The aim of this paper was to explore the combined effects of gender, age and match status on the creation of shooting opportunities (SO) during the U17, U20 and senior Soccer FIFA World Cup tournaments. The sample included 1992 team possessions that led to shooting opportunities in 96 matches (48 = men: U17 = 16; U20 = 16; senior = 16; 48 = women: U17 = 16; U20 = 16; senior:16) from the different World Cup tournaments. Multilevel logistic regression models revealed that men`s teams had lower odds of implementing fast attacks (Odds ratio (OR) = 0.519; 95% Confidence interval (CI): 0.382-706; p < .001) than women teams in comparison with combinative attacks. Men`s teams also registered higher odds of completing more passes (p < .001) and implementing a higher passing tempo (p < .001) than women`s teams. As far as the effect of the age, senior (OR = 1.415; 95% CI: 1.010-1.983; p < .05) and U20 teams (OR = 3.158; 95% CI: 2.278-4.377; p < .001) presented higher odds of counterattacking than U17 teams. Finally, drawing (p < .05) and losing teams (p < .001) had lower odds of counterattacking than winning teams. In conclusion, men`s teams had higher odds of presenting a more combinative style of play than women`s teams, as well as senior and U20 teams registered higher odds of counterattacking than U17 teams.
© Copyright 2023 Journal of Human Sport & Exercise. University of Alicante. All rights reserved.