The World Cup from a Dietitian’s Perspective

It is World Cup time again. Although soccer is not the most popular spectator sport in the United States (that honor goes to the other football), the worldwide passion for soccer is unrivaled.

I thought I would crunch some numbers so you can begin to understand what it takes to fuel the energy needs of these world-class athletes. I have counseled hundreds of athletes through the years so I have had to construct some pretty massive meal plans. However, even if you watch more soccer than you play, you should understand how physical activity impacts nutritional needs.

The average soccer player runs about 6-7 miles during each 90 minute match. Most of that is spent either jogging or walking, depending on the position of the player.  A player may sprint the distance of only a ½ mile during the course of an entire contest. Believe it or not, the referees do more running than the players. Watch the officials during the matches and you will see for yourself.

All of this running burns through more than just the pre-game meal. A 180 pound male soccer player can burn about 1200 calories during the course of a 90 minute match. In order to keep up with this level of activity most players will consume about 3500-4500 calories per day during the World Cup. If you consider that 64 matches are played during the World Cup and there are 22 players in each match, then a total of 1.7 million calories will be burned during World Cup matches.

Not surprisingly, watching the World Cup puts calorie burning in much a lower gear. If we use the same 180 pound male, then he will only burn about 130 calories watching a 90 minute match.  Let’s compare this with a plausible menu offered during a World Cup party. How about 3 slices of pizza and a small bowl of chips with dip? Oops, almost forgot. Add 3 cans of beer too. After all, it is easy to get thirsty watching people run. Add up all of those food choices and you get about 1800 calories. Therefore, you would need to play three soccer games for every two soccer games that you watch.

Now, if you decide to blow on the vuvuzela horn, as is the custom during South African matches, you can burn another 400-500 calories. Of course, by using that instrument the entire match you also prevent yourself from eating all of those extra calories. I think the South Africans are onto something.