Fever pitch: the science of the Football World Cup

About this episode

This episode explores the science behind the FIFA World Cup, featuring discussions on physics, player performance, fan psychology, and AI in team assembly.

The FIFA World Cup is taking place across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It's often called the beautiful game, but is it really more science than art? This episode features Rachael Ralph, Hugh Hunt, and Alex Grantham on the physics of football; Tom Brownlee on elite player performance; Gill Cook on the psychology of fans; and Jan Wendt on whether AI can assemble a top squad. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

People in this episode

Guests: Rachael Ralph, Hugh Hunt, Alex Grantham, Tom Brownlee, Gill Cook, Jan Wendt

Topics covered

• Football World Cup
• Physics of football
• Elite player performance
• Psychology of fans
• AI in sports

Keywords

• FIFA World Cup
• football physics
• elite performance
• fan psychology
• AI sports

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: FIFA

Places: United States, Canada, Mexico

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