FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) member Ibrahim Ba has hailed the development of women’s football as the group stage heads towards a finale at the Olympic Football Tournaments Paris 2024. Following the FIFA U-17 World Cup Indonesia 2023™, where Gemma Grainger oversaw analysis of men's game, now a new milestone has been reached during Paris 2024 with female TSG members observing senior men’s matches. Former France international and AC Milan championship-winner Ba had a glittering career as a player, winning Serie A and the UEFA Champions League with the Rossoneri, as well as a Swedish league and cup double with Djurgårdens IF in 2005. Now working on the analysis side of the game as a FIFA Technical Study Group member, the 51-year-old has been impressed at the level of play in at the women’s tournament at Paris 2024. “Players are physically fitter, stronger and faster and we see more bigger switches of play and longer balls, which are changing the game. Transitions are faster, players are more aggressive and creative in 1v1s and teams are tactically so diverse.”

Ba and the other technical experts are supported by a team of analysts from FIFA’s Football Performance Insights team who collectively record and report on tactical, technical and physical insights. “Scouting usually is only something you see through your eyes, and with the data, being able to analyse in the same moment during the game and to be able to rewind some actions – it can be tactics, it can be fouls, it can be pressing,” said Ba, who worked for many years as a talent scout for AC Milan. “I think that the definition of the evolution of sport with technology, it is very important to have, and to be able to mix them with your own eyes, and being able to analyse and having other people on the other side with computers to give you more options, it can only be beneficial.”

Paris 2024 is proving to be a special experience for Ba who was born in Senegal, but represented France on eight occasions and previously lived in the French capital. Starting out at Le Havre, Ba also had spells in France with Bordeaux and Marseille. He think France can go far on home soil. “We do know that both [French teams] have quality players, and they’re playing at home, so the crowd will be with them,” he said. “I think everybody is expecting them to get to the final.” FIFA’s technical experts are a regular feature at all competitions run by football’s world governing body. The TSG highlight and analyse technical trends and their insights provide assistance to coaches and players alike. Throughout the tournament, data from the Football Performance Insights team will be explored in detail and will be available on the FIFA Training Centre. After the tournament, the observations will be studied in greater depth and then mapped against recent men’s and women’s FIFA tournaments, to identify, highlight and educate on emerging trends.

Pascal Zuberbühler (Senior Football Expert), Gemma Grainger, Anna Signeul, Ibrahim Ba, Kirsty Yallop, Sue Ronan, Ricardo Gardner.