Comparative study of timing and goal situations in three international football competitions

The physical, technical, tactical and psychological development of football goes through objective analyzes providing indicators of how teams and players behave throughout the matches. The present work had the general objective to analyze the goals and the situations and moments of the goals of the XLV Copa America Centenario 2016, the European Football Championship - Euro 2016 and the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017. A total of 241 goals were analyzed and the results found showed no substantial difference in relation to the average of goals in the three competitions. Most of the goals were scored from the central sectors of the field, 84.23% of the goals came from moving ball plays and 14.93% from set balls and pointed to a balance of goals in both periods of play, with emphasis on the periods the first 15 minutes of games and the final 15 minutes.