Almost 40% of matches in Qatar will be finishing at midnight local time: What toll will evening matches have on players in the World Cup?

The dominance of evening matches in Qatar

Evening matches aren’t a new phenomenon for elite football players. 7:30pm, 7:45pm and even 8pm kick offs are commonplace for midweek Domestic and European fixtures. The World Cup in Qatar will be taking night time matches to the next level, though, to appeal to the European audience. Over 75% of the matches will be starting at 6pm or later in Qatar. And, remarkably, almost 40% of matches in the tournament will be kicking off at 10pm local time. So, 2/5 of the time players are going to be finishing matches at midnight. And when we reach the knockouts accompanied by the possibility of extra time and penalties, we could see players finishing matches closer to 1am.

The impact of this could be huge.?

Through our work with multiple elite football teams, we’ve noticed that almost every player reports sleeping much worse after an evening match. And these findings have been on the back of 8pm kick offs.?

10pm kick offs are something we’ve never seen before in a major tournament and, in this article, we hope to highlight why this is so important. But, most importantly, what footballers and performance teams can do about it.???

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Why evening matches can lead to even the best sleeper having a bad night

Across our work with elite teams we have noticed that sleep issues after evening matches are widespread. Many players report having to go to bed at 2, 3 or 4am and that their sleep is considerably worse.?

Why’s this the case??

There are a few factors associated with night matches that increase the chances of sleep onset and continuity issues.?

Firstly, players experience something called a post-match buzz due to the elevated levels of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine[1], a hormone that’s key to the body’s fight or flight response. Elevated levels of this neurotransmitter are associated with disturbed sleep, as it traditionally plays a role in helping us wake up. On top of this, players will be dealing with the psychological rush after a match, whether that’s excitement after a strong result or anxiety after a poor performance. The physical and psychological intensity of a World Cup match will make it difficult to wind down - these matches being even later means many players without specialist sleep guidance could be struggling to get to sleep before 4 or 5am.?

Secondly, as we pointed out in our 3rd article in the Sleep and the World Cup series, sleep medication is commonplace in elite football. And one of the reasons for this is that many players use caffeine as an ‘upper’ for performance gains before matches - we expect that many players will feel an extra need to utilise caffeine with the start time of many of the matches in Qatar being later than they’ll have ever experienced. The consequence is an augmentation of their post-match buzz, with the caffeine keeping them even more alert and making it even harder to get to sleep.

And finally, players will likely be dehydrated after matches. With the matches coming so close to bedtime, players could either find they’re waking up from a dry mouth, or they’ll overcompensate and drink lots before bed, and end up waking up needing the bathroom.

And why is a bad night so impactful in the World Cup?

A 4am or 5am bedtime is an issue in general for elite athletes, but at least most players have 5 or 6 days of rest following a Domestic fixture. The turnaround between matches is particularly tight during international tournaments - during the group stage in Qatar, players will only be getting 3 days of rest between their matches. A terrible night of sleep could still be impacting the players by the time their next fixture comes around and will undoubtedly limit recovery in the days preceding the next fixture.

One of the questions we ask elite athletes, to determine when they perform best, is what time they’d choose to complete a physically and/or cognitively demanding task. We have never seen a player put between 10pm and midnight as their answer. So, even the biggest night owls are going to struggle physically and cognitively during the 10pm kick offs.

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As always, whilst most players are likely to be impacted by this, some will feel the effects more than others due to individual differences.?

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So, what can we expect from these players??

• Poorer decision-making
• Worse vigilance
• Reduced strength[2]
• As based on research in football players, it’s likely that morning type players (larks) will perform significantly worse than evening type players (owls)[3]

Which players do we see struggle the most?

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So, it’s fair to say that almost all players will struggle with the 10pm kick offs, even those who would describe themselves as owls (evening types). However, people who describe themselves as larks (morning types) are particularly vulnerable. These players will struggle more in-game than other players, as their peak performance time will be the furthest away from kick off time. On top of this, owls could sleep in a bit later to try and fit in more sleep time following a late kick off. Those who are morning types will likely be woken up early by their natural body clock, meaning they’re at greater risk of getting less sleep than evening types.

It’s important to identify which players are going to be most vulnerable to the effects of late matches for a few reasons, and we would recommend doing so by requesting squad-wide screening from a sleep specialist.

1. Knowing which players will struggle most in a 10pm kick off as they are a morning type could help differentiate between which player to start, or even have taking a penalty kick, when the decision is a marginal one
2. Understanding which players are most vulnerable to post-match buzz and an overactive brain after matches allows us to focus on equipping these players with effective coping mechanisms and teaching them how to relax and reduce anxiety after matches
3. Recognising which players will likely wake up earlier after a late match because of their natural body clock gives the performance teams the knowledge to go a bit easier on that player the day after to avoid overreaching and potential injury

Specialist sleep guidance can make all the difference

The important thing to remember is that although we have no control over the kick off times in Qatar, specialist sleep guidance can help tackle the negative effects of the 10pm kick offs.?

