Ready for 2026 World Cup final? You may think so, but your body will have to be prepared to put in some work – especially if your favorite team does.
Research shows that watching high-pressure sports can raise your heart rate, augment stress levels and put additional strain on your cardiovascular system.
According to A recent research From researchers at the University of Bielefeld in Germany, fans’ physiological stress increases by approximately 41 percent during a soccer final compared to a normal day. Heart rate also increased significantly, jumping from 70.9 beats per minute to 78.7 beats per minute – a difference even compared to other weekends.
Researchers from Bielefeld followed 229 fans of the German club Arminia Bielefeld for three months. Participants wore shrewd watches that continuously recorded heart rate and an estimated stress score based on heart rate variability, allowing researchers to compare the day of the 2025 German Cup final with the days leading up to the match.
The physiological response to the soccer final began long before the match started. Scientists observed that fans’ stress levels began to augment in the morning and peaked just before the start of the match. Even after the final whistle, spectators showed signs of increased stress.
Where you watch the game also matters. The study found that fans who watched stadium had an average heart rate of 94.2 beats per minute compared to 79.4 among those who watched the game on television. After his team scored their first goal, the heart rate of those in the stands increased to an average of 108 beats per minute, a much more intense response than seen in other contexts.
Drinking alcohol seemed to enhance this effect. Participants who reported drinking during the game had heart rates approximately 5 percent higher than other fans during the game and almost 12 percent higher after their team scored their first goal. Although researchers did not evaluate medical threatsnote that alcohol can augment the burden on the circulatory system when people are in an emotional state.
In the first minutes of the match, when the result was still uncertain, the heart rate reached its highest level. Just as the match seemed to be decided, the fans’ heart rates dropped.
However, two goals scored in the last minutes made them raise the bar again, even though the chances of a comeback were practically zero. (One can only imagine how rapid the hearts of Argentina fans were beating during this week’s furious match against Egypt). According to the authors, this means that the body responds not only to objective chances of winning, but also to emotions such as hope, pride or attachment to the team.
The findings align with previous research on the physiological effects of soccer. This includes a study published in the journal New England Journal of Medicine after the 2006 World Cup in Germany, they found that the risk of an acute cardiovascular event during German national team matches among people with pre-existing heart disease increased almost threefold.
Subsequent research shows that matches can lead to an augment in stress hormones such as cortisol, and has shown that fans who identify more strongly with their team show more intense biological responses during decisive matches.
This article originally appeared on WIRED in Spanish and was translated from Spanish.