Every football fan knows the feeling in their body. Your heart races before kickoff, your pulse spikes when your team scores, and a last-minute goal can leave you emotionally drained for hours.
Now, scientists want to measure those reactions in real time.
Researchers at Germany’s Bielefeld University are inviting FIFA World Cup fans from around the world to participate in a large-scale study that uses smartwatches and fitness trackers to examine how football matches affect the human body. The goal is to understand how victories, defeats, and dramatic moments translate into measurable changes in heart rate and stress levels and whether fans from different countries react differently to the same events.
Why are scientists studying football fans?
Major sporting events create some of the strongest emotional experiences people encounter outside everyday life.
Unlike laboratory experiments, the FIFA World Cup offers researchers a rare opportunity to observe millions of people reacting to the same event simultaneously.
According to sports scientist Dr. Christian Deutscher, the tournament provides an ideal setting to compare how supporters from different countries respond to identical match situations, such as goals, penalties, or dramatic comebacks.
The findings could improve researchers’ understanding of emotional stress, excitement, and how shared experiences affect the human body.
How does the study work?
Fans interested in participating can register online and connect a compatible smartwatch or fitness tracker.
Researchers will collect physiological data while participants watch World Cup matches.
Participants will also answer questions about:
- Their nationality.
- Country of residence.
- Favorite national team.
- How strongly they identify as a supporter.
- Whether they watched the match in a stadium, at home, or at a public viewing event or followed it through live updates.
The wearable devices will record metrics such as heart rate throughout the game, allowing researchers to analyze how the body responds to different moments.
Why use smartwatches?
Modern wearable devices continuously measure physiological signals with minimal interruption.
For studies like this, they offer several advantages:
- Continuous heart rate monitoring.
- Long battery life during entire matches.
- Passive data collection.
- Real-world measurements outside laboratory settings.
Instead of asking participants how excited they felt, researchers can observe physical changes as they happen.
What did earlier research find?
The current project builds on previous work by the same research team.
During the 2025 DFB-Pokal final between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart, researchers monitored 229 supporters using smartwatches.
The results revealed clear differences between watching inside a stadium and watching from home.
Key findings included:
- Stadium spectators averaged about 94 beats per minute.
- Fans watching on television averaged around 79 beats per minute.
- Heart rates during goals were up to 36% higher among stadium attendees.
- Elevated stress levels began nearly 14 hours before kickoff.
The findings suggest anticipation alone can produce measurable physiological effects long before the match begins.
Why does football affect us so strongly?
Sports psychologists say football combines several powerful emotional triggers.
Identity and belonging
Fans often see their national team as an extension of themselves, making victories feel personal and defeats emotionally painful.
Uncertainty
Unlike scripted entertainment, sporting events have unpredictable outcomes.
That uncertainty keeps viewers emotionally engaged throughout the match.
Shared experiences
Watching with friends, family, or thousands of fellow supporters can amplify emotional responses through collective excitement.
High stakes
World Cup matches often carry national pride, historic rivalries, and elimination pressure, making every goal feel more significant.
Could football stress be harmful?
For most healthy people, temporary increases in heart rate during exciting sporting events are a normal response.
However, previous medical research has found that emotionally intense matches can temporarily increase cardiovascular stress, particularly among individuals with existing heart conditions.
Researchers hope wearable technology will improve understanding of how emotional excitement affects different groups of people.
Why this research matters
Wearable devices are increasingly transforming health research.
Large-scale studies using smartwatches allow scientists to monitor thousands of participants during everyday activities instead of relying solely on laboratory experiments.
Football provides a unique testing ground because millions of fans experience the same emotional events at the same time.
The results may help researchers better understand not only sports fandom but also how collective experiences influence stress, excitement, and overall well-being.
The bigger picture
The FIFA World Cup is often celebrated for unforgettable goals and dramatic storylines, but it also offers scientists a rare window into human emotion.
By combining wearable technology with one of the world’s biggest sporting events, researchers hope to learn how excitement, anticipation, and disappointment leave measurable fingerprints on the body.
For football fans, cheering for their team could now contribute to scientific research as well as unforgettable memories.
TL;DR
- Bielefeld University researchers are recruiting FIFA World Cup fans for a global smartwatch study.
- Participants will share wearable data collected while watching World Cup matches.
- Scientists want to measure changes in heart rate and stress during key moments in games.
- The study will compare emotional responses among supporters from different countries.
- Previous research found stadium fans experience significantly higher heart rates than people watching from home.
