Football tracking data uncovers rival tactics beyond TV formations before 2026 World Cup

Phys · 🇺🇸 public United States · Jun 09, 2026 · 1106 words · By Christoph Elhardt

Data Science in Sports Academic Research Application Tactical Analysis

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What to know about Data Science in Sports

The article discusses the work of ETH Zurich professor Ulrik Brandes, who uses tracking data and network analysis to uncover tactical patterns in football. It highlights how this data-driven approach assists the Swiss national team and challenges common football myths regarding penalty shootouts and 2-0 leads.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 9

Techniques found 1

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Football tracking data uncovers rival tactics beyond TV formations before 2026 World Cup Lisa Lock Scientific Editor Andrew Zinin Lead Editor From June 11, countless millions of people will be following the football World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.

Why it matters

They will discuss their team's performance, talk like experts about tactics and formations, and cower behind the sofa during penalty shootouts.

Common ground

But a lot of what comes across as gut instinct and long-established football wisdom can now be verified with the help of data.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Data Science in Sports story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that For one particular study, he looked at 100,000 matches from 10 European leagues since 1990?
How does this story connect Data Science in Sports with Academic Research Application over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-06-opponents-swiss-national-team.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 70% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

verified Verified By Reference 3

check_circle Corroborated 3

info Single Source 2

verified Verified 1

verified

Claim 1: “For one particular study, he looked at 100,000 matches from 10 European leagues since 1990.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The evidence provided consists of unrelated books on German football, anthropology, and golf. There is no mention of Ulrik Brandes analyzing 100,000 matches from 10 European leagues since 1990.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. T…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGA_European_Tour

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Odense Boldklub (Danish pronunciation: [ˈoˀðn̩sə ˈpʌlˀtkʰlup]; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city of Odense, in southern Den…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odense_Boldklub

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The European Open is a European Tour golf tournament. Founded in 1978, up to 1994 it was played at various courses in England, including Sunningdale and Walton Heath, except for the 1979 event, which …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Open_(golf)

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “countless millions of people will be following the football World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent news sources (France24, Technology Magazine, EuroNews) and Wikipedia confirm that the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The knockout stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup was the second and final stage of the competition, following the group stage. Played from June 28 to July 19, 2026, the knockout stage ended with the fina…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_knockout_s…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup was the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament began on…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The final match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 23rd edition of FIFA's competition for national soccer teams, was played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, part of the New York metropo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_final

+ 5 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “His research into the world's favorite pastime is even helping the Swiss national team prepare better for its opponents.”

CORROBORATED

Two separate web search results explicitly state that ETH professor Ulrik Brandes is analyzing opponents of the Swiss national team and that the team is using his methods to prepare for the World Cup.

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web search NEUTRAL — In network theory, Brandes' algorithm is an algorithm for calculating the betweenness centrality of vertices in a graph. The algorithm was first published in 2001 by Ulrik Brandes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandes'_algorithm

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web search NEUTRAL — On 11 June, the football World Cup will kick off in Canada, Mexico and the USA. While fans worldwide get excited, ETH professor Ulrik Brandes is analysing the patterns of play and tactics adopted by t…
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/eth-researcher-analyses-oppon…

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web search NEUTRAL — The Swiss national team is using his methods to prepare for the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA, according to the university. The researcher works with tracking data from international tournam…
https://www.bluewin.ch/en/index/an-eth-researcher-analyzes-t…

verified

Claim 4: “Following an analysis of almost 2,000 penalty shootouts, Brandes and his co-authors were unable to confirm this [that teams that go first are at an advantage].”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of generic Microsoft Support pages and unrelated Wikipedia entries (AN, An Education, UK). There is no evidence provided regarding penalty shootout analysis or the statistical advantage of kicking first.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An, AN, aN, or an may refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An Education is a 2009 coming-of-age drama film based on a memoir by journalist Lynn Barber. The film was directed by Lone Scherfig from a screenplay by Nick Hornby, and stars Carey Mulligan as Jenny,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Education

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It compr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “The ETH professor has been working with tracking data from international tournaments for several years.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that Brandes has been working with tracking data from international tournaments for several years.

