An image of DR Congo’s tactics against Portugal DR Congo set up in a 5-3-2 in a bid to frustrate Portugal
“The biggest challenge faced by all the major nations was how to break down organised defences. A glance at the goals-per-game numbers suggests that solutions were found, with 2.98 higher than the 2.5 average from the 2022 and 2018 group stages. However, big wins skew that: Germany battered debutants Curacao 7-1, there were 5-1 wins for Sweden and the Netherlands, while Portugal and Senegal put five past Uzbekistan and Iraq. There were many well-executed defensive game plans. Take Cape Verde, who became the first team since Chile in 1998 to qualify for the knockouts with three draws. They used a 4-5-1 block to hold Spain to a 0-0 draw, had a goalless match with Saudi Arabia, and took a point off Uruguay in a 2-2 thriller — they averaged 36.7 per cent possession. Their system forced Uruguay to go long, as shown below. …”
NYT/ATH