Euro 2024 began and progressed with the possibility of becoming the tournament with the most goals from outside the box in recent years. The content generated by the statistics even led to think of a future trend, but it was too early to know if the issue had such depth or if it was temporary. And, above all, whether it was a question of effectiveness or volume.
In this regard, Driblab has been sharing an enormously valuable and widely shared graph at the end of each season, which we will share again soon, reflecting the evolution of the average distance of shots as one of the variables that would explain the evolution of the game. Season after season, unabated, he shoots from distance less and less and the sample has been stabilising at the European Championship, after the entire group stage (36 games).
The final stages of national team competitions have, with some frequency, been a field of new tactical trends. In the case of average shot distance to goal, they have gone hand in hand with what has happened in Europe’s top leagues.
In the ten years between the 2014 World Cup and this Euro 2024, from an average of 6.43 shots attempted per game from outside the box, the average has gone down to 4.81 at this European Championship in Germany. An average distance that has always been even lower in the different Copa America games.
As the games have gone by, the statistic has stabilised to 0.16 goals from outside the area per game, accounting for 14.81% of the total number of goals.Shots from outside the area have been, along with the goalkeeper’s long throw-in, one of the actions of the game that has ‘suffered’ the most with the different tactical revolutions that have led to a much more elaborate game, trying to get closer to the goal through passing and the participation of all the players.
With the final rounds of the European Championship and the Copa America still to come, the figures show that there has been little change with respect to the last ten editions of the main national team tournaments.
Founded in 2017 as a consultancy, Driblab has driven innovation through data in all aspects of professional football. Thanks to a transversal model, its database collects and models statistics in all directions. From converting matches and videos into bespoke data for training academies to developing cutting-edge technology, helping clubs, federations and representative agencies in talent scouting and transfer markets. Driblab’s smart data is used by clubs all over the world, with success stories such as Dinamo Zagreb, Real Betis and Girondins Bordeaux among others. Here you can find out more about how we work and what we offer.
