The scoreboard showed that Japan beat England, 2-1, in their Women’s World Cup semifinal on Wednesday, and it is Japan that will be playing in the final against the United States on Sunday.
But by another measure, England came out on top, by the score of 1.48 to 0.87.
The most talked about advanced soccer statistic right now is expected goals, or xG. By that metric, England was the better and more dominant team in its semifinal against Japan and deserved to win.
When a soccer player takes a shot, there are only two possible results.