October 2: If there was a lesson from the 2026 World Cup, FIFA’s technical department believes it came in the few seconds after a team lost the ball.
FIFA has released its full technical report after the tournament, covering all 104 matches of the expanded 48-team competition. Counter-pressing was singled out as the clearest tactical trend to emerge from the six weeks in North America.
The Spanish champions were the obvious case study, with FIFA pointing to Luis de la Fuente’s form in possession as the key to their success, even with star Lamine Yamal having a relatively quiet tournament by their already Everest-level standards.
FIFA performance data found that winning teams regained possession four seconds faster on average than losing teams during the group stage.
That’s not to say that everyone suddenly played like Spain, who were a level above even the best teams in the tournament. FIFA’s nine tactical studies also differentiated between low and mid block defence, attacking transitions, back three formation, wide rotations and the use of inside channels.
Cape Verde, one of the surprise packages of the tournament, presented themselves as proof that a compact defensive structure and good transition play could still hurt technically superior opposition, such as then-world champions Argentina, who were pushed to the limit by Cape Verde before escaping 3-2 in extra time.
The role of the goalkeeper has also changed quite a bit. FIFA found that teams used their goalkeeper as another formation player, sometimes deliberately asking a central defender to take the goal kick so that the goalkeeper could receive the ball afterwards with a better view of the opposing press.
During the group stage, only 52% of shots on goal were taken by goalkeepers, compared to 91% at the 2022 World Cup. Japan’s Zion Suzuki, Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois and England’s Jordan Pickford were some of the standouts for using a longer spread to avoid pressure altogether.
It’s quite a change for a position that, not so long ago, was still judged solely on keeping the ball out of the net.
The report was compiled by FIFA’s Technical Study Group and the Football Performance Information Department, combining tracking and event data with video analysis and the observations of a panel including Jürgen Klinsmann, Gilberto Silva, Pablo Zabaleta, Tobin Heath and Michael O’Neill.
FIFA’s Head of Global Football Development, Arsène Wenger, said: “The FIFA World Cup represents the highest level of our game, and is a unique moment when the best players, coaches and footballing cultures from around the world come together, each bringing their own ideas, identities and ways of playing.
“For those responsible for understanding and developing football, it provides an extraordinary opportunity to observe the game, to learn from it and to think about where it can go forward.”
Wenger added: “During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, our Technical Study Group and FIFA’s Football Performance Information Unit observed every match in detail, combining the experience and intuition of football experts with technical analysis and data to build a deeper understanding of what was happening on the pitch.
“The aim is not simply to describe what happened, but to understand why it happened: how teams created and controlled space, how they attacked and defended, how individual roles evolved and how the decisions of players and coaches influenced different moments of the match.”
There is a lot of data to work with. The tournament produced 308 goals in its 104 matches, an average of 2.96 per game.
“At the highest level, football is constantly evolving,” Wenger said. “New ideas emerge, existing principles are adapted and the solutions developed by a team can influence the game far beyond a single tournament. It is therefore our responsibility to identify these developments, understand their significance and share this knowledge with the global football community.”
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at (email protected)