2026 оны Дэлхийн аварга: Довтолгооны шинэ тактик буюу “хоосон зайг ашиглах” нь

Heading into its quarter-finals, the 2026 World Cup had seen more than 90,000 passes, with close to 1,800 of those leading to chances on goal, and 2,367 shots, 280 of which found the back of the net.

These are some of football’s most quantifiable actions, simple to both track and evaluate their effectiveness because they involve the most important piece of equipment in the sport. The ball.

Naturally, players who move the ball closer to goal or are involved in possession sequences that end up in opportunities to score can be seen as impacting the game, the value of their actions derived from tangible outcomes.

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But football is not a static sport. And as players move, they interact; swapping positions, creating spaces for others and dragging opponents into other areas of the pitch.

So what about decisions and movements withoutthe ball, those that indirectly affect possession plays by creating that extra second of time and space for team-mates?

Developments in the quality and the availability of tracking data mean that some of football’s key off-ball movements are well-integrated into public analysis. But there is still ground to break when it comes to evaluating the secondary effects of off-ball runs on a wider scale: which ones are the most quietly effective, and who performs them best?

Using in-house data, FIFA’s Football Performance Insights team have noticed a trend.

Compared to previous World Cups, they have spotted that possessions including an off-ball run which targets the inside channels and the space in behind the opposition defence are leading to successful actions more frequently. In other words, attacking the gap between the widest defender and the centre-back nearest to them with a forward run is increasingly valuable.

Compared to the previous World Cup four years ago, possession sequences that include such a movement in the 2026 tournament are leading to around 2.7 shots on goal per 30 minutes of ball-in-play time — an increase of around 34 per cent.

Those runs are effective because they cause tension in the opponents’ defence. Most often, that full-back will have their eye on a winger, while the centre-back on that side will be tracking the striker.

A run from deep through that gap means one or the other has to leave their current player to follow it — and in the time it takes for the defenders to decide which of them should do that, the attacking player, with their forward momentum, has already stolen a march.

Here is an example from the round of 32, as England seek to break down a compact DR Congo defence, who are sitting a little deeper to try to get to extra time.

As Elliot Anderson carries the ball forward, Jude Bellingham makes his move to get in-behind the DR Congo midfield. Opposing right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka is focused on winger Anthony Gordon, while centre-back Chancel Mbemba is sticking to striker Harry Kane.

Keep an eye on Wan-Bissaka, who points to the run but can’t pick it up, forcing Mbemba to follow the ball out wide, battling with Bellingham until he eventually gets his shot away.

Though this run is rewarded with a through ball and eventual shot on goal, its secondary impact is to drag a central defender out of position. That frees up space in the middle of the penalty area for Kane, who has more time to set himself and pick out a shot when he receives the pass as a result. He scores the winner, and England go through.

“A lot of people underrate the value of the run, as they are not always found,” says FIFA Technical Study group member, former Denmark striker and Sweden head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson, “but someone with Bellingham’s capacity to attack the space is so important to generate chances for his team-mates, even without directly passing them the ball.”

The inside-channel run is an effective way to bring heavily-marked centre-forwards into the game.

Below is another example, this time on the opposite side of the pitch, as Weston McKennie makes the darting run for the United States in the group game against Paraguay.

Before the ball is played, McKennie looks left and right. Seeing Sergino Dest out wide and Folarin Balogun double-marked in the middle, he knows he can attack the space.

Once again, his run attracts a central defender towards him. It means Balogun is suddenly in a one-v-one and able to get a shot away, despite being well marked just moments before.

“It is not easy to create chances against low blocks, so you need these runs to create space,” says former Ghana manager Otto Addo, also a member of FIFA’s technical study group. “Sometimes it doesn’t show because it’s not an assist, but you bring opponents into a situation where they have to choose.

“Either you follow the run and create space for others, or you stay and let them go. As a defender, you die or you die.”

Not all inside-channel runs need to lead directly to a shot or a chance-creating pass to have an impact.

Here, in Switzerland’s group game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Johan Manzambi’s first movement drags a defender out of the back-five shape, before he targets the inside channel with an aggressive forward run. He eventually receives inside the penalty area, cutting a pass back for striker Breel Embolo. The ball eventually makes its way to the far post, where Ruben Vargas scores.

Starting deep, taking defenders away and then exploiting the space disrupts the opponents’ back line and gives forward players more room to receive the ball.

It isn’t always possible to penetrate defensive shapes with these runs, particularly when teams drop deeper to try to deny any space in behind. But FIFA’s research suggests that having players with the athleticism and vision to target those gaps when they open up generally leads to more goalscoring opportunities.

Across the 48-teams at this World Cup, FIFA have found that possession sequences that contain an inside-channel run in behind produce over double the expected goals (xG) per sequence, and a shot 13.3 per cent of the time, compared to around 5.9 per cent without.

Essentially, having players to make those runs means that a team is more than twice as likely to see a shot.

So, who are the players making those valuable movements most often?

The visualisation below illustrates the leading players for inside channel runs in-behind so far at this World Cup, and whether those runs led to a chance shortly after.

Many are forwards, mostly wide players aside from the aforementioned McKennie, but interestingly it is Balogun who tops the list with multiple runs into either channel. Despite that, he is the only player in the top eight whose runs didn’t directly generate a goalscoring opportunity, even if they did open up space for team-mates to attack.

It is no coincidence that all eight players below are heavily involved when it comes to shots and chances created for their teams.

Given the sheer amount of activity on a football pitch across 90 minutes, movements away from the ball can be easy to miss.

But look out for the inside-channel run, as it is sure to quietly play a part in an important goal or two between now and the end of the summer.