Is Watching England in the World Cup Bad for Your Health?

Supporting England in a major tournament is an emotional rollercoaster. From the nervous anticipation of the national anthems to the thrill of a Harry Kane goal and the despair of a penalty shootout loss, fans experience intense highs and lows. But does watching football actually affect the body—and is it good or bad for health?

To find out, I persuaded two scientists from the University of South Wales to join me for an experiment during England's opening World Cup match against Croatia. They packed their lab equipment into a car, and we met at the Wiper and True Taproom in Bristol. To avoid any national bias, we agreed—scientifically—to conduct the experiment in an English pub, not a Welsh one.

The Setup: Wires, Gizmos, and Cuffs

We arrived early and set up at the back of a row of benches with a good view of the projector screen. Then the expensive scientific kit came out. 'None of this is beer-proof, let alone waterproof,' said Prof Damian Bailey, with a brief flicker of regret. He and his PhD student Danny Walmsley spent about 15 minutes wiring me up as I slowly morphed into a partially robotic lifeform.

My left arm and hand were enveloped in probes, wires, gizmos, and cuffs. A pair of ultrasound probes were fixed to my head with splodges of slimy gel above the ears to measure blood flow to my brain. I gently chewed on an absorbent stick—which made cardboard taste appealing—to get a saliva sample that could be tested for 2,000 different proteins, including stress hormones like cortisol. I worried I had contaminated the sample with a pre-match pepperoni pizza.

As kick-off approached, I started breathing into a device that looked like a child's spinning top to record my breathing rate and carbon dioxide output. By this point, I looked like an extra in a low-budget Star Wars parody, and we were definitely the pre-match entertainment in a pub that was now heaving. But the gear allowed us to monitor how my body changed—second by second—over the course of the match.

The Match: A Six-Goal Thriller

As the referee got the game under way, I was buzzing. 'I think tonight is going to be a real humdinger, and that's great for us,' said Bailey. 'I want to see a stress response, excitement, emotional anxiety, fear, shouting, forgetting to breathe, perhaps breathing too much—all of the above.'

In the opening moments, my heart rate was around 54 beats per minute, and my blood pressure was 115 over 75. 'Everything is relaxed, despite the fact there are about 500 people staring at you,' Bailey joked.

The match lived up to his prediction. Early drama: a Kane penalty—a guaranteed goal, surely—but no, it was saved. Wait—the Croatia keeper had strayed off his line, and the referee ordered a retake. Kane placed the ball down again, shot, and scored. I and the rest of the crowd cheered with joy. But then came disappointment as Croatia equalised, before England took the lead again only to squander it. At half-time, the match was evenly poised at 2-2.

Fan Reactions: 'My Heart Is Going 50 Times a Second'

At half-time, we assessed how fellow England fans' bodies were coping. Ollie, 23, said his heart was going '50 times a second' and he might 'keel over and die' from the stress. Tim, 38, said he needed more England goals because 'currently it's pretty bad for my health.'

The experiment continued into the second half, with the scientists monitoring my vital signs as the emotional rollercoaster continued. The full results would later reveal how the body responds to the highs and lows of tournament football.