Football Match Stats Explained
Written by James Whitfield, UEFA B License
If you've ever looked at a match report showing '61.8% possession', '78.7% passing accuracy', '88.9% aerial duel success' and wondered what those numbers actually tell you — this page breaks down every stat you'll find in a modern football match report and what good, average, and poor looks like for each.
Match statistics from WhoScored, Sofascore, FotMob, Opta and StatsBomb all use the same core metrics, but almost none of them explain what a number actually means in context. A percentage without a benchmark is just a number. Below is the benchmark for each of the stats you will see.
Possession %
Possession measures the share of the match a team had controlled possession of the ball. Most providers calculate it from time in possession; a few calculate it from share of total passes played. The two methods produce slightly different figures for the same match, which is why one site may show 61.8% and another 60.4%.
What 61.8% possession means: the team controlled the ball for roughly six minutes out of every ten. That is dominant — but dominance is not a result. Teams with 60%+ possession lose matches regularly when the opposition sits deep and counters.
For context: Guardiola's Barcelona averaged 65%+ in the peak tiki-taka era. Most modern league champions average 55–60%. A team below 45% is usually defending, either by design or by force.
What possession does not tell you: the quality or the location of that possession. Twenty sideways passes between centre-backs count the same as twenty passes inside the final third.
Passing Accuracy %
Passing accuracy is successful passes divided by attempted passes. A pass is successful when it reaches a teammate.
What 78.7% means: above average for most leagues but well short of elite possession sides. Roughly one pass in five did not find a teammate.
Playing style drives this number more than technical quality does. Short passing into feet is far easier to complete than long diagonals and balls in behind, so a direct team can be excellent and still sit at 72%.
| Passing accuracy | Reading |
|---|---|
| 88%+ | Elite possession side, short-passing structure |
| 83–87% | Strong — typical top-four league team |
| 76–82% | Average to above average |
| 70–75% | Direct style, or a team under sustained pressure |
| Below 70% | Long-ball approach or a poor technical performance |
Aerial Duel Success %
Aerial duel success is aerial duels won divided by aerial duels contested. Only contested challenges count — an unopposed header is not a duel.
What 88.9% means: aerial dominance. Top-tier aerial specialists in elite matches typically post 65–75% across a season, so 88.9% in a single match is well above elite level.
Sample size is the catch. A player who wins 8 of 9 aerial duels posts exactly 88.9% — that is not the same achievement as 89% sustained across 38 matches and several hundred duels. Match-level aerial percentages are far more volatile than season averages, because a handful of duels can swing the figure by 10–20 percentage points.
Opposition style matters too. A team playing against a direct, long-ball side contests far more aerial duels, which makes the percentage more stable but also harder to keep high.
For the full breakdown, see aerial duels in football and what aerial duels mean in match stats.
Tackle Success %
Tackle success is tackles won divided by tackles attempted. A won tackle dispossesses the opponent or moves the ball to a teammate.
60% tackle success is around average — three tackles won in five. 76.5% is strong, and typically indicates a defender picking their moments rather than diving in.
Read attempts alongside the percentage. Twelve attempts at 50% means an aggressive presser who concedes fouls and gets bypassed; four attempts at 75% means a defender who engages only when the tackle is on. Neither is automatically better — it depends on the defensive scheme.
Ground contests appear separately as ground duels. See ground duels explained.
Shots, Shots on Target and xG
- Shots: every attempt at goal, including blocked and off-target efforts. 12–15 is a normal attacking output.
- Shots on target: attempts that would enter the goal without a save or block. Roughly a third of shots hit the target at professional level.
- xG (expected goals): the historical scoring probability of the chances created, summed. An xG of 1.8 means the chances a team created would, on average, produce roughly 1.8 goals. 2.0+ is a strong attacking performance; below 0.7 means the team created almost nothing.
How to read a full match stats report
Take a real-looking profile: 61.8% possession, 78.7% passing accuracy, 88.9% aerial duel success, 60% tackle success.
Read together, this describes a team that controlled the ball without being a short-passing machine — 61.8% possession with 78.7% accuracy suggests they mixed direct balls into their build-up rather than circulating patiently. The 88.9% aerial success says those direct balls were being won, so the long game was deliberate and effective. 60% tackle success is unremarkable, which fits a team that spent most of the match with the ball and therefore defended in short bursts.
The single-line summary: a dominant, physically front-footed performance built on winning second phases rather than passing an opponent to death.
Why the same stats mean different things in different matches
Context changes the meaning of every number. 88.9% aerial duel success in a Champions League final against a top centre-forward is elite; the same figure against a team that never puts the ball in the air is nine duels of noise.
Three rules for reading any match stat:
- Check the denominator. A percentage from 9 events is a headline, not evidence.
- Check the opponent. Stats are relational — passing accuracy falls against aggressive pressing sides; aerial volume rises against direct teams.
- Prefer season averages. Single-match figures swing wildly. Season data is where a player's real level shows up.
Related reading: duels in football explained and the greatest headers in football history.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does aerial duel success rate mean in football?
Aerial duel success rate is the share of contested headers or high-ball challenges a player or team wins, calculated as aerial duels won divided by total aerial duels contested. A player who wins 8 of 9 aerial duels posts 88.9%.
What is a good passing accuracy in football?
Elite possession teams typically complete 85–90% of passes. 78.7% is above average for most leagues, and direct, long-ball styles often sit between 70% and 75% without it indicating poor play.
What does 61.8% possession mean in a football match?
It means the team had the ball for just under two-thirds of playing time. That is dominant territory and control, but possession alone does not predict the result — plenty of teams win with 35% possession by defending well and counter-attacking.
How is aerial duel success calculated?
Aerial duels won divided by aerial duels contested, expressed as a percentage. Providers such as Opta, StatsBomb, WhoScored, Sofascore and FotMob only count contested aerial challenges, not uncontested headers.
What stats appear in a football match report?
Standard match reports show possession %, shots, shots on target, expected goals (xG), passing accuracy %, aerial duel success %, ground duel success %, tackle success %, interceptions, fouls, corners and offsides.
What does 88.9% aerial duels won mean?
It means the player or team won 88.9% of the aerial challenges they contested in that match — for example 8 wins from 9 duels. In a single match that is elite dominance, but the small sample makes it far less meaningful than a season average of 65–75%.