into how soccer has evolved and changed shape over nearly six decades. It may not be as much as we would want in a perfect world, but it is to be celebrated.
So how has the game evolved? Casual soccer fans probably already know a lot of the general answers -- the game is more possession- and passing-based, teams take fewer long-range shots, etc. -- but being able to tie anecdotal trends to actual data is a gift. Let's take advantage of it.
The possession game has indeed taken over
The 1974 Netherlands team is one of the most celebrated international squads in the sport's history. More than half the roster came from the clubs that had combined to win four straight European Cups -- Feyenoord (1970) and Ajax (1971-73) -- and it was captained by Ajax-turned-Barcelona star Johan Cruyff.
It was coached by the famed Rinus Michels and was known for Total Football, the Cruyff-driven and ball-dominant style that allowed players to switch positions in given contexts and quickly attack from any situation. The Dutch were the story of the tournament, plowing through two group stages with five wins and a draw to reach the finals but losing, 2-1, to Gerd Muller, Franz Beckenbauer and West Germany.
