luckadjusted
World Cup Final · 2026

Matchday 3 · World Cup 2022 · December 2, 2022

Cameroon 1–0 Brazil: who deserved to win?

Cameroon beat Brazil 1–0, a result the replays rarely give: Brazil win 7 of 10, Cameroon only 1, 2 end level. Brazil made the better chances: 2.4 expected goals to 0.4.

Full time

TeamGoalsxG
Cameroon 1 0.38
Brazil 0 2.38

December 2, 2022 · Lusail Stadium · Referee: Ismail Elfath

Luck index +87 Cameroon very lucky · −87 Brazil

Each team’s own shots from this match, resampled into new matches 4,000 times, each a goal at its expected-goals chance: with the way both teams actually played, how often does this performance win? How the replay works

Ten replays. Cameroon win 1, 2 end level, Brazil win 7.

  1. 1 CMR 1 BRA 0
  2. 2 CMR 0 BRA 0
  3. 3 CMR 1 BRA 1
  4. 4 CMR 0 BRA 4
  5. 5 CMR 0 BRA 3
  6. 6 CMR 0 BRA 3
  7. 7 CMR 0 BRA 2
  8. 8 CMR 0 BRA 2
  9. 9 CMR 0 BRA 1
  10. 10 CMR 1 BRA 2

The narrowest view of luck

The same match, with only the coin flips re-rolled: every shot kept where and how it was taken, its outcome redrawn at its chance (75% of finishing counts as luck), own goals at the league’s rate.

There is no betting line for this match, and no forecast from before kickoff: matches of past seasons are replayed, not forecast.

How 4,000 replays of the 90 minutes ended

Cameroon win 5%, 15% end level, Brazil win 80%. The line is what actually happened: Cameroon by 1.

Show as a table
After 90 minutes in the replaysShare of replays
Cameroon by 3+0.1%
Cameroon by 20.7%
Cameroon by 14.5%
Draw15.2%
Brazil by 123.7%
Brazil by 223.6%
Brazil by 3+32.1%

Where the luck was

FinishingShotsGoalsExpected goalsAbove expected
Cameroon710.38+0.62
Brazil2102.38−2.38

Own goals aren’t shots, so they’re counted on their own. A side above expected finished better than its chances, or met a goalkeeper on a bad day; 75% of the gap counts as luck (why that share).

The big chances, and every goal

MinuteChancexG
91'Vincent Paté Aboubakar scored from a shot0.06

When it happened

Cameroon’s chance of winning

Numbers mark the biggest luck moments, listed below.

Our in-game win probability: the score and the minutes left, with goals for the rest of the match at the league’s rates. A draw counts half, as in the replays. Shaded above the middle while Cameroon was ahead in it, below while Brazil was.
#WhenWhat happenedWin probability for
1 1' Frederico Rodrigues Santos didn’t score from a shotFinishing · 29% chance +7% CMR
2 52' Gabriel Fernando de Jesus didn’t score from a shotFinishing · 28% chance +9% CMR
3 83' Bruno Guimarães Rodriguez Moura didn’t score from a shotFinishing · 15% chance +7% CMR
4 88' Pedro Guilherme Abreu dos Santos didn’t score from a shotFinishing · 18% chance +9% CMR
5 91' Vincent Paté Aboubakar scored from a shotFinishing · 6% chance +47% CMR
6 96' Bruno Guimarães Rodriguez Moura didn’t score from a shotFinishing · 17% chance +8% CMR
7 97' Gabriel Teodoro Martinelli Silva didn’t score from a shotFinishing · 19% chance +10% CMR
8 98' Bruno Guimarães Rodriguez Moura didn’t score from a shotFinishing · 22% chance +11% CMR

Adjust the assumptions

Think finishing is more skill than we do? Change how much of it counts as luck and the coin-flip replay of the 90 minutes reruns in your browser.

Only coin-flips re-rolled

Cameroon 5% · draw 13% · Brazil 82%

Final margin
Cameroon by 1
Luck in goals
2.2 for Cameroon
Luck-adjusted margin
Brazil by 1.2
Replay with same day's form
Cameroon 5% · draw 15% · Brazil 80% unchanged: why
How much of each is luck?

0% treats it as skill, 100% as pure luck. The tick is our fit.

What counts
Flip a play

Force the other outcome, in this match and in every replay: a goal becomes a save, a chance goes in.

About these numbers

Expected goals per shot from StatsBomb’s open data; the replays, the in-game win probability and the luck shares are our own models, fitted and tested on every shot of four full league seasons and four tournaments, these matches included (methodology and validation). Cameroon win 13% of replays (a draw counted as half).

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