Qatar 2022 has been the most data-driven World Cup yet with the sort of numbers and statistics that were once saved only for analysts and football hipsters now embedded in mainstream coverage of the tournament.
One such metric that appears to have got tongues wagging is possession in contest, which has confused plenty of viewers by popping up as part of the TV coverage.
Traditional possession statistics are made up of two percentages, one for each team, which refer to what proportion of the game each side has been in control of the ball for and helps to highlight who has been the more dominant.
A third percentage, possession in contest, has been introduced in TV graphics in the coverage of the 2022 World Cup and has caused quite a stir but you’ve come to the right place to find out what it’s all about.
RadioTimes.com brings you all the details on what possession in contest means in the World Cup TV coverage graphics.
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What is possession in contest?
Put quite simply, the new metric is designed to measure the proportion of the game when neither side is in control of the ball.
There are plenty of match-specific situations when this is the case but the most common are: when two players are competing for the ball in a ground or aerial duel; when a ball is cleared by a defender and has not yet been recovered by either side; or when a pass, cross, or shot has been blocked by a defender or parried by a goalkeeper and the ball is not yet back in control of either side.
According to FIFA chief of global football development and former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, it is designed to provide “fresh insight into how competitive a match has been as well as showing how dominant in possession one team has been over the other”.
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