EURO by numbers: the top performers so far
Friday, June 24, 2016
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Which is the 'hardest-working' side at UEFA EURO 2016? The best attackers? The most resilient defenders? EURO2016.com tots up the figures with some unexpected results.
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Who has 'put in the most effort'?
The inverted commas are essential here, since the statistics threw up an answer none of the staff on the EURO2016.com newsdesk expected; we would have predicted that one of the more defensively beleaguered sides would have been the top distance-runners, not the traditionally languid Italy.
Some context: Antonio Conte's team ran just shy of 337km over the course of 270 minutes of football; imagine it as a relay race – that means that over a combined 49.5 hours of football, the Azzurri ran the equivalent distance of Paris to their team base in Grammont, near the Swiss border.
Longest runners (by team)
337,179 metres: Italy
336,377: Ukraine
336,314: Czech Republic
334,159: Germany
330,270: Northern Ireland
329,982: Russia
328,101: Poland
326,452: Slovakia
326,180: England
324,766: Iceland
323,226: Switzerland
321,820: Hungary
321,536: Wales
321,324: Austria
320,492: Spain
319,860: Croatia
318,955: Portugal
318,050: France
316,042: Sweden
312,469: Turkey
311,729: Belgium
309,914: Romania
308,019: Republic of Ireland
286,713: Albania
Longest runners (player)
37,394 metres: Vladimír Darida (Czech Republic)
35,112: Amir Abrashi (Albania)
34,731: Taras Stepanenko (Ukraine)
34,551: Gylfi Sigurdsson (Iceland)
34,433: Jürgen Baumgartlinger (Austria)
34,401: Hamšík (Slovakia)
34,394: Jonas Hector (Germany)
34,311: Pekarík (Slovakia)
34,033: Xhaka (Switzerland)
33,898: De Bruyne (Belgium)
Longest distance run in a single game (player)
12,570 metres: Marco Parolo (Italy)
Who are the most dangerous attacking team at the finals?
Again, not the answer one would have envisaged going into the tournament, but the 'goals for' column does not lie; Hungary and Wales, with six goals each, have been the most effective attacking sides at the finals. With their 37 shots each, that means a goal every 6.17 attempts. Croatia and Spain have had 50 shots each – constituting a goal every ten shots.
Portugal's four goals, meanwhile, have come at a rate of one every 17.25 shots. Northern Ireland, meanwhile, have progressed to the last 16 despite having just 17 shots in the entire championship.
Top-scoring teams
6: Hungary, Wales
5: Croatia, Spain
4: Portugal, France, Iceland, Belgium
Most attempts on goal
69: Portugal
65: England
59: Belgium, Germany
Shots against woodwork
4: France
3: Germany, Croatia
2: Portugal, Romania, Austria, Italy
Making a little go a long way
Four teams have made it to the last 16 by scoring just twice in the group stage: Poland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Switzerland. Northern Ireland, as mentioned above, had only 17 shots – the fewest of any side at the finals – scoring at a rate of a goal every 8.5 shots.
Moreover, Northern Ireland and Iceland (who found the net four times) have had less of the ball than any other country – including the eliminated ones; that means they have had the ball for the equivalent of 30.6 minutes and 31.5 minutes per game respectively.
Thus, Iceland have scored the equivalent of a goal for every 23 minutes and 37.5 seconds they have had possession. Put that into context: Germany have been the possession kings with 66% of the ball in their matches – 59 minutes and 24 seconds per game – and notched three goals: one for every 59 minutes and 24 seconds they have had the ball.
Fewest goals to progress
2: Poland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland
3: England, Germany, Italy, Slovakia
Possession percentage (lowest)
34%: Northern Ireland
35%: Iceland
42%: Albania
Possession percentage (highest)
66%: Germany
61%: Spain, Portugal
58%: Switzerland, England
Who are the most defensive side at the finals?
Much has been made of the qualities of teams like Iceland, who have ceded possession and hit their opponents on the break – but, surprisingly perhaps, it is more conventionally attacking sides who have come out with the best defensive record.
Fewest goals conceded
0: Germany, Poland
1: France, Italy, Switzerland
2: Spain, Belgium, Italy, Northern Ireland
Who are the best passers at the finals?
No surprises here. The Spanish school of 'tiki-taka' football – as adopted by Germany – has given Spain and Germany the greatest efficiency when it comes to moving the ball around, though kudos to Switzerland, who have been as effective distributors as their neighbours from 'The Big Canton'.
Pass completion rate
93%: Spain
91%: Germany
91%: Switzerland
89%: Portugal, England
Do the most stylish sides get a hard ride from opposition defences?
The traditional view might be that the intricate 'tiki-taka' passing teams are the ones that come in for the most severe attention from opponents, yet the statistics at UEFA EURO 2016 do not bear out that view. The reasonably muscular Poland are in fact the most sinned-against side at the finals.
Fouls suffered
46: Poland
45: Turkey
43: Italy, Albania, Portugal
Fouls committed
52: Romania
49: Republic of Ireland
46: Hungary, Ukraine
Who are the best attackers at UEFA EURO 2016 – and the unluckiest?
Goals do not lie, and with three each, Wales's Gareth Bale and Spain's Álvaro Morata have scored more of them than any other player at the finals; one every 87 minutes and 40 seconds for Bale, and one every 73 minutes for Morata.
Bale had the most shots on target of any player in the group stage – 11, meaning a goal every 3.66 accurate shots. Morata's three came from six shots on target – a rather superb one-in-two hit-rate.
Cristiano Ronaldo's reputation has gone before him in a sense; while he registered twice against Hungary, he had 11 efforts blocked by defenders (who have paid him close attention in France), though he also missed the goal more than any other player – 13 shots off, to eight on target.
Thomas Müller, meanwhile, has yet to break his duck at a EURO, but no one can say he has not tried – he is the lone player at the finals to have struck the woodwork twice.
Most attempts on target
11: Gareth Bale (Wales)
Most attempts off target
13: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Most attempts against woodwork (player)
2: Thomas Müller (Germany)
Most attempts blocked (player)
11: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)