Recorded Webinar – Recorded on 27 May 2026

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

Short turnaround between matches, long-haul travel, different environments, and extreme pressure. International tournaments push players to their limits, but how should practitioners shift their approach to ensure that athletes are prepared to perform at their best on game day?

In this webinar, Firstbeat is joined by Dr. James Malone, Professor Peter Krustrup, and Dr. Chris Carling for a discussion on the realities of managing player load, recovery, and performance during tournament soccer.

The session explores the unique challenges of the World Cup, including fixture congestion, travel, heat, altitude, recovery strategies, monitoring approaches, and practical lessons from elite international football.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction & World Cup webinar overview

01:25 What makes this World Cup unique?

04:13 Biggest physical and performance challenges

09:02 Tournament preparation & recovery strategies

13:18 Monitoring player load and performance

18:14 Using heart rate data in tournament football

24:10 Determining maximal heart rate in practice

29:02 Recovery monitoring between matches

32:53 Sleep, nutrition & recovery fundamentals

39:26 Staff communication & decision-making

42:07 Managing pressure, stress & tournament scenarios

49:43 Q&A: HRV, heat adaptation & player selection

55:44 Blood markers & individualized monitoring

01:00:09 World Cup predictions & closing remarks

Speakers

Dr. James Malone Sport Scientist

James is a CASES accredited sport and exercise scientist working within professional football. He is also a visiting researcher at the University of Southern Denmark.

Dr. Peter Krustrup Professor of Sport and Health Sciences

Peter Krustrup is Professor of Sport and Health Sciences at University of Southern Denmark (SDU), and Honorary Visiting Professor at Exeter University, United Kingdom and Chair of Health Sciences at the Danish Institute for Advanced Study (DIAS) at SDU.

He is the most published researcher in Football Science worldwide, with +300 articles on match performance, fatigue, recovery, training, testing and health in football.

In total, he has published 500 peer-reviewed scientific articles on Exercise Physiology, Sport as Medicine, and Performance in Elite Sports, along with several books and book chapters, with more than 42000 citations and an H-index of 99.

He is a UEFA Pro-Licensed football coach, since 2017, and has worked as Assistant Coach for the Danish Women’s National Team, and Fitness Coach for Odense Boldklub (OB) in the Danish Men’s Premier League. He is currently Football Science Consultant in OB.

Dr. Chris Carling Assistant Professor of Sports Science

Dr Chris Carling is currently Assistant Professor within the Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics at the University of Southern Denmark, working closely with the Danish Professional Football League.

He was formerly Head of Elite Performance & Research at the French Football Federation and spent a decade at Lille OSC in France’s Ligue 1 as a performance scientist.

Chris has collaborated on various projects with clubs including Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, and Olympique de Marseille. He also previously worked at France’s National Training Centre (INSEP) and is currently a member of the French Rugby Federation’s research department. He holds a PhD in Sport Sciences and is the author of 150 peer reviewed scientific publications.

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