Womens football is gaining supporters and practitioners worldwide, raising questions about what the differences are with mens football. While the two sports are often compared based on the players physical attributes, we analyze the spatio-temporal events during matches in the last World Cups to compare male and female teams based on their technical performance. We train an artificial intelligence model to recognize if a team is male or female based on variables that describe a matchs playing intensity, accuracy, and performance quality. Our model accurately distinguishes between mens and womens football, revealing crucial technical differences, which we investigate through the extraction of explanations from the classifiers decisions. The differences between mens and womens football are rooted in play accuracy, the recovery time of ball possession, and the players performance quality. Our methodology may help journalists and fans understand what makes womens football a distinct sport and coaches design tactics tailored to female teams.
Download