Were you paying attention to each team’s tactics during the World Cup, or were you too focused on the goals?
A new test devised by scientists at Northeastern University will reveal the answer.
Researchers have analysed data from all 48 teams to reveal the distinctive ‘signatures’ in their passes.
Their charts show how some teams – like Argentina – relied heavily on their star player.
In contrast, others – like Brazil – focused their strategy on playing against an opponent’s strengths.
‘A lot of teams produce the same passes in the same areas, because some of the game has the potential to be a bit formulaic,’ said Brennan Klein, director of Northeastern University’s NetSI Sport research group.
‘What really makes teams shine or what characterizes a team above and beyond that baseline is tactical instructions and individual capabilities that allow for certain patterns of play.’
So, can you guess the teams based on their signature pass clusters? Scroll down for the answers.
Were you paying attention to each team’s tactics during the World Cup, or were you too focused on the goals? A new test devised by scientists at Northeastern University will reveal the answer
To create the charts, the team mapped out five passing patterns that distinguished each World Cup team from the others
To create the charts, the team mapped out five passing patterns that distinguished each World Cup team from the others.
The most distinctive completed pass patterns are marked in blue, and then in descending order of distinction in red, green, gold and purple.
When it comes to Argentina, you’ll be unsurprised to learn that the team heavily relied on their star player – Lionel Messi.
‘These purple passes are trying to find Messi. These red passes are trying to find Messi. These blue passes might be passes that Messi’s playing forward progressive up the pitch,’ Dr Klein said.
‘More often than not, we see this impact this way.’
Spain’s most distinctive passing pattern, meanwhile, shifts to the left – where you can find left–back Marc Cucurella or left midfielder Álex Baena.
‘Even though one of them is a defender and one of them is an attacker, they’re oftentimes very close together, and they play a lot off of each other, and so that blue cluster typifies that,’ Dr Klein said.
The two longer passes to the right – shown in green and purple on the chart – are to Lamine Yamal.
The most distinctive completed pass patterns are marked in blue, and then in descending order of distinction in red, green, gold and purple
Dr Klein added: ‘Oftentimes, their midfielders will go out of their way to find passes to him.
‘If he receives the ball in this space, that’s his most dangerous area to pick up the ball and start running at defenders.
‘This is a really advantageous pass to make, to be characterized as this unique Spanish pass.’
Another distinctive team was Norway, who stood out for their long passes down the right side of the pitch from the goalie box.
This is not only towards Erling Haaland, Norway’s centre forward, but also Martin Ødegaard, Norway’s captain and a midfielder, according to Dr Klein.
‘He’s left-footed, but he often finds himself in these right-hand pockets of the pitch, receiving the ball to open up into the field and try to curl a ball in his left foot,’ he explained.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s signature pass clusters show how their games were dominated by horizontal passes across the centre of the pitch.
‘It’s not all to say that the midfield for Brazil or the defense for Brazil was so focused on this conservative, cautious play,’ Dr Klein said.
Scientists charted the signature passes of all 48 teams involved in the 2026 World Cup
‘It’s also maybe that they weren’t enabled to play progressive attacking soccer because the people who were supposed to be running into good positions to receive the ball weren’t finding those good positions.’
Before the tournament started, scientists from the University of Liverpool predicted the winner, based on 1,000 simulations.
They hit the nail on the head, predicting that Spain was most likely to win, with a probability of glory at 26.1 per cent.
In contrast, they gave Argentina just a 12.4 per cent chance of winning.
‘Whilst our model agrees with the bookmakers in making Spain the favourites, Norway emerge as the standout dark horse, with a 3.6% chance of winning the trophy across our simulations,’ said Dr Benjamin Holmes.
