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Preparation for matchday involves many things, but one common aspect that might be overlooked by some athletes is planning pre-game fuel. Your decisions regarding what and when to eat and drink prior to a game can truly make or break your ability to perform once you hit the pitch. Knowing what to choose and what to avoid for your pre-game fuel is essential so you feel energized and can perform at an optimal level.

What to Eat Before Your Game

Carbohydrates are central to pre-match nutrition. This is because carbs give you quick energy and are the primary fuel source for your brain, helping with decision-making and focus.¹ Eating sufficient carbs before a match helps top off your glycogen (carb/glucose) stores within your muscles and liver to help fuel your activity on the field.

Skimping out on carbohydrate intake prior to a game can decrease power output, your ability to sustain heavy loads and high intensity activity, reduces mental acuity, and leaves you at risk of early fatigue, muscle cramps, and even injury.^2,3

Hydration is also central to pre-match nutrition. Without adequate hydration, an athlete can become dehydrated quickly during a game, leading to less optimal performance on the pitch due to fatigue and cramping. Choose water and sports drinks (with carbs and electrolytes) to ensure sufficient hydration status prior to your game. Sip on fluids throughout the day leading up to kickoff time.

Pre-Game Fueling Timeline

When planning your fueling timeline for match day, you’ll want to work backward from kickoff to know exactly when you should be fueling.

Typically, you will want to have your main pregame meal about 3-4 hours before kickoff to allow your body enough time to digest and absorb the food and prevent discomfort or cramping while on the field.

If kickoff is in the morning, then plan on having a pre-match breakfast about 2 hours before the game. Not accustomed to eating early? Your digestive system is like a muscle, and athletes can train it to tolerate food and fluid before competition.

You will also want to top off your energy availability with a pre-game snack close to gametime, about 1 hour prior to kickoff.

Pre-Match Meal

In your pre-match meal(s), you will want to craft your Performance Plate in the following ratios:

• Half plate of carbohydrates
• Quarter plate of protein
• Quarter plate of colorful low fiber fruits and vegetables
• Hydration

Although carbs are prioritized during your pre-match meal, you also need protein and colorful fruits and vegetables. Protein along with the antioxidants in fruits and vegetables are essential for muscle recovery. A moderate amount of protein helps provide your muscles with the building blocks (amino acids) needed for recovery and repair prior to the game. Choose lean proteins or fish.

Be sure to choose lower fiber fruits and vegetables to ensure quicker digestion and absorption of the nutrients on your plate, and to avoid potential digestive discomfort before and during the match. Low fiber, easy-to-digest carbs will help fuel your muscles throughout your game, making it more likely you can last the full 90 minutes. Choose well-cooked vegetables for even easier digestion.

Examples of low fiber fruits and vegetables:

• Banana
• Melon (cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew)
• Citrus fruit (oranges, clementines, grapefruit)
• Plums
• Peaches
• Applesauce
• Squash (summer, zucchini, acorn)
• Tomato sauce
• Carrots
• Green beans
• Artichoke hearts
• Greens

For athletes with nervous stomachs, liquid nutrition can be an easy alternative. Try a protein smoothie versus solid food for quicker digestion if this sounds like you.

In general, you will want to choose familiar, simple foods that you have eaten before and that you know are safe for you. Listen to your body and take note of how you feel as you countdown to kickoff and the 90th minute. Ultimately, you want to eat whatever gives you the most energy and makes you feel good. Many athletes will choose the same meal prior to the match, giving them psychological comfort of a pregame routine.

Pre-Game Snack

Your pre-match snack serves as your source of fuel to top off your energy stores about one hour before kickoff. This snack can help prevent you from getting hungry during gameplay, cramping, bloating, and falling prey to early fatigue.

Be sure to start with hydration via a sports drink containing both carbs and electrolytes (don’t forget sodium!). This provides both fuel (carbs/sugar) and fluids/electrolytes (hydration) to help you perform your best on the pitch. You want both carbs and electrolytes (sodium) together, as carbs enhance water and sodium absorption.

You also want to obtain 30-60 grams of simple, easy-to-digest carbohydrates to maximize your available energy prior to the game. Common choices are carb-rich chews, gels, bananas, salted crackers (has sodium for extra electrolytes!), and granola bars. And remember - your sports drink has carbs and counts towards your total carbs needed pre-game to boost your energy.

Should You Add Caffeine?

Many athletes add a caffeine source to their pre-game ritual. Caffeine can be beneficial when taken 15-60 minutes prior to a soccer game to potentially increase vertical jump height, repeated sprint ability, running distance, and improve passing accuracy. The beneficial dose for caffeine as an ergogenic aid begins at 3 mg per kg of bodyweight.⁴

It is important to know both how caffeine affects you and what your personal optimal dosage is before trialing caffeine on a gameday. Caffeine is best to trial gradually on training days so you know how much you can tolerate without experiencing any unwanted side effects. Children should avoid caffeine dosages over 75 mg per day, so focus on the recommendations above before adding caffeine to their pregame regimen.

Caffeinated gels and chews are alternatives to coffee for those who want a boost in mental focus without any of the digestive side effects coffee has on some people.

What to Avoid Before Your Game

Overall, you will want to avoid foods high in either fat or fiber prior to a match. This is because these foods take longer to digest. If your body is still trying to digest high fiber/fat foods during your game, you can feel more sluggish and even experience some digestive issues like bloating or cramping.

Spicy or acidic foods can also cause digestive issues, including heartburn or indigestion, if consumed too close to a game. As you get closer to kickoff, you will also want to limit protein and focus more on hydration and carbohydrates for fuel.

As alluded to above, you also want to avoid new foods or new places to obtain your food from prior to a game. Sticking to trusted foods that you know make you energized and feel good allows you to take some unwanted additional stress out of your gameday, because it is one less variable to worry about. Opt for sampling new foods or new nutrition strategies during the training week to test how it impacts you during exercise.

Leave trying a new restaurant for after gameday. Methods of preparation, ingredients, and food sourcing vary between restaurants. This means that you may find yourself eating something you do not tolerate well, or even something that can make you sick via foodborne illness.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this blog series to learn all about how soccer players can optimize their performance with intra-match and halftime nutrition strategies.

References

1. Hulton AT, Malone JJ, Clarke ND, MacLaren DPM. Energy Requirements and Nutritional Strategies for Male Soccer Players: A Review and Suggestions for Practice. Nutrients. 2022;14(3):657. Published 2022 Feb 4. doi:10.3390/nu14030657
2. Schlabach G. Carbohydrate strategies for injury prevention. J Athl Train. 1994;29(3):244-254.
3. Williams C, Rollo I. Carbohydrate Nutrition and Team Sport Performance. Sports Med. 2015;45 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S13-S22. doi:10.1007/s40279-015-0399-3
4. Mielgo-Ayuso J, Calleja-Gonzalez J, Del Coso J, Urdampilleta A, León-Guereño P, Fernández-Lázaro D. Caffeine Supplementation and Physical Performance, Muscle Damage and Perception of Fatigue in Soccer Players: A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2019;11(2):440. Published 2019 Feb 20. doi:10.3390/nu11020440