Researchers at Bielefeld University are investigating how fans of different national teams physically respond to match events during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. A previous study of the 2025 DFB Cup final demonstrated for the first time a direct link between match action and vital functions such as heart rate and stress levels in supporters. The project is conducted in cooperation with Bielefeld’s Wissenswerkstadt [Knowledge Hub].
Key facts at a glance:
- For the 2026 World Cup, the Bielefeld research team is seeking football fans of various national teams who wear a Garmin smartwatch.
- The study examines whether and how match events and nationality influence fans’ physiological responses.
- Heart rate, stress, movement and sleep are recorded automatically via smartwatch.
The researchers aim to understand how football supporters around the world physically experience victories and defeats of their teams. To this end, they are inviting fans to share data from their smartwatches. Those wishing to participate register online, providing their country of residence, gender and nationality, naming their preferred team, and assessing how intensely they identify as a supporter. Once a sufficient number of fans of a particular national team has registered, the researchers will send personalised invitations to connect their smartwatch. During the World Cup, participants will also be asked which matches they followed live – and whether they watched on television, via live ticker, or at a public viewing event.
Participation requires a smartwatch manufactured by Garmin, one of the market leaders. Via a data-protection-compliant interface, the researchers access anonymised data from fans who have voluntarily registered for the study. ‘The long battery life enables us to obtain uninterrupted data series over several days,’ says Professor Dr Christiane Fuchs, co-project leader and head of the Data Science Group at the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics at Bielefeld University.
‘We are interested in whether fans of different national teams react with differing intensity to the same match event – for example, whether a goal is measurably different for German fans than for Turkish or Brazilian supporters,’ says Professor Dr Christian Deutscher, co-project leader at the Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science. ‘The World Cup provides an ideal research setting because it places fans from all over the world in comparable emotional situations at the same time.’
As with the previous study, the Wissenswerkstadt Bielefeld is supporting the World Cup football fever project. ‘Smartwatches have become part of everyday life – so why not make use of what people already wear on their wrists?’ says Jens Franzke, Press Officer of the Wissenswerkstadt. ‘These are precisely the kinds of projects we seek to support: accessible, close to everyday life, and offering genuine scientific added value.’
Arminia study as foundation
The new investigation builds on findings from the research team’s study of the 2025 DFB Cup final. Over a period of twelve weeks, the researchers collected vital data from 229 supporters of DSC Arminia Bielefeld using smartwatches. Fans attending the stadium reached an average heart rate of 94 beats per minute, whereas television viewers averaged 79. After goals, heart rates recorded in the stadium were up to 36 per cent higher. Stress levels began to rise as early as 14 hours before kick-off. The findings have been published in Scientific Reports by Springer Nature.
The football fever research series is based in the QUAMU Focus Area at Bielefeld University, which addresses the quantification of uncertainty and approaches to managing uncertainty. In addition to Fuchs and Deutscher, the current research team includes Professor Dr Roland Langrock, Professor Dr Timo Adam, Dr Tamara Schamberger, Maya Vienken, Julian Wäsche and Dr David Winkelmann.
How to participate
- Registration for the study is available at: uni-bi.de/worldcupfever
- Participation is limited to users of a Garmin smartwatch.
- Once a sufficient number of supporters of a particular team has registered, selected participants will receive all necessary information by email on how to connect their smartwatch.
- To enable data transfer, participants must grant one-time permission via the Garmin Connect app. Thereafter, the watch automatically transmits performance, health and activity data, such as heart rate, stress, movement and sleep.
Comment from Professor Dr Christiane Fuchs
‘With our study design, we make visible how closely collective emotions, sporting identification and physiological responses are interconnected. Such interactions can only be measured to a limited extent under laboratory conditions – in everyday settings, the findings are considerably more realistic.’
Further information