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2014 World Cup: Teams that relied the most on one player to create chances

Neymar was crucial for Brazil to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, but how much will he really be missed?

How important is one player in a team game like football? How important are such players in big tournaments like World Cups?

In a study conducted by The New York Times, it was found that most of the nations who made the knockout stages depended solely on one player.

It was found that of the teams that relied on a single player to be involved in at least one of four of his team’s chances, eight of them qualified from the group stages and five teams even reached the quarter-final.

Teams that buck the trend, however, are Brazil and Germany – who will go head to head in the semi-final. Neymar, Oscar and Hulk were instrumental for Brazil while Muller, Ozil and Kroos helped Germany get this far.

Argentina and Netherlands – the other semi-final clash – relied heavily on Arjen Robben and Lionel Messi respectively. 

Of all the 32 teams, the team that relied the most on one player was Iran (Ashkan Dejagah – 35%).

HOW MUCH TEAMS HAVE RELIED ON ONE PLAYER

ROUND REACHED

COUNTRY PLAYER

PLAYER INVOLVEMENT

SEMI FINALS Brazil Neymar Jr. 23%
Germany Thomas Muller 21%
Argentina Lionel Messi 25%
Netherlands Arjen Robben 27%
QUARTER FINALS Colombia James Rodriguez 30%
Costa Rica Christian Bolaños 28%
France Karim Benzema 27%
Belgium Kevin De Bruyne 17%
ROUND OF 16 Mexico Hector Herrera 23%
Chile Alexis Sanchez 27%
Greece Georgios Samaras 19%
Uruguay Edinson Cavani 16%
Switzerland Xherdan Shaqiri 31%
Nigeria Emmanuel Emenike 22%
USA Clint Dempsey 30%
Algeria Sofiane Feghouli 18%
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