OPTA finally released those stats on their website, so me and comme extracted them for +30 players/each WC and made an Excel spreadsheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ai10DGghuMTrdDR4N0NWMm1yTWNEWHQ3bTZvYVhwV2c#gid=0 Just raw data, no adjustment made.
I wanted to make a ranking of best performanced based on those stats, but I scrapped that idea and decided to just name some players without order who's World Cup looked the most impressive on paper. Forward/Striker/Winger Baggio 94 Boniek 82 Careca 86 Cruyff 74 Eusebio 66 Haller 66 Held 66 Jairzinho 70 Kempes 78 Lato 74 Maradona 86 Müller 70 Müller 74 Pele 70 Rivaldo 02 Rivelino 70 Ronaldo 02 Rossi 82 Villa 10 Zico 82 Midfielder Beckenbauer 66 Charlton 66 Deschamps 98 Deyna 74 Falcao 82 Frings 02 Giresse 82 Haan 78 Hagi 94 Häßler 94 Matthäus 90 Peters 66 Platini 82 Sneijder 10 Socrates 82 Stojkovic 90 W. van de Kerkhof 78 Xavi 10 Zidane 98 Zidane 06
You're going to have to check that list again schwuppe. I see no mention of Iniesta anywhere therefore the OPTA calculations must surely be incorrect... And where the hell is Dave Narey for '82!?! Is there some sort of anti-Scottish cleansing act going on in this forum...
Great work. Not to criticize but why did you include Hagi in the list while Castrol has him on place 36 of 1994WC? It is hard to designate a clear best defender/midfielder/forward based on the stats or a clear group of best players. As said in other threat, it has few caveats (dependent on draw and small sample).
I added some players that I found interesting afterwards and plan to expand the list further. Yes, two other problems are that there are no stats for single games just the totals and that the value and difficulty for some stats changed over time.
Sorry, I meant: why did you include Hagi among the 'best performers' list? The reasons? Which stats stand out? Which stats became less and more important over time you think? I indeed see that difficulty has changed for some. Yes, also the ball has changed drastically, on purpose (starting with 1994WC). I also noticed that many of the most frequent passers are located in the last two decades and in particular the last decade. Though among the forwards and midfielders evergreens Beckenbauer & Cruijff still rank among the best (funnily, Messi is the second best forward in terms of passes attempted). It is maybe possible to track how many times players were ranked among the top 10 or top 20 of each stat although not every stat is equally important and as you said the core dynamics of the game change over time. At a quick glance I noticed that Boniek is among the best at many of them (which I find relevant). Also Clodoaldo looks good while he is rarely seen as an all-time great (sometimes even categorized among the weaker links of that vintage team). Signals maybe that it also depends on which team you play and which role? Similarly impressive is how Xavi matches a high pass accuracy with a big amount of chances created (next question is: what kind of chances?). You naturally expect some trade-off here. Anyhow, I can think of many caveats but nevertheless informative. At least gives some more info about (sometimes baseless) claims as "he was also a world class goalkeeper" and so on. Or "he was one of the best readers the game has ever seen." edit: one final thing, in the default window I can not use the 'arrows' above the columns. I have to switch to the 'alternative' view
Rather odd that of all player you ask about Hagi as he wasn't even close to the cutoff. Duels, Recoveries, Fould Won, Chances Created, Assists, Goals... Well compare GPG for 1970 and 1990, obviously a goal is 'worth' more in '90. Deyna '74.
Ah yes, within WC94 he was among the best. Not in overall picture but at that WC it is the case. Strange that Castrol ranks him outside of top 30 of that WC.
After seeing the detailed OPTA stats I don't really comprehend how Castrol calculates their rating. How did Romario end up with 9.79 and Jairzinho only with 9.74, despite having goals, more chances created, way more efficient scoring, more recoveries, fouls won, a lot more successful at duels?
About Ronaldo02 vs Romario94... I don't see much difference? Similar SA, similar shots on target, similar fouls suffered, similar chances created. Most important stats for striker are similar. Curious.
8 goals, not 5. 5 goals in 7 games is somewhere in the Top 20 - 30 in GPG just among forwards I've included. And it's not like Romario has much else going for him. Ronaldo is 7th and 5/6 ahead of him are from '66 & '70, some playing only less than half of his games.
I would love to see a ranking list of best performances. Looking at this one here, I want to ask where are the following: Ronaldo 98, Stoitchkov 94, Pele 58.....Iniesta 10 ?
The lack of reading comprehension of some people was the reason for not making the list. You just showed me I made the correct decision. Hint #1: OPTA started tracking stats in '66. Hint #2: If you're unhappy that your favourite player was left off the list based on who has the most impressive STATS, then go on and make a case for him using the stats instead of just dropping some names.
