From Brazil 1970 to World Cup 2026: How Footballers Became Faster, Stronger and Older Than Ever

Two historic goals at the FIFA Men’s World Cup tell the story of a radical transformation in both football and the bodies of its elite players.

Over a tense and spectacular 30 seconds in 1970, Brazil worked the ball through eight players before a thunderous strike by right-back Carlos Alberto. The team’s fourth goal against Italy in the World Cup final is often hailed as one of the greatest moments in the tournament’s history. But fast forward five decades, and a similar seven-pass manoeuvre by Argentina against France in the 2022 final, finished by winger Ángel Di María, took just 12 seconds.

That 1970 goal “wouldn’t have taken place in this day and age,” says Dr Orlando Laitano, a University of Florida professor and leading expert on exercise physiology. If that Brazilian team could travel in time, their move would likely be stifled by modern opponents. And, says Dr Laitano, “the biggest gap wouldn’t be talent. It would be physiology.”

A Battle for Every Inch

Dr Laitano, who worked with the Brazilian national team at the 2014 World Cup, says modern footballers have become biologically different players from their predecessors. The evolution of exercise science and medicine, combined with changes to the way the game is played, mean elite football has evolved into a battle for every inch of pitch space.

“As a consequence,” he says, “modern players have to become faster and stronger.”

Data from the past five decades supports this view. Researchers from the University of Wolverhampton in the UK have compared information about thousands of players in England’s top football division from the 1970s to the 2020s, covering the First Division up to 1992 and the Premier League thereafter, a competition in which elite players from around the world are now strongly represented.

Their findings are striking.

Getting Taller and Leaner

The average height of top-division players increased by more than 4cm between 1973 and 2013. The trend continued in the following decade for goalkeepers and defenders, though the average height for strikers and midfielders decreased slightly in more recent years.

The researchers also concluded that top-division players “are getting more angular and ectomorphic.” This means they increasingly tend towards tall, lean, light-framed, long-limbed body shapes, a trend indicated by rising scores in a measure called the Reciprocal Ponderal Index, or RPI, which measures height relative to weight in a way that emphasises thinness.

The study’s authors suggest this shift in body type is linked to better playing surfaces and the increased physical workload demanded of modern players.

Back in the 1970s, pitches in the middle of winter used to become extremely muddy. “Players had to be very muscular to perform well,” says Emeritus Professor Alan Nevill, one of the study’s co-authors. But now, with better surfaces, “you’re getting these lighter, thinner players that can perform for longer periods of sustained energy outputs.”

Sprinting More, and More Often

Much of that sustained energy output is expended on speed, and the numbers here are remarkable. Several studies have estimated that players rarely broke the 30 kilometres per hour barrier in the 1970s and 1980s. By the 2022 World Cup, at least 10 players ran at speeds faster than 35 kilometres per hour.

But it is not just the top speed that has changed. Players are now required to hit those top speeds far more frequently within a single match.

“If you look at strikers from the last century, they could walk for most of the game, but just explode in a few actions and maybe score a goal. That doesn’t exist anymore,” says Jens Bangsbo, professor of exercise physiology at the University of Copenhagen.

At UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany, players ran at speeds of 25 kilometres per hour or more approximately 12 times per match, according to UEFA data. The breakdown by position reveals how varied the physical demands are across different roles.

Sprinting fast is one thing, says Professor Bangsbo, but the most important factor is the ability to do it repeatedly. “Basically, football nowadays is the question about recovery. The ability to recover as fast as possible.”

Professor Bangsbo, a former professional footballer himself and one of the world’s leading experts in football fitness and physiology, points to the rise of high-pressing tactics as the primary driver of this acceleration. Fast, coordinated attempts to win possession from defenders before they can play the ball forward have become a cornerstone of the modern game, demanding bursts of intense collective effort that simply did not exist in football’s earlier eras.

Players Are Not Running Further, Just Harder

Interestingly, the game has not produced a large increase in the total distances players cover per match. The evolution has been in intensity rather than volume.

Studies suggest that in the 1970s, players walked, jogged or ran an average of 8.7 kilometres per match. This rose to a peak of approximately 11.4 kilometres in the 1990s but has since declined. Players at the 2022 World Cup covered an average of 10.6 kilometres per match, according to FIFA data, though this varied considerably between positions.

The reduction in total distance covered, combined with the increase in high-speed running and sprinting, tells a clear story. Modern players are doing less low-intensity movement and far more explosive, high-intensity effort. The game has become faster in its decisive moments even as its overall structure has become more controlled.

Are Footballers Playing Too Much?

The physical demands on top players extend well beyond individual matches. Data suggests that the number of games played by most clubs around the world has remained broadly stable at around 42 per season. But for elite players who also carry heavy international commitments, the burden can become significantly greater.

Liverpool and Netherlands defender Virgil van Dijk had already taken part in 65 games this season, including 10 for his national team, ahead of the World Cup 2026, according to data published by FIFPRO, the international footballers’ trade union. FIFPRO has said demands on players have “never been greater” and has called for increased safeguards around rest and recovery time.

“The number of games played is definitely an issue related to risk of injury,” says Professor Bangsbo.

A study commissioned by UEFA, published in 2023, found what it described as a “worrying” increase in hamstring injury rates over the preceding eight seasons. In six out of ten cases, players were injured while running or sprinting. The study did not establish cause, but the authors suggested that the increased intensity of elite football and crowded match calendars might be contributing factors.

“Players nowadays work at their limits,” says Dr Laitano. “Without proper recovery time, their bodies cave in.”

Veterans on the Rise

Against that backdrop of physical demands and injury risk, there is a remarkable countertrend. Advances in sports science, from training regimes and nutrition to recovery technology, have made it possible for footballers to continue competing at elite level for considerably longer than previous generations.

The average squad age in the UEFA Champions League, the world’s most important club competition, rose from 24.9 years in 1992 to 26.5 years in 2018. And the trend is equally visible at World Cups.

The last three World Cups were the oldest in history, according to FIFA. The 2018 tournament registered the highest-ever average player age for the competition at 27.9 years. Just seven players aged 35 or over took part in the 1990 World Cup, according to data compiled by Dr Joshua C. Fjetsul, a data scientist and economist at the University of Oslo. By 2022, that figure had risen to 41. At World Cup 2026, official FIFA squad lists show 72 players aged 35 or over, with eight players aged 40 or above, more than in all previous World Cups combined.

“Players who look after themselves and follow the right training and recovery protocols have a much better chance of playing at high level for longer than before,” says Dr Laitano.

The presence of players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, still competing at the highest international level at 41, is perhaps the most visible symbol of this trend. Whatever one thinks of his current impact on the pitch, the fact that his body has been maintained well enough to participate in a World Cup at that age is itself a testament to the transformation sports science has brought about.

The 50-Year Transformation at a Glance

What This Means for World Cup 2026

The tournament taking place across the United States, Canada and Mexico is the largest in World Cup history, featuring 48 teams and a schedule that will push players to new physical limits. The evolution of the footballer’s body over the past 50 years has made the modern game faster, more intense and more demanding than any previous generation could have imagined.

Carlos Alberto’s thunderous finish in Mexico City in 1970 remains one of football’s most celebrated moments. But the 30 seconds it took to build will never be seen again at this level. The game has moved on. And so have the bodies of the players who play it.

Read More: Who Replaces Christian Pulisic If He Misses USA’s Crucial World Cup 2026 Clash?

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