Nutrition guide
Match-day nutrition for footballers
A football match asks for roughly 10–12km of running with a sprint every ninety seconds. That is a carbohydrate-driven job, and the players who fade after seventy minutes are usually underfuelled rather than unfit.
This guide sets out the day hour by hour. Use the macro calculator on the nutrition page to convert the per-kilogram numbers here into your own targets.
The day before (MD-1)
Aim for 6–8g of carbohydrate per kilogram of bodyweight across the day, spread over normal meals rather than one enormous pasta dinner. Keep to familiar foods — the night before a match is the worst possible time to try something new.
Hydrate steadily through the day and finish with roughly 500ml before bed. Sleep is part of the fuelling plan: one short night measurably reduces sprint output and decision quality.
Three to four hours before kick-off
The main pre-match meal: 2–3g/kg of carbohydrate, a moderate portion of lean protein, and deliberately low fat and low fibre so it clears your stomach in time. Pasta, rice, chicken, white bread, honey and a banana all do the job.
Drink 5–7ml/kg of fluid with this meal. If it is hot, add electrolytes rather than simply drinking more water.
Sixty minutes before
Top up with 30–60g of fast-acting carbohydrate: a banana, a sports drink or a gel. This is a top-up, not a meal — anything heavier this close to kick-off sits in the stomach through the warm-up.
Half time
30g of carbohydrate plus 300–500ml of fluid. Even a carbohydrate mouth rinse without swallowing improves late-game sprint output, which tells you how much of second-half fatigue is central rather than muscular.
The recovery window
Within thirty minutes of full time, take 1.2g/kg of carbohydrate and 0.4g/kg of protein. Milk-based recovery drinks cover carbohydrate, protein and rehydration in one, which is why so many clubs default to them.
Replace 150% of the fluid lost — weigh yourself before and after if you want a real number rather than a guess. Then eat a proper meal within two hours.
Common questions
- What should I eat before a football match?
- A carbohydrate-led meal 3–4 hours before kick-off (2–3g/kg carbs, moderate lean protein, low fat and fibre), then a 30–60g fast-carb top-up an hour before.
- Should footballers eat during a match?
- At half time, yes: around 30g of carbohydrate plus 300–500ml of fluid. It measurably protects second-half sprint output.
- What is the best recovery meal after football?
- Carbohydrate plus protein within thirty minutes — roughly 1.2g/kg carbs and 0.4g/kg protein — followed by a full meal within two hours, with fluid replaced to 150% of what you lost.
More nutrition guides
Turn these numbers into your numbers
The macro calculator on the nutrition page converts every per-kilogram target here into daily protein, carbohydrate and fat for your bodyweight and training load.