Researchers from Bielefeld University are commencing a study to investigate how fans of various national football teams physically react to key moments during the 2026 World Cup.
The scientists aim to understand the physiological experiences of global football fans-specifically, how they react physically to their team’s victories and defeats. To achieve this, they are recruiting participants willing to share data collected from their smartwatches.
To join the study, individuals must register online, providing details such as their country of residence, gender, nationality, their favored team, and an assessment of their own intensity as a fan. Once a sufficient number of fans from a specific national team is gathered, the researchers will send personalized invitations to connect their smartwatches.
During the World Cup, participants will also be surveyed about how they watched the matches-whether it was live on television, via a live ticker, or during a public viewing event. The necessary app supports a wide range of wearable technology, including Apple Watch, Google Pixel Watch, Samsung Health, Fitbit, Garmin, Whoop, and many others.
Christian Deutscher, Co-Project Leader at the Faculty of Psychology and Sport Science, explained the research objective: “We want to know whether fans of different national teams react differently to the same match event. For instance, whether a goal is measured differently for German fans compared to Turkish or Brazilian ones.” He added that the World Cup provides the ideal research setting because it brings fans from across the globe into comparable emotional situations simultaneously.
