Analysis of top-level soccer from complex networks
The case of the Argentine team at the Qatar 2022 World Championship
Abstract
The objective of this study was to study the level of interactions (effective passes) of the Argentine national football team using the network analysis technique, in the World Championship held in Qatar 2022. To determine the characteristics of the network, the starting point was the number of nodes (players) and edges (connections). Values of network density, centrality (Degree Centrality, Closeness Centrality y Betwenness Centrality) and connection level (Clustering Coefficient, Hub, Athority, Eigenvector Centrality y PageRank), were identified. Additionally, the individual interaction space, both with and without possession of the ball was explored. The results demonstrate that the importance of players is influenced by the metric used to evaluate network characteristics, as well as their position on the field. Players with high connectivity were central defenders and midfielders, while Messi emerged as the most important player when parameters measuring clustering level were applied. The behavior of the Argentine team exhibited consistent, recurrent and unique patterns, although the state of the scoreboard may have been a favorable aspect when observing such behaviors.
Keywords
Complex networks, Soccer, Interactions, Qatar 2022References
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