Activity profiles of full-match and substitution players in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

In order to better understand the intensity of match activities of full-match and substitution football players, running performance of 527 players who generated 1167 match observations in the 2018 FIFA World Cup were analysed. Differences in activity profiles between groups (1st and 2nd half full-match, early and late substitutes) were quantified by the generalised mixed linear modelling. Results showed that: (1) Full-match players presented trivial changes (ES: 0.

Technical and physical match performance of teams in the 2018 FIFA World Cup: Effects of two different playing styles.

In order to investigate the effect of playing styles on the match performance of football teams, data were analysed on 18 technical performance-related variables and 8 physical performance-related variables from 59 matches in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. A -means cluster analysis was conducted to classify all match observations into two clusters of tactical approach in order to identify the playing styles of teams (characterised as direct-play, possession-play and mixed-play). Separate Poisson regression models were run in the generalised mixed linear modelling to examine the differences in technical and physical performance between teams classified as using different playing styles when facing different opponents.

Running Performance of Soccer Players During Matches in the 2018 FIFA World Cup: Differences Among Confederations.

With the purpose of quantifying the differences in the running performance of soccer players during matches from different continental confederations, data of 1508 match observations generated from 559 players in 59 matches at the 2018 FIFA World Cup held in Russia were analyzed. Generalized mixed linear modeling was carried out to estimate the effect of confederations on each of the selected thirteen match running performance related variables (total distance covered, top speed achieved, number of sprints, distance covered and time spent in walking, jogging, low-speed running, moderate-speed running, and high-speed running), controlling the effects of match result, competition phase, and team and opponent strength. Results showed that the differences in the match running performance of UEFA and CONMEBOL players were trivial (ES between 0.