Supplementary information files for "The 2026 Men’s FIFA Football World Cup: evidence-based guidelines to protect player health and performance from environmental challenges"

Travel requirements and increased human activities during mega-events increase the susceptibility of players/athletes to, and risk and spread of, airborne illnesses. Changes in air pollution and allergens from players’ domestic club locations and between host cities will also impact player health. Circadian misalignment (up to 19 time zones may be crossed to reach team base camps) and travel fatigue (up to 3 time zones crossed and a 7-h in-tournament flight time) may impact players’ mental and physical health, decrementing athletic performance.

Teams adopting evidence-based guidelines to mitigate the impact of these environmental challenges will be best prepared to protect player health and performance during the tournament. Therefore, this review presents the predicted environmental challenges using the best available data and models and provides evidence-based long- and short-term strategies to best mitigate their impact. Relevant clinical considerations for each challenge are also outlined.<br><br>© The Author(s), CC BY 4.0</p>