{"id":742397,"date":"2026-07-04T07:57:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T07:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/742397\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T07:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T07:57:12","slug":"altitude-how-does-it-affect-players-and-how-big-is-englands-disadvantage-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/742397\/","title":{"rendered":"Altitude: how does it affect players and how big is England\u2019s disadvantage? | England"},"content":{"rendered":"

England have made it into the last 16 of the World Cup<\/a>, and will face Mexico on Sunday (1am Monday BST). But they will also be up against another opponent: altitude.<\/p>\n

We take a look at how playing in the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, 2,240m above sea level, might affect their performance.<\/p>\n

As altitude increases, the air becomes thinner.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy 2,240m we\u2019re definitely going to be seeing a physiological effect,\u201d said Dr Neil Maxwell, an expert in applied environmental physiology at the University of Brighton.<\/p>\n

Maxwell noted that while the percentage of oxygen in the air is the same at altitude as it is at sea level, the barometric pressure is lower.<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, the kind of forcing function of that pressure, pushing the oxygen into your red blood cells, is reduced. And that\u2019s the physiological challenge \u2013 they\u2019re not getting the oxygen into the red blood cells,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd because of that, their heart is having to beat quicker, they\u2019re having to ventilate quicker to try and compensate. But obviously, there\u2019s a limit to how much they can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over 90 minutes, Maxwell said, that will put considerable stress on players. \u201cSo the feeling that they may feel at the end, or towards the last quarter, of a match, they\u2019re going to be feeling that in the first half,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Maxwell also said players will experience a greater energy depletion in their muscles, and probably sweat more.<\/p>\n

While the Mexico team also will tire during the match, Maxwell said their altitude training means they would not be expected to experience the same extent of fatigue as the England team, adding the latter will not be able to recover between sprints as rapidly as at lower altitudes, so won\u2019t be able to get to the ball as quickly.<\/p>\n

Dr Rebecca Neal, of Bournemouth University, said data from unacclimated athletes <\/a> suggests<\/a> there could be a 3-9% reduction in total running distance during the match and 21% decrease in high-velocity running, noting that might impact midfielders the most.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn top of this, they will alter their pacing and experience greater neuromuscular fatigue meaning, even if their technical skills are not impaired, they might need to use unfamiliar tactics,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Maxwell said if athletes ascend rapidly and have not acclimatised, there is a risk of altitude illness, noting this can range from headaches, dizziness and disturbed sleep through to much rarer but more serious forms of altitude sickness \u2013 although such risks tend to become more relevant above about 2,500 m.<\/p>\n

When should players head to a high altitude location?<\/p>\n

The England team are due to arrive in Mexico two days before the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cA useful altitude training protocol would involve repeated sprints in hypoxia for up to four weeks in the run-up to and maintained throughout the World Cup and could have been advantageous for this match,\u201d said Neal.<\/p>\n

Thomas Tuchel was unhappy with Fifa\u2019s rules on when England could go to Mexico City. Photograph: Eddie Keogh\/The FA\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

According to Maxwell, arriving the day before the match wouldn\u2019t help the team much. \u201cThere is a bit of a myth that you\u2019ve got 24 hours of grace when you get out to altitude, before it has an effect,\u201d he said. \u201cYour body starts reacting to the hypoxia, to the altitude environment, straight away. Within six hours, they\u2019re going to be feeling the effects of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does altitude affect the game in other ways?<\/p>\n

It could affect the way the ball flies. Prof Barton Smith, an expert in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Utah State University, notes air density in Mexico City is about 25% less than at sea level \u2013 meaning there is less drag to slow the ball down.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, I would be surprised if that has a large effect on the game, especially for short shots,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, Smith noted air density is also important for the Magnus effect: a phenomenon in which a spinning ball bends as the ball hurtles through the air. Lower air density means a smaller Magnus effect and so the ball will curve or \u201cmove\u201d less.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the ball moves less, there cannot be as much finesse to shots,\u201d said Smith.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Will England be at a disadvantage?<\/p>\n

Without altitude training England team may find the conditions challenging. Neal noted research has demonstrated high-altitude-based teams score more and concede fewer goals than low-altitude teams, with every 1,000m altitude difference giving the home team approximately a half-goal advantage, adding this could have a greater impact in the second half.<\/p>\n

However, Maxwell noted previous matches have taken place in hot conditions. \u201cThere is a cross tolerance or a cross-adaptive benefit from heat to altitude. So actually [England] getting better in the heat will give them a little bit of a benefit in the altitude environment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a team such as England, with medical support and careful preparation, the greatest concern is likely to be the physiological strain caused by hypoxia [low oxygen availability] and the effect this has on workrate, recovery and decision-making rather than any major health risk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Neal also noted there could be some crossover of benefits from adaption to the heat, but said the research is limited and mixed, especially for football.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, England has opted to focus on mitigating the impact of heat and any final \u2018least bad\u2019 approaches for this specific game,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Are there any short-term fixes?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maxwell stressed the importance of England players relaxing before they head to Mexico, and once there staying hydrated, getting used to the ball flight, and not exerting more energy than they need to.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor England, they\u2019ve got to be trying to rely upon what is in their control rather than what is not in their control,\u201d he said, stressing the importance of adapting their tactics.<\/p>\n

He said the use of substitutes will be critical, and suggested England should press less. \u201cI\u2019m not saying they won\u2019t have some intense bouts to try and score, but they will probably have to keep hold of the ball more and be moving it around the back and then just looking for those few opportunities to press forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Neal also stressed the importance of strategy. \u201cWithout time to adapt, staying healthy and focusing on tactics during the second half of the match will be key at this late stage,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England have made it into the last 16 of the World Cup, and will face Mexico on Sunday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":742398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-742397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/742398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}