By request of mls reacts, a quick look at short vs long corners in MLS 2026.

As discussed in my article on MLS corner kicks, there is a weak negative correlation between short corner percentage and xG per corner across the last 5 MLS seasons. This is displayed in the graph below (which looks a little different because I added the most recent matches).

When looking at short vs long corner effectiveness this season (table at the bottom of the graph), we see that in terms of xG and shots, short corners lag behind long corners. This is even true when removing late short corners taken by teams in the lead (2 goal+ leads after 85 minutes and 1 goal leads after 90 minutes), because many of these corners are taken with no intention of ever shooting.

There are, of course, mitigating circumstances. Some teams still take short corners just looking to maintain possession (this is bad). Short corners may also be better at mitigating the chance of conceding on the counter (experts usually say that this chance is so small as to be negligible anyway). There is also a significant difference between well-organized short corners and ad hoc ones.

Even with their xG falling behind in the data, I still think that it is possible to build an effective strategy around short corners. There are tons of decisions when designing a corner strategy: short vs long, inswinger vs outswinger, simple vs complicated, varied vs consistent. In my eyes, having a well thought-out plan, training it sufficiently, and getting player buy in is a much more significant driver of success than any of these decisions.