The Boy from Rosario

The plays · Plate IV

Mexico, 26 November 2022

World Cup group C, the second match, the 64th minute, 0–0, and Argentina’s tournament on the line after the defeat by Saudi Arabia. He is 35. Ángel Di María’s pass from the right, one touch to set it, and a left-foot strike from 23 metres that is in the far corner 0.8 seconds later, past Guillermo Ochoa at about a hundred kilometres an hour. The strike, drawn instant by instant and measured from the broadcast.

Fig. 1 The goal, as broadcast

Watch the goal on FIFA’s YouTube channelOpens at the start of the move. →
Source: FIFA’s own upload, the main camera from the build-up to the ball in the net and the first seconds of the celebration. FIFA does not let its clips play on other sites, so this one opens on YouTube. Watch it once, then read the study below it.

Fig. 2 The play, instant by instant

Plate IV Eight instants, 3.7 seconds

Charcoal studies after the broadcast, main camera, FIFA’s low camera on the near touchline, the camera behind Ochoa’s goal and the camera in the net. Times are from the first touch, counted frame by frame in FIFA’s highlights upload at 50 frames per second; the replay cameras are placed on that count by the ball’s position, to about a tenth of a second. The red crayon marks the ball.

Fig. 3 The pass and the shot

Attacking up the page. The red line is the ball: Di María’s pass from the right, Messi’s two touches, the second the shot, and its line into the far corner. The letters are the instants of Plate IV. Grey rings are Mexico players where they stood at the strike, the dotted rings Argentina. Positions are reconstructed from the box markings in the main-camera frames, so they are good to about three metres; the strike spot is good to about two.

Table 1 Measured

First touch to the ball over the line2.0 sFrame by frame in FIFA’s highlights upload at 50 fps: first touch at 0:55.24, ball over the line at 0:57.26, ± 1 frame. The first touch is counted as the defining touch; the shot is 1.2 s after it.
The pass29 m · 1.0 sFrom Di María’s foot at 0:54.24 to Messi’s at 0:55.24, 50 frames ± 2. Along the reconstructed line from 21 m out and 8 m in from the right touchline to 23 m out and 3 m left of centre, ± 3 m: about 29 m/s on average, driven along the ground.
Distance of the shot23 mFrom the strike spot, 20.7 m from the goal line and 6.9 m left of centre, to where the ball crossed, half a metre inside the far post. ± 2 m. Sky Sports said 25 yards, the Guardian 22, ESPN 20.
Flight time0.82 s41 frames at 50 fps: struck at 0:56.44, over the line at 0:57.26, ± 1 frame either end.
Ball speed≈ 28 m/s23 m in 0.82 s: about 100 km/h on average over the flight, so faster off the foot. The frame count and the two metres on the distance allow 26 to 30 m/s.
Height at the line≈ 0.2 mThe ball passes the far post at shin height, under Ochoa’s outstretched arm, and runs into the side netting. Read from the main camera and the camera in the net, so good to about twenty centimetres.
The finishleft foot · 23 m · 18°From 20.7 m out and 7 m left of centre the goal subtends 18 degrees. Two touches in all. The ball went in on the side away from him, past Ochoa’s left hand, Ochoa having come 4.5 m off his line.
Score1–0Enzo Fernández made it 2–0 in the 87th minute. Argentina beat Poland 2–0 four days later to top the group, and won the World Cup.

How this was made. The clip is FIFA’s. The drawings are charcoal studies after single frames of FIFA’s two uploads of the goal, main camera, the low camera on the near touchline, the camera behind the goal and the camera in the net, with the poses, the positions and the ball kept where they were; the frames themselves are not reproduced. Every line, number and name on this page is drawn by the page, not by hand, from the measurements above. The build-up follows the Guardian’s account, in which Di María “clipped a deliberate ball across from the opposite side” and Herrera dived in too late; the names, the minute and the line-ups are FIFA’s. The durations were counted frame by frame in FIFA’s 50-frame highlights upload. The positions are our reconstruction from the box markings in the main camera, and carry the stated uncertainty; StatsBomb’s open event data puts the strike 22 m out but only two metres left of centre, which the broadcast cameras do not support.

Sources: FIFA, the goal (YouTube) · FIFA, the highlights at 50 fps (YouTube) · The Guardian, Nick Ames’s match report · Sky Sports, match report · FIFA, the official post-match report · StatsBomb open data, the match’s events

Drawings by the site, after the broadcast; each clip comes from its rights holder’s own channel. An unofficial, non-commercial fan project, not affiliated with Lionel Messi or any club, league or federation. Spot a mistake? Email corrections@boyfromrosario.org.