FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 Tactical Analysis: Jamaica vs Italy

Jamaica came into the match following a 3-0 defeat to Brazil in their opening game while Italy were looking to build on an impressive comeback against Australia in their opener. Jamaica, appearing in just their second World Cup game, were aiming to cause an upset and adapted their tactical plans accordingly. Instead of their usual 4-2-3-1 formation, they changed to counteract Italy’s 4-4-2.

As the favourites for this match, Italy were more proactive than in their opening match where they had just 37% of the ball. Against Jamaica, they were the aggressor as they took control of the game through a combination of intelligent positioning defensively and offensively. Victory for Italy would ensure they qualified for the last 16 of the tournament.

In this tactical analysis, we analyse how Italy overcame Jamaica to secure a 5-0 victory and therefore advanced to the last 16 of the World Cup.

Formations

Jamaica lined up in a 4-4-2 formation which played into Italy’s hands as they operated in a 4-4-1-1 formation, which morphed into a 4-2-3-1 in attacking moments. This created a numerical advantage for Italy in central areas, and as a result, Jamaica struggled throughout the match to progress centrally.

Italy were very compact horizontally, as they looked to win the ball in the Jamaican half of the pitch. Their shape created a 3v2 in central midfield which prevented Jamaica from being able to pass into their midfielders. Due to the narrow positioning of the midfield, they had access to the Jamaican back four to apply pressure. This was made easier by Jamaica’s inability to play longer switches of play out to the ball far fullback; instead, the ball was passed across the back four, which allowed Italy to shift across the pitch and still apply pressure. One of the wide players would often step forward into the forward line to create a front three, therefore enabling them to apply pressure on the ball.

Passive Jamaica

Jamaica allowed Italy to build the ball from defence instead of focusing on preventing passes from breaking their lines; however, they didn’t execute their plan effectively. The spaces between the different units of the team were far too big, which allowed Italy to play the ball into their forwards easily.