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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Identification of Explanatory Variables in Possession of the Ball in High-Performance Women’s Football

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[Abstrac] Women’s football is a phenomenon that is experiencing an unstoppable increase in recent years. The objective of this study was to analyze how ball possessions are performed in highperformance women’s football. For this, the 52 matches played by all the national teams participating in the Women’s World Cup 2015 were analyzed. A total of 3740 ball possessions were examined. Using the “move outcome” variable as a reference criterion, a statistically significant relationship was found between possessions that ended in success and possessions that have failed. Specifically, the successful possessions were those that were made in the offensive zone, with a clear intention to progress towards the rival goal, with a low number of passes, and made in the second half of the matches. The results of the logistic regression showed that the proposed model is statistically significant, with an acceptable explanatory capacity. Finally, the results of the decision tree evidence the success of those possessions aiming at a quick completion, with very few passes and the offensive zone as a priority area for the possession. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of a Spanish government subproject: Mixed method approach on performance analysis (in training and competition) in elite and academy sport (PGC2018-098742-B-C33) (2019–2021) (del Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MCIU), la Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) y el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER)), which is part of the coordinated project: New approach of research in physical activity and sport from mixed methods perspective (NARPAS_MM) (SPGC201800X098742CV0)