How are successful teams converting corners into shots and goals? Game Insights Analyst Luke Saunders explores the effectiveness of corners and how they can be replicated in practice sessions using data collected by FIFA from the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
"Corners are an important part of developing a high performing team as they could be the difference between winning and losing."
Stuart Delaney - FA Youth Coach Developer & Assistant U15 National Coach
Finalists are more effective at attacking and defending corners
Corners are a controlled moment during a match which happen often – the Women’s World Cup averaged 10 corners per match with one in 23 corners seeing a goal scored – an increase from the 2019 World Cup where one in 30 corners led to a goal. The percentage of corners which created a shot (during any phase of the corner) increased depending on the team’s exit stage: nations knocked out during the group stage created a shot from 30% of their corners, whereas the four nations which made it to the semi-finals converted 41% of their corners into shots. England and Spain also showed their defensive quality on set plays as neither team conceded a goal from corners.
This video highlights corner delivery zones and how various England teams attack and defend. Note that some clips show multiple phases of the set play (corner delivery is cleared but attacking team continue to have possession around the 18-yard box)
Where should we deliver our corners?
A couple of popular tactics include flooding the 6-yard box with attacking players and attacking the front post with clever movement and extra attackers. At the World Cup, top corner scorers, Sweden, bagged four goals from within the 6-yard box after delivering 93% of their corners directly to this dangerous area. Interestingly, all of Sweden’s corners were inswinging and this tactic was highly effective for them as one in five of their corners led to a shot - double the tournament average.
The 6-yard box accounted for one-third of all attacking 1st contacts from corners across the tournament, but when corners were delivered to deeper zones, the delivery was more likely to be converted into a shot. More than half of the corners delivered to the ‘Front Deep’ zone led to a shot during the corner phase and this was closely matched by the ‘Middle Deep’ zone.
Which technique should we use?
516 of the 602 corners were delivered directly in to the 18-yard box with varied techniques: inswinging, outswinging, lofted and driven. Nearly half of all these corners were inswinging (49%) but it was outswinging corners (15%) which were more effective at achieving attacking 1st contact on the delivery (59%) and creating shots at goal (54% during the first phase of the corner).
How can we practise corners?
"At the right age and stage these should be integrated within practices so that the players have opportunities at delivering with the right quality, and to develop the timing of run needed to make first contact in the area which may get you most impact, whilst encouraging skilful players to come alive when the ball goes dead."
Stuart Delaney, FA Youth Coach Developer & Assistant Under 15 National Coach
When creating practice designs, it is important to consider when we can make them as game realistic as possible. When attacking corners, there is usually movement from players according to their attacking strategies. Attacking the front post was a successful tactic at the 2023 World – teams were twice as likely to get a shot at goal when one player was in the front post zone than when there were no players and four times more likely to score a goal when three players were in the front post zone than when there were zero players (at the time of attacking 1st contact). When coaching corners, consider the benefits of attacking and defending scenarios where players are making dynamic movements in the 18-yard box, especially towards the front post zones.
Coaching corners: discussion with Tom Curtis, Ben Futcher and Stuart Delaney
Coaching considerations
Which of our players is most likely to get the 1st attacking contact of a corner? Defenders account for 74% of the total number of attacking 1st contacts from the top 10 ranked players for attacking 1st contacts across the World Cup (midfielders 12% and attackers 14%). Is this being reflected when we consider the design of training practises? Are defenders given the opportunity to be involved in attacking corner routines?
Are we using observation skills during matches to influence our tactics and strategies? Can we exploit spaces when attacking corners or send a certain profile of player to make 1st contact on the ball and then get a shot away from a different zone? Are we defending the right spaces based on our opposition and appropriately reacting in-game to any changes they may make?
Further reading
Want more information on how to develop game-realistic training sessions? Check out some of our other work:
Using insight to inform realistic practice design