With Euro 2016 now well underway in France, it is worth pondering the role that technology might play in determining the ultimate winners. That may sound like an odd thing to consider in the build up to a football tournament, but following Germany’s victory at the World Cup two years ago, much was made of the team’s use of data analytics to assist its performance.

Of course, this wasn’t the first time technology had been used in sport. An entire industry has been built around Formula 1 motor racing and all the back end technology infrastructure that the teams use to enhance their performance. And they are not alone, for the use of analytics has become pervasive across a wide variety of sports, including football, tennis, cricket, baseball, and hockey.

Indeed, the application of analytics is changing the world’s sporting landscape, and IDC has identified three main ways in which it is used to secure a competitive advantage — team selection, opposition analysis, and performance enhancement.

The 2003 book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis, and the subsequent movie starring Brad Pitt, did much to highlight the critical role that analytics can play in building a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. And while not all sports teams are applying analytics to the same extent, it is now almost universally used in some form or other to help determine which players to sign and even which players to field in a particular match.

When it comes to scouting the opposition, advanced analytics have long been used to better understand the tactics employed by rival teams, providing strategic insights that can greatly assist pregame preparation. But today this is being taken a step further, with teams now able to draw on real-time insights during the game itself and adjust their tactics accordingly.

The most important use of analytics to date has been the improvement of overall performance. For example, analytics can be used to create customised training programs for individual players or particular scenarios. The use of analytics also enables coaches to integrate preventive measures into their programs in order to reduce the incidence of injuries sustained by their players.

All of this has helped to spur a complementary market for wearable devices. Indeed, a wide range of sporting gear is now being fitted with sensors that provide instantaneous feedback, while the proliferation of associated mobile applications is enabling a whole new level of insights for professionals and amateurs alike.

And the impact doesn’t stop there, with sports analytics even enhancing the viewing experience of spectators both in the stadium and at home watching on television. The use of analytics enables broadcasters to provide more insightful commentary, while a myriad of statistics are now available for instant consumption by fans, thereby enhancing their overall interaction with the sports — and teams — they love.

That all said, there is of course a limit to what analytics can do, and the games taking place at Euro 2016 will still ultimately be won by the talent and skill of the players involved. So, while you can probably expect to hear a lot more about analytics over the coming weeks, you should at least be spared the prospect of a bunch of sports analysts preening themselves in front of the cameras every time a goal is scored. Unfortunately, I can’t promise the same about Cristiano Ronaldo.

The columnist is group vice-president and regional managing director for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey at global ICT market intelligence and advisory firm International Data Corporation (IDC) He can be contacted via Twitter @JyotiIDC