We can’t do anything about most players getting back to their bedroom at a time when they’d normally have already been asleep for a couple of hours, but we can help players get to sleep quicker and stay asleep longer once they are back in their hotel.?

We always recommend adopting a bespoke approach to sleep guidance, as every player is unique, but there are a few quick pieces of guidance that all performance teams should be implementing for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar:

1. Players should be establishing strong wind-down routines, so that once they’re back from the match, they’re avoiding social media, gaming and other distractions which could keep their brain active
2. Staff should be encouraging players to carefully weigh up the use of caffeine for performance gains in these late matches - for many, the marginal gains are unlikely to be worth the risk of a terrible night’s sleep, and the subsequent fatigue and slower recovery
3. Encourage players to write down their worries/anxieties before getting into bed. It’s not uncommon for us to observe footballers reporting that they struggle to sleep after evening matches because thoughts are going round and round in their head, keeping their brain active. It’s clear to us that in the biggest tournament, players are definitely going to struggle with doubt, worry and regret after poor performances. Writing down these worries means the player has had a chance to process these ideas before getting into bed, and many say it’s like having a weight off their shoulders
4. Players will have to rehydrate after evening matches but if using rehydration salts/gels it’s important to avoid those with caffeine or lots of sugar, and avoid overloading on water as it’ll just disrupt their sleep in the night. Staying hydrated during the match and throughout the day will help, reducing the need for huge water intake just before bed.
5. Make sure all players have got blackout blinds and eye masks, as they might want to extend their wake up time the morning after a late match to account for the late bedtime. They might also need ear plugs, as morning prayers in Qatar might be disruptive to players’ sleep
6. Help prepare the players by explaining they might struggle to sleep more than usual during these evening matches and that’s fine - taking the pressure off sleep is important in helping sleep onset
7. Prepare the players with the skillset to respond in an appropriate way when they’re struggling to get to sleep, such as trying specialist techniques that can help cue sleep onset, like the ‘Just say THE’ method.

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It’s not just the World Cup?

This article highlights the impact that very late kick offs will have during the World Cup in Qatar. However, it’s important to point out that we consistently see traditionally ‘good’ sleepers sleeping badly after evening matches that kick off much earlier in the evening than 10pm. This isn’t just a Qatar World Cup 2022 issue and is actually an issue across elite football. Players have to play at times that will impact their sleep quality because of TV deals, so we can’t expect this to change soon.?

We can still do something about this issue, though, by screening the sleep health of players so we get a clearer idea of what is going on for each individual player, and providing players with specialist support tailored to their specific needs.?

Take home messages

1. Night time kick offs are becoming more common in elite football, but Qatar is going to be an extreme example. With over 75% of matches being after dark and almost 40% kicking off at 10pm, there are going to be a lot of players struggling significantly with their sleep during the tournament - even those who are normally really satisfied with their sleep
2. Certain players are going to be more vulnerable to the effects in-game and post-game of these really late kick offs, and knowing who these players are could be the difference between a penalty shootout win or loss
3. The short turnaround time between matches means that international teams need to be prepared for how they’re going to tackle the few days after their 10pm kick offs, balancing preparation for a match and squad-wide sleep deprivation
4. As always, something can be done to tackle the impact of the 10pm kick offs even if we can’t change the kick off times. Specialist sleep guidance can help the players sleep better and the performance teams to understand which players are more likely to struggle
5. The impact of night time fixtures on athletes’ sleep quality isn’t unique to World Cup 2022. Players are struggling with their sleep after night time fixtures throughout their domestic seasons, too

Article by David Thorne, BSc, MSc & Dr Chris James

What’s Sleep Athletic?

At Sleep Athletic we help elite athletes and sports teams unlock the power of sleep to supercharge performance and recovery.?

Our aim is to help athletes to sleep better, so they feel better, perform better, and recover faster.?

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Reference List

1. Shahsavar, A.R. & Pourvaghar, M.J.. (2011). Follow-up response of epinephrine and norepinephrine to an exhausting physical activity. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology. 77. 355-356.?
2. Facer-Childs, E. R., Boiling, S., & Balanos, G. M. (2018). The effects of time of day and chronotype on cognitive and physical performance in healthy volunteers. Sports medicine-open, 4(1), 1-12.
3. Roveda, E., Mulè, A., Galasso, L., Castelli, L., Scurati, R., Michielon, G., ... & Montaruli, A. (2020). Effect of chronotype on motor skills specific to soccer in adolescent players. Chronobiology international, 37(4), 552-563.