In the more than 90 minutes of play in a match, many players must train daily to maintain their health.
According to NBC Sport, with a field area of over 7,100 m2, players exert a great deal of energy running throughout the match.
Players from 32 countries are competing on newly constructed stadiums in Qatar this year. Before long, some will cover marathon distances during the tournament.
On average, if a player plays the entire match, they may run over 8,000 m, with some even approaching 14,500 m.
Croatian winger Ivan Perišić ran 72,550 m during the 2018 World Cup, according to FIFA data. He was followed closely by teammates Ivan Rakitić (72,533 m) and Luka Modrić (72,300 m) throughout the tournament. Perišić’s distance is nearly enough to traverse Qatar from east to west.
It is no surprise that three Croatian players topped the list in 2018. The national team not only reached the World Cup final, but all three of their matches in the first knockout round went into extra time, with two of those matches decided by penalties.
The 2014 World Cup showcased even faster-paced matches. Thomas Müller from Germany led the tournament with a total distance of 84,000 m over seven matches. Like Croatia, Germany also made it to the World Cup final that year.
The fastest football players in the world can run over 32,186 m/h.
Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal and Ante Rebić from Croatia recorded the fastest sprint speed at the 2018 World Cup, clocking in at 34,000 m/h. Antonio Rüdiger from Chelsea topped the Premier League rankings last season with a maximum sprint speed of 36,725 m/h, according to Sky Sports.
According to Sky Sports, Ronaldo is one of the few players to achieve a fast sprint speed at the 2018 World Cup. (Photo: Al Jazeera).
According to data from Stats, sports analysts have summarized that on average a player runs about 10 km in a World Cup match. Among these, midfielders run the most during a match. Additionally, each player must sprint approximately 800-1,200 m, and they are required to accelerate in around 40-60 different instances.
How is running distance measured?
The Electronic Performance and Tracking System (EPTS) is one of the tools that FIFA has explored to measure player distances and ball tracking.
In the case of top Premier League teams, they have gone a step further. Arsenal and Liverpool are two teams that have utilized tracking technology to monitor player movements.
Sportlogiq has developed its own data collection system. The company trained an AI machine with computer vision to calculate the statistics for participants.
In September, FIFA announced that players would receive in-depth information about physical performance metrics, advanced football data indices, and other intelligent analytics throughout the 2022 World Cup via the FIFA Player app.
Is football the sport with the most running?
Football players run more than athletes in other professional sports leagues.
Fred VanVleet, Dejounte Murray, and Tyrese Maxey are among the most active basketball players in the 2021-2022 season, yet none of them exceeded an average of 4,800 m per game.
However, football matches are nearly twice as long as NBA games, and NBA players do not play the entire game.
In the NFL, wide receivers and cornerbacks cover the most ground, reporting an average of around 2,011 m per game.
