2018 world cup
INTRODUCTION
This page looks at the squads at the 2018 World Cup.
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Charts
1. Average Percentage of Domestically Based Players in Squads by Stage Reached
2. Average PES Ratings of 2018 World Cup Squads
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Data Table
3. 2018 World Cup Squads by Mean Age, Mean Height, Domestic Based Players and Foreign League with Most Players
Teams which reached further in the competition tended to have more domestically based players although the difference isn't great.
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The winning country France had 39.1% of their squad domestically based compared to the average of 28.5% for all teams. The most common foreign league supplying the French squad was the Spanish La Liga with 6 players. The runners up Croatia had only 2 domestic based players, 8.7% of the squad.
All 23 players in the England squad which reached the semi-finals were domestically based. The host nation Russia who reached the quarter finals had the 2nd most domestically based squad with 21 out of 23 players based in Russia. 6 played in the Italian Serie A. 2 countries, Senegal and Sweden, had no domestic based players. Senegal were knocked out in the first round while Sweden reached the quarter finals. Their fellow quarter finalists Brazil had 6 players based in England while only 3 based in Brazil.
The highest rated team is Spain with 85.3 followed by Brazil with 85. The lowest rated team were Panama with 65.8 who were on the end of the biggest defeat in the tournament losing 6-1 to England in the group stage. In brackets is the standard deviation which shows the variation in players ratings within each team. Highest is Costa Rica. This is probably because they have a world class goalkeeper in Kaylor Navas and an otherwise weak squad. Among the top rated squads, only Belgium and Argentina have deviations above 4. The highest rated team, Spain, have a relatively low deviation at 2.5. They have a lot of strength in depth but no player who is considered the best in the world.
3. 2018 World Cup Squads by Mean Age, Mean Height, Domestic Based Players and Foreign League with Most Players
National Team | Mean age | Mean height (cm) | Number of domestic players | Foreign league with most players | PES19 Mean Rating (Standard Deviation) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Argentina | 28.4 | 179.4 | 4 | Italy - 5 | 82.9 (4.1) |
Australia | 26.9 | 181.3 | 3 | England - 7 | 73.2 (2.8) |
Belgium | 27 | 183.8 | 1 | England - 11 | 82.3
(4.2) |
Brazil | 27.8 | 180.4 | 3 | England - 6 | 85 (3.3)
|
Colombia | 27.3 | 180.2 | 3 | Spain - 6 | 79.3
(3.6) |
Costa Rica | 29 | 181.6 | 7 | Spain and USA - 4 | 72.3
(5.6) |
Croatia | 27.5 | 184.9 | 2 | Italy - 6 | 80.2
(4.2) |
Denmark | 26.1 | 185 | 3 | England - 7 | 77.8
(3.5) |
Egypt | 27 | 180.1 | 6 | English - 7 | 74.8
(4.2) |
England | 25.9 | 182.1 | 23 | None | 82.3 (2.4) |
France | 26.4 | 180.5 | 9 | Spain - 6 | 84.4 (2.3) |
Germany | 25.7 | 183.8 | 15 | England - 3 | 84.7 (3.2) |
Iceland | 29 | 185 | 1 | England - 6 | 73.2
(4.2) |
Iran | 26.5 | 183.4 | 9 | Russia and Greece - 3 | 72.6
(3.4) |
Japan | 27.5 | 178.1 | 8 | Germany - 7 | 75.6
(2.8) |
South Korea | 26.5 | 182.2 | 12 | Japan - 5 | 72.5
(3.9) |
Mexico | 27.4 | 179.5 | 9 | Spain, Portugal, USA - 3 | 78
(2.9) |
Morocco | 27.2 | 182.4 | 2 | Spain - 6 | 76.3
(4.3) |
Nigeria | 24.9 | 181.2 | 1 | England and Turkey - 4 | 75.1
(3.4) |
Panama | 29.4 | 181.1 | 3 | USA - 6 | 65.8
(4.5) |
Peru | 27 | 178.3 | 5 | Mexico - 7 | 73.3
(3.3) |
Poland | 28 | 183.1 | 4 | Italy - 7 | 77.7 (4.5) |
Portugal | 27.7 | 180.5 | 6 | England - 4 | 81.7
(3.5) |
Russia | 28.1 | 184.3 | 21 | Spain and Belgium - 1 | 78.7
(2.2) |
Saudi Arabia | 28.7 | 176.2 | 20 | Spain - 3 | 71.5
(3) |
Senegal | 26.4 | 183.7 | 0 | England and France - 7 | 77.2
(4.5) |
Serbia | 27.7 | 185.6 | 3 | England - 5 | 78.2
(3.5) |
Spain | 28 | 179.5 | 18 | England - 4 | 85.3
(2.5) |
Sweden | 27.4 | 185.2 | 0 | England - 5 | 76.5
(2.9) |
Switzerland | 26.6 | 183.5 | 1 | Germany - 10 | 78.2
(2.9) |
Tunisia | 26.8 | 184 | 6 | France - 7 | 74 (2.5) |
Uruguay | 28.7 | 179.8 | 2 | Spain and Italy - 5 | 80.3
(4.3) |