Two-and-a-half months after the big event, the FIFA Technical Report is now available with comprehensive statistics on the 2002 FIFA World Cup™. It was compiled by the Technical Study Group of FIFA, comprising experienced experts who analysed each one of the 64 matches and each of the 32 teams meticulously.

The 286-page report takes account of three main areas:

• a general analysis of the tournament from the point of view of organisation and specialised fields such as medical, refereeing, stadia, media and commercial partners;

• a technical and tactical analysis of the results in each confederation, details on the systems of play, goalkeepers’ performances, the final itself, and official FIFA awards;

• the third and largest part, covering 170 pages, includes exhaustive statistics and facts and analyses of the 32 finalist teams. Although the 2002 FIFA World Cup™ brought no revolutionary innovations to light in terms of technique or tactics, some significant facts highlighted in the overall analysis are still worth noting:

• 20% of the goals were scored from rapid counter-attacks

• one-fifth of the 161 goals were scored after solo runs

• 30% of the goals were netted from set pieces

• tactical flexibility was the decisive factor in several games

• emphasis on team work in attack and defence, a prerequisite for which is technical flair

• combination play and pressing.

FIFA publishes a technical report after every competition. The following distinguished experts were all involved in producing the analysis of the 2002 FIFA World Cup":

Joseph Venglos (Slovakia), Abedi Pele (Ghana), Carlos Alberto Parreira (Brazil), Frank Farina (Australia), Lim Kim Chon (Malaysia), Francisco Maturana (Columbia), Holger Osieck (Germany), Ivica Osim (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Alvin Corneal (USA), Anghel Iordanescu (Romania) und Andy Roxburgh (Scotland). FIFA sends copies of the report to each of the 204 national associations as well as to the confederations, panel members and the media.