About this episode

This episode explores the impact of sports science, data analysis, and AI on football, particularly in the context of the 2026 World Cup.

Episode 381 Advances in sports science, data analysis and AI are having a huge impact on the way football is played. With England rated highly in this year’s World Cup, and teams such as Paraguay causing upsets - how will science help give teams an edge? In the past there was very little data available to help assess player performance - and diet and training were much more rudimentary. But now we can analyse information in an incredibly sophisticated way, which is changing what players can achieve on the pitch. In this special World Cup episode recorded at the Royal Society in London, we explore the emerging role of data and AI in football, the neuroscience of penalty shootouts, the impact of extreme heat on player performance, differences between the men’s and women’s game - and much more. Rowan Hooper is joined by a panel of expert guests, including: Dr Charlotte Cowie, Chief Medical Officer of the British Olympic Association Dr Ian Graham, Founder of sports advisory business Ludonautics Holly Bridge, Professor of Neuroscience at University of Oxford To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Image credit: Ank Kumar, CC BY-SA 4.0…

People in this episode

Host: Rowan Hooper

Guests: Dr Charlotte Cowie, Dr Ian Graham, Holly Bridge

Topics covered

• sports science
• data analysis
• AI in football
• player performance
• penalty shootouts
• extreme heat impact
• men's and women's football

Keywords

• football
• sports science
• data analysis
• AI
• player performance
• penalty shootouts
• extreme heat
• men's football
• women's football

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: British Olympic Association, Ludonautics, University of Oxford

Places: England, Paraguay, Royal Society, London

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