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Abstract
Corner kicks are arguably important during match play, but questions remain about the impact of corner kicks on match outcomes. This study analyzes the relevance of corner kicks numbers and their importance to match outcomes, then compares this result with that of shots on target and free kicks. In total, 7368 matches played in the English Premier League, French Ligue 1, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, Spanish La Liga, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup are analyzed using the Multinomial logistic regression (MLR). The study finds that both the number of corner kicks and shots on target are significantly associated with the outcome of football games while free kick numbers are not. Also, from the results of the MLR analysis, the study finds that the winning team tends to play more shots accurately while the losing team tends to be awarded more corners during the game. The findings thereby support Riquelme’s (2012) contention that match status affects the number of corners in a match and also Collert’s (2012) claim that there is a significant relationship between shooting efficiency and overall team success. The findings also disagree with Gordon et al’s (2013) argument that corner kicks numbers are statistically useless in soccer games.