We support many athletes across different sports at our London-based sports nutrition clinic (and remotely). Below are details of some strategies our footballers use leading up to match day. Please contact us on the contact form at the base of the page to find out how we can help you.
How to eat Before a Match: The Key Nutrition Goals to Perform Your Best
Proper nutrition plays a crucial role in optimising football performance. A well-planned nutrition strategy leading up to matchday and the hours before can significantly impact energy levels, focus, and overall performance on the field. Adequate fuelling can help footballers cover more distance, run more at higher speeds, improve reaction times and technical skills, and reduce the onset of fatigue. However, the wrong nutrition can sabotage performance and, even worse, cause us to withdraw from play completely with issues such as cramps, gi-distress, or substitution due to obvious fatigue.
"What's the best food to eat before a football match to perform my best?"
Sports nutritionists often hear what is best to eat before a football match to perform my best. While everyone is different, with different preferences, rituals, schedules, and resources available, there will always be some trial and refinement around "best recommendations" for each player. It's also important to note that all strategies should first be trialled in training.
What nutrition should I focus on leading up to a match?
Optimal fuel (carbohydrates) in the tank to perform your best.
Optimal hydration to support performance.
Strategic supplements which can aid performance.
Timed strategies to peak at the right time.
Timed strategies to reduce the risk of adverse outcomes.
And maybe the most important are strategies that work for you and you feel good using.
Nutrition the Day Before
What are the key nutrition goals of Matchday -1?
Load up on carbohydrates to fill up the fuel stores in your liver and muscle.
Achieve optimal hydration and maintain it throughout the day.
Maintain other nutrition strategies e.g. dietary quality and protein intake as usual.
Why is nutrition important the day before a match?
The day before the match is when the work starts.
Carbohydrate is the predominant fuel during a match (about 60-70% of fuel used). Although it takes time to increase fuel stores within the muscles and liver (your two primary petrol tanks where fuel is stored for later use), it takes time to increase carbohydrate stores to support performance; however, these stores also run out rapidly. Even when fuelling optimally, a primary challenge is maintaining fuel levels and performance until the full-time whistle, where research has shown that 50% of muscle fibres are empty of fuel at full-time (Krustrup et al., 2006). This is a key reason performance often drops off in the final 30 minutes and how fully fuelled, less fatigued impact substitutes can come on and make a huge difference. Therefore, to prepare for the demands, we must start the day before.
Why do we need so much fuel?
The simple answer is that football matches are demanding,
Outfield players sprint, change direction, make contact with other players and are constantly moving. Heart rate is maintained at 85% of maximum. Players may cover distances of approximately 10-13km (Anderson et al., 2016), including 1150m of high-intensity running, 350m of sprinting and 57 sprints with estimated energy expenditure between 1300-1600kcal. Technical skill is also essential, as players perform complex dribbles, pass, and shoot, all of which deplete energy stores.
So how much carbohydrate do we need?
Current research and the UEFA Expert Group Statement recommend 6-8g per kg of body mass. This is about 420-560g of carbohydrates for a 70kg footballer. This is probably best consumed with 4-5 high-fuel feeds across the day, using high-fuel snacks such as smoothies and high-fuel sides with main meals.
Research recommends 4-6g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight on the day before a match. That's 420-560g for a 70kg footballer.
So what would it look like over the day before a match?
Notice in the image below that there are lots of high-carbohydrate options, such as carbohydrate sides like a banana for breakfast, apple crumble for dessert, the soreen loaf snack in the evening, and a strategic high-carb smoothie during the day.
How much carbohydrate do I need?
The chart below shows how many carbohydrates are needed per kg of body weight compared to the 6-8g recommended.
Hydration
Hydration is an often overlooked component of pre-match preparation. A good baseline of adequate hydration should always be maintained and continued the day before a match. Many players start training and matches dehydrated, while being well-hydrated will support performance, cognitive function, and body temperature and reduce cardiovascular stress and fatigue.
Hydration can vary significantly between athletes, depending on individual sweat rates, differing levels of activity, and different environmental factors. A good strategy for hydration is to hydrate early and achieve clear urine. Hydrate during training and replace any losses from the training session (drink 1.5 x weight loss, e.g. 1kg weight loss equals 1.5 more litres) and maintain throughout the day.
"On the day before a game, achieve clear urine early on the day and keep hydration topped up"
MD-1 Summary
The day before is essential to optimise fuel and hydration and maximise performance for tomorrow's match. Consuming 6-8g of carbohydrates (for example, 420-560g of carbs for a 70kg player) will help maximise your fuel tanks (your liver and muscles). Consuming consistent high-fuel meals with carbohydrate-based sides (e.g. fruit bowl, rice pudding, apple crumble) and carbohydrate-based snacks (such as a smoothie, bananas on toast, yoghurt with banana and honey) can make targets more achievable. Hydration is the other key goal; consuming liquids early, achieving clear urine and staying hydrated during and after MD-1 training will support match-day performance.
Nutrition for Matchday
Matchday continues the work of the day before; if you have to play catch up, you may need more time to fuel and hydrate optimally. continues the work
Key goals
Replace overnight fuel and hydration losses and continue the work done the day before topping up fuel stores and maintaining hydration.
