Soccer nutrition

Soccer is stop and start for a long time. A league game runs two halves of 25 to 45 minutes, and a pickup game often goes 60 to 90 minutes with few subs. Most of that is walking and jogging, broken up by sprints, turns and tackles. Midfielders and wingers cover the most ground, while keepers and centre backs work in shorter bursts. Those repeated sprints run on carbohydrate stored in your muscles, which is why the last 15 minutes is where tired legs show.

Before the game

For an evening league game, a normal lunch plus a carb-based meal 3 to 4 hours before is enough for most players. The joint position stand suggests 1 to 4 g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight in the 1 to 4 hours before exercise, so a 75 kg (165 lb) player might aim for roughly 75 to 150 g in that window. Keep fat and fibre moderate so nothing sits heavy when you start sprinting. If you are coming straight from work, a small snack 30 to 60 minutes before kickoff does the job.

During

Halftime is your only real fuel stop. For a 60 minute pickup game, water is usually all you need. For a full 90 minute match, or a hot day, the guidance is 30 to 60 g of carbohydrate per hour for efforts longer than about an hour, so half a bottle of sports drink and a few orange slices at the break is a simple way to get some in. Tournaments with two or three games in a day are where fuelling matters most: eat a small carb snack between games rather than waiting until the end of the day.

After

After the final whistle, aim for about 20 to 40 g of protein (roughly 0.25 to 0.4 g per kg) along with carbohydrate to start refilling your muscles. If you play again the next day or have another game in a few hours, put more emphasis on carbs. A late game followed by a normal dinner counts, as long as the dinner has protein and carbs in it.

• Chocolate milk on the drive home
• Greek yogurt with granola and berries
• Chicken, rice and vegetables
• Egg and cheese bagel with a piece of fruit

Hydration

Summer soccer on turf can be much hotter than the air temperature, and field players sweat steadily for the whole game. Start well hydrated: about 5 to 7 mL per kg a few hours before is the usual guide. During play, try to keep weight loss under 2% of your body weight. The easiest check is to weigh yourself before and after a few games. For every kg lost, drink about 1.25 to 1.5 L over the next few hours. If you see white salt marks on your shirt, include salty food or a sports drink with sodium. Sweat rate calculator.

Tips

• Bring your own bottle to pickup games. Shared coolers run out by the second half.
• Orange slices at halftime are a tradition for a reason: quick carbs and some fluid in one bite.
• For a weekend tournament, pack more food than you think: sandwiches, bananas, pretzels and a sports drink.
• Try new pre-game foods at practice, not before a playoff game.
• If your calves cramp late in games, check how much you are drinking and whether you are a salty sweater.

Questions

Sources

1. Thomas DT, Erdman KA, Burke LM. American College of Sports Medicine joint position statement: nutrition and athletic performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2016;48(3):543-568.
2. Kerksick CM, Arent S, Schoenfeld BJ, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: nutrient timing. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:33.
3. American College of Sports Medicine, Sawka MN, Burke LM, Eichner ER, Maughan RJ, Montain SJ, Stachenfeld NS. American College of Sports Medicine position stand: exercise and fluid replacement. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007;39(2):377-390.
4. Herrmann SD, Willis EA, Ainsworth BE, et al. 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: a third update of the energy costs of human activities. J Sport Health Sci. 2024;13(1):6-12. Activity lists at pacompendium.com.