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web search NEUTRAL — Besides traditional video analysis, this also involves using methods developed by Brandes. The ETH professor has been working with tracking data from international tournaments for several years. These…
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-opponents-swiss-national-team.…

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web search NEUTRAL — Ulrik Brandes's 292 research works with 18,509 citations, including: An Inverse Problem of Social Influence for Spatial Reference Positions in Soccer.
https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Ulrik-…

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web search NEUTRAL — The researcher works with tracking data from international tournaments.Despite all the data analysis, luck and chance remain decisive factors in football, according to Brandes. A deflected ball or a m…
https://www.bluewin.ch/en/index/an-eth-researcher-analyzes-t…

info

Claim 6: “Particularly in the first 20 minutes after a team takes a 2-0 lead, the risk of conceding a goal, reducing the lead to one, increases slightly.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While some evidence discusses the probability of conceding goals in soccer generally, there is no specific evidence provided that confirms the '20-minute window' after a 2-0 lead specifically for Ulrik Brandes' research.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — ank to the other may not immediately lead to a goal but can open. up space to set up a goal chance several actions down the line. Most existing approaches for valuing actions in soccer suer.the probab…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334719246_Actions_S…

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web search NEUTRAL — Draw teams from different World Cups (1950–2026), build your dream XI and simulate. Can your team pull off a 7–0? Free, no sign-up.
https://7a0.com.br/tr/play

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — This change will be positive if the action increased the probability that team x will concede a goal. However, all actions should always aim to decrease the probability of conceding.
https://tomdecroos.github.io/reports/kdd19_tomd.pdf

verified

Claim 7: “Whereas roughly four out of five penalties are scored during normal play, only three out of four are scored during penalty shootouts.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The evidence provided includes generic explanations of penalty shootouts and unrelated Wikipedia entries. No specific statistical data comparing normal play success rates (80%) vs shootout success rates (75%) was found in the provided evidence.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is the definite article in English. The, or THE, may also refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_(disambiguation)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. Under the U.S. Constitution, the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_Unit…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 8: “The analysis found that teams do mostly go on to win after taking a 2-0 lead, but concede a goal more often than after taking a one-goal lead or after an equalizer.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The evidence provided consists entirely of Microsoft Teams product pages and has no relevance to football match analysis or lead-concession statistics.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Working together is easier with Microsoft Teams. Tools and files are always available in one place that's designed to help you connect naturally, stay organized, and bring ideas to life.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-s…

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web search NEUTRAL — Learn how the free version of Teams can help you seamlessly meet and chat with others, share files online, and collaborate with anyone, from anywhere - all in one app.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/free

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — It’s the only app that has communities, events, chats, channels, meetings, storage, tasks, and calendars in one place—so you can easily connect and manage access to information. Get your community,...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.…

verified

Claim 9: “Ulrik Brandes, professor of social networks at ETH Zurich... His most recent study is published in Studies in Computational Intelligence.”

VERIFIED

Wikipedia and web search results confirm Ulrik Brandes is a Professor for Social Networks at ETH Zurich. A web search result specifically mentions 'Studies in Computational Intelligence' in the context of networked agents, which aligns with his field, although the direct link to a specific 'most recent study' is slightly less explicit than the title/position confirmation.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Gallium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Discovered by the French chemist Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in Paris, France, 1875, elemental gallium is a soft, silvery meta…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallium

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ulrik Brandes is a German computer scientist, social scientist, and network scientist known for his work on centrality, cluster analysis, and graph drawing. He is Professor for Social Networks at ETH …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulrik_Brandes

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Ulrik Brandes is a German computer scientist, social scientist, and network scientist known for his work on centrality, cluster analysis, and graph drawing. He is Professor for Social Networks at ETH …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulrik_Brandes

+ 2 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.