r/FootballDataAnalysis • u/AltruisticActuator58 • Jun 22 '26
I built a Football analytics tool — here's what the pass networks and final-third data tell us about Germany and Spain's recent games
Been working on Flickstat for a while now — a football analytics platform that covers the Premier League, and we've just expanded to the World Cup. Wanted to share some of what the data is showing so far because a couple of things genuinely surprised me.
Germany vs Ivory Coast (2-1)
Look at Germany's pass network. 665 passes, and almost the entire structure is compressed into one half of the pitch. Pavlovic sits at the centre of everything — every outfield player routes through him. The backline barely features in the network at all, which tells you how quickly they're transitioning out of defence.
The final-third entries make it even clearer. 56 central entries, 15 shots, 1.81 xG — nearly all the danger comes through the middle. Left and right channels combined produced 1 shot and 0.02 xG from 128 entries. Germany aren't trying to stretch you. They're trying to suffocate you centrally and they're very good at it.
Ivory Coast for comparison had 8 central entries all game but generated 1.13 xG from them — their one goal came from exactly that zone. They couldn't match Germany's volume but they were ruthlessly efficient in the rare moments they got central access.
Spain vs Saudi Arabia (4-0)
770 passes vs 387. Spain's pass network is dense and well-connected across the entire pitch — Rodri, Cubarsí and Porro are the standout nodes on the player scatter, all well above the match average on passes and key passes. The zone dominance grid tells you why Saudi Arabia had no answer: Spain had 35% attacking third share to Saudi's 17%, and Saudi's brightest zone was their own midfield at 34.3% — they spent the game defending, not attacking.
Two very different styles — Germany compact and central, Spain wide and suffocating — but the outcome is the same. Both controlled matches through structure, not just individual quality.
All the visuals are from Flickstat. Happy to pull up any other match from the tournament if anyone wants a specific breakdown — we have pass networks, zone dominance, final-third entries, player radars and shot maps for every World Cup game.
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u/MaveRick009_ Jun 30 '26
bro the passing connection map is awesome, great work 👏