Germany’s worrying stats: Now that the World Cup is over, it’s time to take stock. A dive into the statistics yields some remarkable conclusions. The figures are especially harsh for Germany.
The team of national coach Hansi Flick was one of the favorites for the overall victory in advance. Germany started the tournament well with an impressive first half against Japan, but then the 2014 world champion gave it away completely.
The 2-1 defeat ultimately proved fatal: the 1-1 draw against Spain and 4-2 victory over Costa Rica were not enough for a place in the knockout phase. That World Cup drama, the second elimination in the group stage in a row, hit Germany hard. The figures underline how special it really was that Flick’s team stranded so early.
Contest | xG | xG against |
Germany – Japan 1-2 | 3.09 | 1.46 |
Germany – Spain 1-1 | 1.29 | 0.62 |
Germany – Costa Rica 4-2 | 6.06 | 1.11 |
In the group stage, Germany created by far the most chances of all 32 countries in Qatar. Even if we make a score of the number of expected goals in the entire tournament, Germany is still in the top four. Countries such as Croatia and Morocco, who played four games more, had less good chances together.
Germany, however, fell very short in the completion. No other country performed so badly compared to the expected number of goals. Brazil and Belgium came closest in that regard. On the other hand, the Netherlands proved to be the most effective by scoring ten times from a small number of opportunities.
Most effective countries
Country | xG | goals | Difference |
1. Netherlands | 4.61 | 10 | 5.39 |
2. England | 8.77 | 13 | 4.23 |
3. Portugal | 7.83 | 12 | 4.17 |
– | – | – | |
30. Belgium | 4.81 | 1 | -3.81 |
31. Brazil | 12.08 | 8 | -4.08 |
32. Germany | 10.44 | 6 | -4.44 |
Jamal Musiala’s achievements were symbolic for the Germans. He made twelve attempts on goal, good for 1.92 expected goals, but was unable to score. He did impress with his individual actions. Of all players at the World Cup, only Kylian Mbappé (25) dribbled past more players than Musiala (19). Lionel Messi, who has played four more matches, is the number three in that standings with fifteen successful dribbles.
Player | Dueling | Successful dribbles |
1. Kylian Mbappe | 7 | 25 |
2. Jamal Musiala | 3 | 19 |
3.Lionel Messi | 7 | 15 |
4. Sofiane Boufal | 7 | 14 |
5. Angel di Maria | 5 | 13 |