Dr Paul S Bradley

Introduction

It is exceedingly challenging to pinpoint the exact moment scientists first investigated the match demands of football1. Arguably, Tom Reilly and Vaughan Thomas were the first to examine the demands of football in the mid 1970’s2. Since then, an expansive body of work on this subject has revolutionised our understanding of the game through insights that optimise training preparation. Despite encouraging progress in this area over time, a deeper knowledge of how various contextual and tactical factors impact match demands is still at an embryonic stage3. A myriad of factors can up or down regulate the match physical demands experienced by elite players. Indeed, given the multifaceted nature of the game, technical, tactical, social and psychological elements amalgamate during a match4. Although these factors are countless, some of the most influential aspects include the competition stage, game state, style of play and the standard of both teams involved in a match5,6. Information on such factors may be valuable to practitioners and enable them to fully grasp the sheer complexity surrounding these contextual and tactical variables. To assist our understanding of this area, FIFA have recently devised their own Enhanced Football Intelligence metrics to provide much-needed context as to how teams physically exerted themselves during official FIFA tournament matches7. Consequently, this piece delves into how physical match demands vary according to shifting contexts and tactics during the FIFA Men’s World Cup Qatar 2022 and the Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023. This piece of work complements previous ‘Setting the Benchmark’ papers8-11, so readers are advised to examine Parts one to four (free online resources) to gain a more holistic understanding of team and positional demands.