World Cup: Group C analysis

Colombia

Strengths: Colombia made good use of free kicks in qualifying and conceded barely any goals from set pieces themselves. They preferred to attack teams through the middle, with only four of their fellow finalists creating a larger share of goals from central positions.

Weaknesses: They seemed to lack an aerial threat however, being one of just three sides not to create any goals from corners in qualifying and scoring just once from the air. Colombia were also the most vulnerable South American side to long range shots, with roughly one goal in four conceded from distance. Defending a lead sometimes proved difficult, with only seven finalists ending up with a smaller share of points after going ahead.

Prospects: Both Greece and the Ivory Coast look capable of causing Colombia problems in the group stage, having been successful at coming from behind in matches. Greece and Japan were much more permissive down the wings than in the centre during qualifying, which might necessitate a tactical rethink, although the Greeks’ susceptibility to free kicks could prove useful.

Greece

Strengths: Greece’s defence can take the most credit for getting them to Brazil, having kept clean sheets more regularly than everyone except Switzerland. Only four of the finalists conceded less frequently; they were one of only four teams not to concede from outside their penalty area and one of only three not to concede from a corner.

Weaknesses: However they weren’t as strong going forward, with only three qualifying teams scoring at a lower rate and they created very few goals from set pieces. Their impressive defence looked the most vulnerable when dealing with high free kicks, with half of the goals they conceded being headed in from these situations.

Prospects: While seeds Colombia made good use of free kicks in qualifying they rarely chose to head the ball, so Greece’s well-marshalled back line could well keep them at bay. Japan look more likely to provide an aerial threat, with nearly a third of their goals arriving from headers, while the Ivory Coast’s high-tempo start to matches will also test the fluency of the Greek defence.

Ivory Coast

Strengths: The Ivorians qualified strongly, scoring in every game and netting the largest proportion of early goals: over a quarter of their strikes arrived in the opening 15 minutes of matches. Their threat hardly diminishes as the game goes on, being one of seven qualifying sides to recover more than half of available points from losing positions.

Weaknesses: Defensively however, they’ve tended to end games less gloriously, with nearly half of the goals conceded in qualifying coming in the final quarter of an hour of games. They tended not to make much use of the wings going forward, which could allow more experienced defences to corral them.

Prospects: Their ability to come from behind could prove invaluable against Colombia, who have struggled to preserve leads in qualifying. Greece may prove tougher to break down given the lack of early goals they’ve conceded, while Japan’s preference for moving the ball out wide should create an interesting tactical match-up.

Japan

Strengths: Japan’s main threat in qualifying was from the air: the 30% of goals they scored from headers was the 7th highest proportion of the 32 finalists. Many of their aerial deliveries arrived from the wings which they used to great effect in creating one of the highest percentages of close range goals.

Weaknesses: Goalscoring more generally was somewhat of a problem, with only 36% of their matches seeing them score more than once, the fourth lowest of the 32 finalists. Scoring late in matches also proved difficult. At the back they were vulnerable to attack from the wings and struggled to keep teams out of their six yard box.

Prospects: This group is a challenging one for Japan and they’ll have to make the most of their chances. Greece have occasionally looked vulnerable from the air, so their header-based strategy could well pay off. The wings haven’t yielded many goals against either Greece or the Ivory Coast though, so delivering sufficient ammunition may prove problematic.