Agree that a goal is most important thing in football. Also agree that GPG matters. 5.385 : Switzerland 1954 4.667 : France 1938 4.118 : Italy 1934 4.000 : Brazil 1950 3.889 : Uruguay 1930 3.600 : Sweden 1958 2.969 : Mexico 1970 2.808 : Spain 1982 2.781 : Chile 1962 2.781 : England 1966 2.712 : United States 1994 2.684 : Argentina 1978 2.672 : France 1998 2.553 : West Germany 1974 2.538 : Mexico 1986 2.516 : Korea/Japan 2002 2.297 : Germany 2006 2.212 : Italy 1990 But sometimes players are just unlucky. Like Cruijff only having three goals and three assists while among the best in some related categories (SA%, chances created). It depends on the draw as well. In that respect I wonder how the match vs Haiti of Deyna influences his stats. Haiti is one of the worst opponents of the 16 teams era since WC 1950. Only Bolivia1950, Colombia1962, Switzerland1966, El Salvador1970, Zaire1974 were equally worse or lower ranked in the 16 teams era.
A calculation of minutes per chance created is interesting to me: I've spotted 4 (maybe the only 4?) with a chance created in less than 20 minutes on average: Johan Cruyff '74 (with 3 assists) Pele '70 (with 6 assists) Gianni Rivera '70 (with 1 assist) Kazimierz Deyna '74 (with 0 assists)
Castrol website notes btw that record of chances created in open play is one chance every 22 minutes by Cruijff. That is the lowest. This stat also includes chances created by set-pieces.
Select base data at the bottom then copy to an excel sheet of your own and you can play around with it. I was most impressed by Dunga's passing stats. Thought they were incredible.
Chances Created per game: Johan Cruyff 1974 FW 7 5,1 Thomas Häßler 1994 MF 5 4,8 Pele 1970 FW 6 4,7 Kazimierz Deyna 1974 MF 7 4,3 Xavi 2010 MF 6 4,3 Alain Giresse 1982 MF 6 4,0 Alain Giresse 1986 MF 6 4,0 Andreas Brehme 1990 DF 6 4,0 Diego Maradona 1986 FW 7 3,9 Alessandro Mazzola 1966 MF 3 3,7 Zinedine Zidane 1998 MF 5 3,6 Careca 1986 FW 5 3,6 Giuseppe Giannini 1990 MF 7 3,6 Andrea Pirlo 2006 MF 7 3,4 Bernd Schneider 2002 MF 7 3,4 Dragan Stojkovic 1990 MF 5 3,4 Zico 1982 FW 5 3,4 Lionel Messi 2010 FW 5 3,2 Arie Haan 1978 MF 6 3,2 Michel Platini 1986 MF 6 3,2 Ronald de Boer 1998 MF 6 3,2 Siggi Held 1966 FW 6 3,2 Bobby Charlton 1966 MF 6 3,0 Lothar Matthaus 1990 MF 7 3,0 Diego Maradona 1982 FW 5 3,0 Geoff Hurst 1966 FW 3 3,0 Zbigniew Boniek 1982 FW 6 3,0
Yeah - I was calculating them last night and Cruyff's was the best ratio I found with one every 17 minutes (total chances including set pieces). I thought there were 4 under 20 minutes, but calculating Deyna '74 now that is just above so either I'd spotted another on there are 3 I know of. Rivera, interestingly, always came on as sub when he played. Some with 20-30 minutes I noticed: Maradona '86 (5 assists) Zico '82 (4 assists) Giannini '90 (3 assists) Some from 30-35 IIRC: Stojkovic '90 (exactly one every 30 minutes - 1 assist) Tigana '82 (3 assists) M.Laudrup '86 (1 assist though Planet World Cup counts two vs Uruguay - I know he got a pre-assist vs Scotland too which might be an interesting stat to account for with other players too) Messi (1 assist - also might be awarded more with other rules to be fair) There will definately be others from 20-35 minutes - these are just a selection of ones I looked - for example Wim Jonk in '98 got one every 27.2 mins, Ronald de Boer one every 27.7 mins with 3 and 2 assists respectively I just noticed (Bergkamp's chance created ratio isn't as good but he also got 3 assists for the Netherlands as I'm sure you remember - I suppose his assist per chance created ratio is better though). Pierre Littbarski in '82 got one in just under 31 mins, with 5 assists btw. I'll try and remember or find who else got one chance created in under 20 mins on average if there was a 4th player indeed... (EDIT - There is another player - Thomas Hassler - see post lower down page).