The World Cup stats one needs to know before the quarterfinals of the Qatar World Cup include Lionel Messi’s ball-carrying distance and Achraf Makimi’s most tackles.
While the world is waiting for the quarterfinal results, the 56 matches of the World Cup have seen players from 32 teams compete in the group stages and 16 teams give their best in the round of 16. The interesting data, as compiled by the data company OptaJoe, can be found here.
Who has the longest ball-carrying distance? Argentina captain Lionel Messi has scored nine goals in World Cup history, trailing only Gabriel Batistuta, who has scored ten goals.
However, Messi scored his first World Cup goal in the round of 16 against Australia, scoring in the 2-1 win. OptaJoe says that Messi’s total ball-carrying distance at the World Cup, excluding center backs, was 1187 meters. With a distance of 972 meters, Spanish midfielder Pedri is in second place, followed by American Christian Pulisic, who is in third place with a distance of 965 meters.
Moroccan Achraf Hakimi, who is 24 years old, is leading the World Cup in terms of the number of tackles he has made, with 13. The 24-year-old scored the game-winning third penalty against Spain to ensure the team’s 3-0 penalty shootout victory over the 2010 world champions.
With a total of 13 tackles, Makimi’s teammate and right back is in second place. With 13 tackles, French center-back Ibrahima Konate ranks second in the World Cup, and the Hugo Lloris-led team expects him to continue his good form in the quarterfinal matchup against England at the Al Bayt Stadium.
Who has the most goal-ending sequences? While Kylan Mbappe, a forward for France, currently holds the record for most World Cup goals scored, the 23-year-old also has the most sequences with eight.
With five sequences of goalkeeping, England left-back Luke Shaw and Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong rank second and third, respectively. Both France and England would want their leading goal-ending sequence creators to perform at their best on Saturday’s matchup.
Kylian Mbappe has beaten an opponent player 13 times when he has possession of the ball, while German forward Jamal Musiala leads the World Cup in take-on with 19 take-on. Alphonso Davies of Canada, whose team dropped out of the tournament early, is in third place with 11 take-on.
Who has made the most successful long passes? In spite of the fact that this World Cup has resulted in a total of 148 goals, 28 of which have come in the round of 16 matches, football fans all over the world have also been impressed by the successful long passes that have been made in Qatar.
John Stones, an England center-back, has the most successful long passes of any player in the tournament with 27. With 26 successful long passes between them, teammate Rodri and the young Spanish player Pedri is tied for second place.