Associations Between Match Running Performance and Environmental Temperatures in 4 Professional Football Leagues

This study investigated associations between environmental temperatures and match running performance in 4 professional football leagues.

Running performance indicators including total, high-speed, and sprint distances were collated from 1610 matches from the German Bundesliga 1 and 2, Japanese J-League, and Turkish SüperLig. Environmental data for each of these matches were obtained for dry-bulb and wet-bulb globe temperatures (WBGT) retrospectively from public sources. Linear regressions were used to determine relationships between running performance indicators and both temperature and WBGT for individual leagues. Furthermore, linear mixed models were used to determine associations across all 4 leagues, accounting for differences between them as random effects. Bonferroni corrections were applied to account for multiple tests.

Overall, combined-league data showed that total distance (95% CI, -0.50 to 0.37; β: -0.36), number of high-speed runs (95% CI, -4.57 to 2.93; β: -0.29), high-speed distances (95% CI, -0.07 to 0.05; β: -0.28), number of sprints (95% CI, -2.72 to 2.07; β: -0.39), and sprint distances (95% CI, -0.05 to 0.03; β: -0.22) were all lower when WBGT was higher (P < .001), whereas the peak speed recorded per match (95% CI, 0.01 to 0.03; β: 0.18) was higher when WBGT was higher (P < .001). Models with temperature instead of WBGT derived similar results.

Warmer environmental conditions were associated with lower total, high-speed, and sprint distances covered. These responses may result from an increased thermoregulatory load or indirectly from an adapted individual or team-tactical pacing strategy in warmer conditions. Teams should consider strategies to counter such effects to avoid lower distances covered at high intensities that are related to success in football.