Özet:

The objective of the present study was to describe and correlate the variables total distance, maximum running speed and the number of sprints considering the situation of victory, draw and defeat. 64 games of the FIFA World Cup 2018 were analyzed, whose data are available on the official event website. Players covered 104.8 km, reaching speeds of 32 km/h and repeating the number of sprints for 333 times during a match. A statistical difference was observed in the total distance covered, with superiority during a draw situation compared to the situations of victory and defeat. No other statistical differences were identified. Correlations classified as ‘large’ and ‘very large’ were observed between total distance and number of sprints in a win situation (rs=0.512, p<0.001, [large]), draw (rs=0.455, p=0.001, [moderate]) and defeat (rs=0.730, p<0.001, [very large]). The correlations between total distance covered/maximum speed reached and maximum speed reached/number of sprints had the correlations classified as 'trivial' and 'small'. During the final match of the FIFA World Cup 2018, it was observed that the national team of France and Croatia reduced the total distance covered in relation to the general data of the competition, however, the maximum speed reached, and the number of sprints increased for the national team of France and declined from Croatia's team. Based on the data from this study, it can be indicated that soccer players need to develop their endurance and their ability to perform repeated sprints throughout the game and competition.

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