Analysis of the effectiveness of corner kicks in the Brazilian Football Championship 2023

Purpose The aim of the present study was to identify and examine the effectiveness of the most frequent execution patterns of corner kick strategies used in the First Division of the Brazilian Football Championship during the 2023 season. Methods 3,372 corner kicks from 380 matches of the 2023 Brazilian Championship were analysed. All sampled matches were obtained from the WyScout database. Dependent variables comprised an observational instrument developed exclusively for the current study, measuring the type of kicking, presence of players in the penalty box, strategy of kicking, and corner kick outcomes. The chi-square test of association was applied to assess the association between the outcome (success of the corner kick) and the dependent variables. Results Significant associations were found between the outcome of indirect corner kicks and the finishing zone (<i>p</i> = 0.001), outcomes and the inswinging kick type (<i>p</i> = 0.015), the presence of two attackers supporting a short corner kick (<i>p</i> = 0.018), the presence of eight or fewer defenders in the penalty area (<i>p</i> = 0.041), moving defenders out of the area to counter a short corner (<i>p</i> = 0.021), and individual or mixed marking types (<i>p</i> = 0.039). No significant associations were found for the remaining variables. Conclusions The results suggest that indirect corner kicks, inswinging kick types, two attackers supporting short corners, eight or fewer defenders in the penalty area, moving defenders out of the area to counter short corners, and individual or mixed marking types are associated with the effectiveness of corner kick execution in the Brazilian Football Championship.