Sports analytics and the World Cup: The numbers within 'the beautiful game'

Brandeis Stories

Sports analytics and the World Cup: The numbers within 'the beautiful game'

By Steve Foskett
June 9, 2026 • General

When the first World Cup soccer matches kick off this week in Massachusetts and in cities across the U.S., teams will take to the pitch supported by sophisticated organizational infrastructure and equipment, along with millions of adoring fans.

Also behind the scenes will be reams and reams of data telling teams what athletes should be playing the most, how long they'll last, how hard or soft they should play, and even where their players should be on the field.

Sports analytics has become an integral part of the professional sports landscape in recent years, and soccer is no different. As computing technology improves, the field will only get bigger.

Ahmad Namini, Professor of the Practice of Business Analytics at the School of Business and Economics at Brandeis, said the demand for data-driven strategies in sports is leading to increased interest in Brandeis' sports analytics programs. Currently offered as an undergraduate minor and master's level concentration, sports analytics takes general data science and data analytics and applies it to the sports industry, both on and off the field.

The idea of crunching numbers to gain an advantage is not new; Namini noted that most people at some point have heard about data-driven approaches in sports like "sabermetrics," a focus on non-traditional statistics used with success in baseball and popularized in the book and film "Moneyball."

In soccer, Namini said fans this week should keep an eye out for a few sports analytics-fueled strategies teams may employ to optimize their chances of winning.

Time of possession/shots on goal

"I've done exercises in the classroom where we ask, 'what are the attributes of a good soccer team?'" he said. "And you find out it's things like just getting shots on goal, which are obvious things. But how do you get shots on goal? A lot of it comes down to the time of possession. If our side holds the ball 65% of the time, we're probably going to get more shots."

Err on the side of being aggressive

"It was surprising for us to find in the data that getting yellow cards is actually good for success," Namini said. "You would think it would be the other way around. The reason is that it means you're aggressive. You are going out of your way to be proactive, whether it's on offense or defense. That means you're going to push the boundaries beyond what is legal, and possibly get a yellow card."

"10 men in the box."

Arsenal, which recently won the Premier League championship, plays a very defensive game, and Namini said it's partly driven by sports analytics.

"If they get a slight lead or something, they'll put 10 men in the box, which means everybody plus the goalie in the box. That means all they're doing is playing defense," he said. "It's comparable to basketball when you put all your players on defense, not caring about offense at all. And it's a very boring game."

But it can be effective.

"That was born out of sports analysts coming in and saying, 'look, over time you have a better chance of winning if you put these 10 guys in the box. We have a lead, why don't we just go all out on defense and we'll just win with this."

Challenges for Fans

Is that bad for the sport? Namini said it depends - for example, if you're a fan of Arsenal and you're celebrating as the team hoists the Premier League trophy, that doesn't sound bad at all. He said analytics and data are not only the only factors driving a team's success. There are still plenty of traditional markers that contribute to success, including team chemistry, drive, and plenty of luck.

"It just gives teams another view," Namini said.