How many calories do you burn playing soccer for 90 minutes?

How many calories do you burn playing soccer for 90 minutes?

Ciku Njuguna
April 13, 2024 at 5:01 PM

How many calories do you burn playing soccer for 90 minutes? After a 90-minute match filled with activities such as running, sprinting, dribbling, and kicking, a player builds their cardiovascular health and improve their speed, strength, and stamina. Dig into this article for a comprehensive overview of soccer and physical fitness.

A female soccer player in action.
A female soccer player in action. Photo by Erik Isakson.
Source: Getty Images

Table of Сontents:

Does soccer burn calories? Soccer offers players several health benefits as a casual physical or recreational activity. To determine how many calories you burn playing a soccer game, Sports Brief has conducted an in-depth analysis of the sport using credible sources such as the Compendium of Physical Activities and Harvard Medical School.

How many calories do you burn playing soccer for 90 minutes?

Human bodies burn energy with every activity or inactivity. The 2024 Adult Compendium reports that adults between the ages of nineteen and fifty-nine can expend energy by sitting, listening to music, or watching a movie in a theatre.

The Compendium also reveals that an elite football player can exert up to nearly ten times the energy they would burn sitting down after a match. Casual players, on the other hand, can exert up to seven times the energy they would if they were inactive.

How many calories do you burn playing soccer for 90 minutes?
Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood (in red) in action during a Premier League match against Fulham FC at City Ground on April 02, 2024, in Nottingham, England. Photo by David Rogers.
Source: Getty Images

To calculate how many calories you burn while playing soccer at various times during a match, Sports Brief has used the (METs x 3.5 x BW (kg) / 200) x time in minutes formula. Scroll down for a detailed outline of how many calories you burn playing soccer for 90 minutes.

  • The average weight of football players - 77.2 kilograms
  • MET value for competitive soccer - 9.5
  • MET value for general soccer (casual) - 7

Time

Energy expended by a casual player (77.2 kg)

Energy expended by a competitive player (77.2 kg)

30 minutes

283.7

385.0

45 minutes

425.6

577.6

60 minutes

567.4

770.1

90 minutes

851.1

1,155.1

How many calories do you burn playing a football match?

According to the Harvard Medical School, a competitive football player weighing 125 lbs (56.6 kilograms) and 185 lbs (83.9 kilograms) can burn 270 to 378 calories in 30 minutes. Other sources reveal that a professional player can lose between 752 and 937 calories after playing for 60 minutes.

Ernest Poku runs during an international friendly.
Netherlands' Ernest Poku runs during an Under-21 friendly match against Norway at Goffertstadion on March 21, 2024, in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Photo by Broer van den Boom/BSR Agency.
Source: Getty Images

How many calories do you burn playing a practice soccer game?

Training requirements differ among players. According to the Barça Innovation Hub, goalkeepers can lose up to 2,894 calories, while other field players typically expend between 2,981 and 4,151 kcal during a training session.

How many calories does a Premier League footballer burn?

The Mirror reports that Premier League players can lose more than 1,500 calories during a 90-minute match. By half-time, the EPL players need to refuel their energy stores as they have exhausted a significant amount of their carbohydrate stores.

Frequently asked questions

Soccer allows casual and professional footballers to keep fit, maintain cardiovascular and respiratory health, and build and strengthen muscle, among other benefits. Here are some interesting facts about the game and how many calories are burned when playing soccer.

How many calories do you burn playing soccer for 90 minutes?
A soccer player in action. Photo by RubberBall Productions.
Source: Getty Images

1. Why does soccer burn so many calories?

Soccer is an excellent general workout for burning calories and staying fit. During a football match, professional footballers reportedly cover 10 kilometres.

Its repetitive activities, such as running, dribbling, kicking, and practice drills, help build players’ stamina, strength, balance, and speed play a role in this. In an interview with ESPN, a sports performance expert and nutritionist spoke on the need for footballers to fuel their bodies, saying,

"A player needs to take in around 3,700 calories during a game and 3,000 on a regular training day. A heavy load of games during the summer requires at least 4,000 calories on matchday. The players will need to step up their carbohydrate intake before, during, and after the matchday and ensure they get enough protein to repair muscles after matches.”

2. How many calories do FIFA players burn?

A study by Stakester revealed that playing E-Sports for two hours is the equivalent of doing up to 1,000 sit-ups. As reported by the Daily Mail, the research was done on fifty volunteer gamers who played FIFA and Call of Duty: Warzone for two hours. Male participants expended an average of 210, while women burned 236 calories each hour.

3. How many calories does Ronaldo burn per game?

Cristiano Ronaldo's weight ranges between 79.8 kilograms (176 lbs) and 83 kilograms (182.9 lbs). Based on the 2024 Adult Compendium METs values, Cr7 burns between 1,194 and 1,241.9 calories in 90 minutes.

How many calories do you burn playing soccer for 90 minutes?
A male soccer player heads the ball away. Photo by Solskin.
Source: Getty Images

Final word

How many calories do you burn playing soccer for 90 minutes? In 90 minutes, amateur players can lose up to seven times the energy they would lose carrying out passive activities. As such, soccer is a great way to lose weight and keep fit.

READ ALSO: Which are the 10 most common soccer scores in the history of the game?

Sports Brief has published an article on the most common scores achieved throughout the game's history. The article covers ten of the most recorded match outcomes in the Bundesliga, Premier League, La Liga, Serie, and Ligue 1. Click on the link above for details of the most likely results to expect in any football match.

Authors
Ciku Njuguna photo
Ciku Njuguna
Ciku Njuguna is a journalist with 3 year’s experience in content creation based in Kenya. She currently covers sports personnel as well as team biographies.
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