Preparing for Extremes: Load, Fatigue and Performance at the 2026 World Cup

Professor Peter Krustrup and Dr Chris Carling explain how performance staff can manage load, fatigue and recovery for players across the eight matches and 39 days of the first 48-team World Cup.

About this webinar

Peter Krustrup has worked with Denmark’s women’s national team and a men’s club in the Danish Superliga. Chris Carling worked with the French FA’s national youth teams. Together they look at what the 2026 World Cup asks of players: travel across three countries and 16 host cities, heat and humidity, 2,240 m of altitude in Mexico City, and a final that can come 39 days after the opening match. They share heart rate data from Danish national team camps, a practical way to set maximum heart rate, how to keep recovery monitoring between matches simple, and why extra time needs its own plan. The session runs 61 minutes and was recorded on 27 May 2026.

What you will learn

• How a 4–6 minute submaximal Yo-Yo IR1 run picked up travel fatigue as heart rates 5–10 bpm above normal
• Why time above 90% of individual maximum heart rate decides whether a player needs an aerobic top-up
• How to set maximum heart rate in a squad where values run from 170 to 210–215 bpm
• Why the thresholds for wellness and jump data, and the decisions they trigger, should be agreed before the tournament starts
• What a survey of 215 coaches showed about how coaches prepare for extra time

Practical examples from the recording

1. A short run to check travel fatigue. After the Danish women’s national team had travelled, Krustrup had the players run the first four or six minutes of the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 test (Yo-Yo IR1). Heart rates were 5–10 bpm higher than usual, and resting heart rate was up for some players too. He read that as a squad that had not fully recovered. Carling described clubs doing the same with heart rate in a standardized warm-up, as a readiness-to-play check.

2. Heart rate against GPS in the heat. At the World Cup in Russia, Denmark held some sessions in the middle of the day at 25–30°C. Heart rate ran 15 bpm higher than the GPS metrics would predict. That number went to the head coach, and the staff negotiated whether to keep training in the heat for acclimatization or move to cooler conditions to protect training intensity. Krustrup expects many teams to have the same conversation this summer.

3. Setting maximum heart rate for each player. In a squad aged 18 to 40, maximum heart rate can range from 170 to 210 or 215 bpm, so every player needs their own value. Krustrup combines treadmill tests, Yo-Yo IR1 tests, and match and training recordings. One or two maximal Yo-Yo IR1 tests reach on average 98–99% of maximum, about 2–5 bpm below the true value. He discards single overshoot readings.

4. A written plan for extra time. For his pro licence assignment, Krustrup surveyed 215 coaches and fitness staff. About ten years ago only 50% had prepared their team for extra time: how to coach players in the one-minute break, whether to take star players off after 97 minutes, scenarios A, B and C. Yet 90–95% of medal winners at the Euros and the World Cup have had to succeed in extra time, sometimes four times in one tournament. His advice is to talk the scenarios through before the first match.

Questions answered in the Q&A

Should we use HRV with players during a tournament?
Carling has never used it. HRV needs many measurements to build a reliable baseline, it is affected by alcohol and poor sleep, and the device matters. Krustrup has used it in studies and finds the setup hard to get right.

Is it worth selecting players who are already adapted to heat?
Krustrup sees an advantage in players who are fit and used to the expected demands, but between two equally good players heat adaptation could tip the decision. In practice, staff prepare the players the head coach has chosen.

Are blood markers such as creatine kinase useful between matches?
Only with point-of-care testing; sending samples to a lab is too slow. Carling points out that a player can have high creatine kinase and still run the same distance or more. Krustrup would consider blood sampling for selected key players.

How many days do players need to recover between World Cup matches?
About 3 days after a normal match and 4 after an unusually intense one. Extra time can mean 130–135 minutes plus warm-up and 15–16 km, and some players then need 4–5 days. The schedule gives at least 4 days between matches, often 5.

How do you keep fitness up in players who get few or no minutes?
Krustrup splits the squad into three groups: many minutes, 5–45 minutes off the bench, and no minutes, which can mean 35 days without a match. If a session gives too little time above 90% of maximum heart rate, players get extra aerobic high-intensity running.

Who this webinar is for

Heads of performance, sports scientists and strength and conditioning coaches in professional football and national teams, plus head coaches and physiotherapists who share selection and recovery decisions, planning a tournament or a congested match schedule in heat, at altitude or after long travel.