Consume an appropriate pre-match meal approximately three hours before.
Minimise adverse outcomes (for example, gi distress from too much fibre/fat close to intense activity)
Utilise any strategic supplements.
Matchday continues the work of the day before; if you have to play catch up, you may need more time to fuel and hydrate optimally.
The Morning of a Match
Kick-off time will dictate how many meals are consumed throughout the day before the match. Mid-day kick-off means breakfast will be the last main meal (the pre-match meal), and a 17:00 kick-off means more meals will be consumed, likely breakfast, lunch, and then the pre-match meal around 2 p.m.
The image below shows the total meals for different days.
Nutrition Strategies the Hours Before
The Pre-match Meal (Kickoff - 3 hours)
Fuel
The pre-match meal is the last primary meal to top up fuel stores. Recommendations are typically 1-3g per kg of body weight or 70-210g of carbohydrates for a 70kg footballer. The pre-match meal should be easily digestible, low in fibre, comfortable to consume, and happily part of each footballer's pre-match ritual. Protein and vegetables should be easy-to-consume options. To achieve the target, use strategic sides, such as desserts, fruit, wholegrain rolls, and carbohydrate-containing drinks. The images below show examples of meals and sides to help achieve targets.
Hydration is also a key focus during the pre-match meal. To help ensure optimal hydration, recommendations of 5-7 ml per kg of body weight (350-490ml for a 70kg player).
Use strategic carbohydrate-based sides
Example of a Pre-Match Meal
Leading Up
Now that the final primary pre-match meal has been consumed, the primary goal is maintaining hydration by sipping liquids (about 200ml is sensible). Some players may prefer a small top of simple carbs to further prime fuel stores for kick-off. These should be low in fibre and switch more to white/easily digestible options such as fruit, carbohydrate-based drinks, flapjack, and Soreen bars.
Example of optional fuelling snacks between the pre-match-meal and kick-off
Warming Up / Pre-match (Final Opportunity)
This is the final opportunity to consume some very easily digestible foods, supplements, or drinks during the warm-up. Notice how they are all simple sugars and quick-acting. Aiming for approximately 60g of carbohydrates can help maximise your stores and keep fuel topped up. While warming up, this may look like a bottle of sports drink and a gel in the changing room. These sources will deliver energy through the first halth and support target carbohydrate and hydration recommendations.
Overall Summary
While nutrition plays a crucial role in boosting your immune system, several non-nutritional factors can contribute to overall immune health:
Matchday-1: Where nutrition prep starts.
Load up on fuel and hydrate well. Consume high carbohydrates (approximately 6-8g per kg of body weight, about 420-540g of carbohydrates over the day). Hydrate well and achieve clear urine early. Recover any losses from training.
Matchday: Continue your work from the day before.
Continue the strategy from the day before, with high-fuel meals and good hydration. Kick-off time will dictate how many meals you consumed. Early kick-off may mean just one meal (the pre-match meal) is consumed for breakfast.
Pre-Match Meal (Kick-off -3 hours)
The final primary fuelling meal (pre-match meal) should be about three hours before kick-off. Should contains:
High fuel (approximately 1-3g per kg of body mass (70-210g) for 70kg player
Easily digestible (low fibre, easily digestible protein options).
Hydration well (5-7ml of water per kg of body mass (350-490ml)
Supplements (consider timed supplements such as nitrate shot)
Leading up
Continue to sip liquids and keep hydration topped up, about 2-3g per kg body weight. Some players may want to consume a high-fuel snack to keep fuel levels topped up, especially during an early morning kickoff when there will not be as many meals to replace losses from overnight.
Warm Up (minutes before)
Last chance, aiming for approximately 60g of carbohydrates can help maximise your stores and keep fuel topped up. This may look like a bottle of sports drink and a gel in the changing room while warming up. This will both deliver the target carbohydrate recommendations and a final delivery of extra hydration.
Further reading:
Collins, J., (2021). UEFA expert group statement on nutrition in elite football. Current evidence to inform practical recommendations and guide future research. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 55(8), 416–416.
Maughan, R. J., Burke, L. M., Dvorak, J., Larson-Meyer, D. E., Peeling, P., Phillips, S. M., Rawson, E. S., Walsh, N. P., Garthe, I., Geyer, H., Meeusen, R., Loon, L. J. C. van, Shirreffs, S. M., Spriet, L. L., Stuart, M., Vernec, A., Currell, K., Ali, V. M., Budgett, R. G., … Engebretsen, L. (2018). IOC consensus statement: Dietary supplements and the high-performance athlete. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52(7), 439–455.
Hulton, A. T., Malone, J. J., Clarke, N. D., & MacLaren, D. P. M. (2022). Energy Requirements and Nutritional Strategies for Male Soccer Players: A Review and Suggestions for Practice. Nutrients, 14(3), 657.
Anderson, L., Orme, P., Di Michele, R., Close, G. L., Morgans, R., Drust, B., & Morton, J. P. (2016). Quantification of training load during one-, two- and three-game week schedules in professional soccer players from the English Premier League: Implications for carbohydrate periodisation. Journal of Sports Sciences, 34(13), 1250–1259.
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