The Influence of Ball Possession and Total Passes on Match Outcomes in the KL Women’s Super League 2023

The primary objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between ball possession and passes to match outcome and secondary objective is to compare the ball possession and passes differences between two groups (winning and losing games). A total of 28 matches from the Kuala Lumpur Women’s Super League 2023 (KLWSL) were analyzed, including 20 group-stage matches, four quarter-finals, two semi-finals, a third-place play-off, and the final. Two hundred female (n = 200) foot-ball players were investigated in this study. Match recordings were captured using a Sony HDR-CX405 camcorder positioned at the center of the field. These recordings were analyzed using the LongoMatch video analysis software to assess ball possession percentages and total passes. PJ Kita Football Club recorded the highest average ball possession (56.9%), while Wangsa Maju City Football Club had the highest mean total passes (404.4 ± 61.8). Pearson Correlation reported a significant correlation be- tween match outcome and ball possession (r = 0.70, P < 0.05), as well as between match outcome and total passes (r = 0.44, P < 0.05). There were also a significant differences between winning and losing teams in ball possession (55.1 ± 5.1%; 4.8 ± 5.1%, P < 0.05) and total passes (367.7 ± 69.4; 300.4, ± 71.3, P < 0.05) respectively. These findings suggest that teams with higher ball possession and more passes were more likely to win in match-play.