In the quarterfinals of the 2014 World Cup, the Netherlands and Costa Rica reached the end of extra time tied.
Everything was going to be decided in the penalty shootout.
It was then that Louis van Gaal, the Dutch head coach, made the decision to substitute the goalkeeper.
From the outside it looked like a last-minute decision. In reality it had been in preparation for weeks.
Van Gaal and his coaching staff had studied that scenario for weeks. They knew that, if the match went to penalties and they still had a substitution left, Tim Krul could offer an advantage.
The goalkeeper had analyzed how the Costa Rica players took their shots and knew some of their tendencies.
It was one of the historic leadership decisions of that World Cup.
The Netherlands qualified for the semifinals and that decision became one of the historic leadership decisions of that World Cup.
The ability to adapt rarely comes from improvisation. It starts much earlier, when someone devotes time to preparing for scenarios they don’t yet know whether will happen.
The substitution tactic
This second lesson also appears frequently within organizations.
Adaptation is often talked about as if it were a quick reaction to the unexpected.
However, the teams that adapt best usually aren’t the ones that improvise better, but the ones that have learned to read different scenarios before they appear.
In environments of change, pressure or uncertainty, leadership isn’t only about making decisions once the context has already changed. It’s about preparing the team to respond when the initial plan is no longer enough.
An organization can have a very well-defined strategy and still run into situations that weren’t foreseen.
In those moments, the difference isn’t only in how quickly you act. It’s in the team’s ability to understand what’s happening, adjust course and keep moving forward without losing clarity.
This isn’t the only lesson a World Cup leaves.
Throughout a competition there are situations that speak of leadership and often go unnoticed because attention tends to focus on the match result.
However, it’s enough to observe them with a little attention to discover that the challenges appearing on the pitch aren’t so different from those many organizations face today.
That was precisely the idea behind Road to 2026: Leadership to win as a team, a comprehensive program inspired by the lessons the football World Cup leaves.
Through seven workshops we explore how some of this competition’s best-known situations can help us better understand the challenges faced today by those who lead people and teams.
“The substitution tactic” is the second of those lessons.
Because adapting isn’t only about reacting when the context changes. It also means preparing people to respond when that change hasn’t arrived yet.
Next stop: “The changing room”. Some of the moments that most strengthen a team happen before the match begins.
→ If you’re interested in learning more about Road to 2026 and discovering how we bring these lessons to the development of leaders and winning teams within organizations, I’ll be glad to tell you about it.
— Berta
P.S.: What do you think weighs more in a leader: having a good plan or knowing how to change it in time?
