World Cup 2026: The Surprising Link Between Soccer, Stress, and Testosterone
The Fascinating Science Behind
Soccer, Competition, and Men's Hormones
By NovaGenix Health &
Wellness
It's the 89th Minute...
France
trails by one goal.
The
stadium is deafening.
More than 80,000 fans are on their feet, while hundreds of millions more are glued to televisions around the world.
Kylian
Mbappé drifts into space, receives the ball near midfield, turns, and
accelerates toward the penalty area. In a split second, your heart begins
pounding. You stand without realizing it. Your palms start sweating. Every
touch of the ball feels like it could change history.
Then
it happens.
Mbappé
cuts inside.
Shoots.
GOALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!
The
room erupts.
You
jump off the couch.
You
hug complete strangers at the sports bar.
Your smartwatch alerts you that your heart rate has jumped 35 beats per minute.
Believe
it or not…
Your testosterone may have changed, too.
The World's Biggest Sporting
Event Isn't Just Affecting the Players
The
2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by the United States, Canada, and Mexico,
is already the largest tournament in soccer history.
With
48 national teams, 104 matches, and an audience expected to exceed five billion
viewers, it has become far more than a sporting competition.
It's
a global emotional experience.
And
that's exactly what makes it so fascinating from a medical standpoint.
Researchers
studying sports psychology, endocrinology, and neuroscience have spent more
than three decades asking a surprisingly simple question:
Can watching sports actually change your hormones?
The
answer…
Yes.
Not
permanently.
Not
dramatically.
But
enough to measure.
Enough
that scientists have repeatedly documented changes in testosterone, cortisol,
heart rate, blood pressure, and even immune function simply from watching your
favorite team compete.
Why Soccer Hits Us
Differently
Every
sport creates excitement.
Football
gives us violent collisions.
Basketball
delivers last-second buzzers.
Baseball builds tension pitch by pitch.
But
soccer is different.
For
nearly two uninterrupted hours, fans experience wave after wave of anticipation
without many natural breaks.
Every
attack might end in a goal.
Every
mistake could eliminate an entire nation.
When
penalty kicks arrive, millions of supporters are experiencing one of the most
psychologically stressful situations in sports.
Scientists
call this vicarious competition.
Your
brain begins responding as though you are competing.
Even
though you're sitting on a couch.
The Superstars Behind the
Emotion
Part
of the magic of the World Cup comes from the incredible athletes who make the
impossible look routine.
🇫🇷 Kylian
Mbappé
Few
athletes in the world generate excitement quite like Kylian Mbappé. With
blistering speed, elite finishing ability, and the confidence to demand the
ball in the biggest moments, Mbappé has become one of the faces of world
football.
Official Instagram: instagram.com/k.mbappe/
🇦🇷 Lionel
Messi
Although
he has already secured his place among the greatest players in soccer history,
Lionel Messi continues to captivate audiences around the globe. Every World Cup
appearance feels historic, and for Argentine supporters, every touch of the
ball carries enormous emotional weight.
Official Instagram: instagram.com/leomessi/
🇳🇴 Erling
Haaland
Standing
6-foot-5 with extraordinary speed and finishing ability, Erling Haaland has
become one of the most feared strikers on Earth. Norway's emergence as a World
Cup contender has introduced millions of fans to one of soccer's most
physically dominant players.
Official Instagram: instagram.com/erling.haaland/
🇦🇷 Julián
Álvarez
Argentina's
relentless forward has quietly become one of the tournament's brightest young
stars. His movement off the ball, tireless work ethic, and clinical finishing
make him a perfect complement to Messi.
Official Instagram: instagram.com/julianalvarez/
🇫🇷 Ousmane
Dembélé
One
of the fastest wingers in international football, Dembélé gives France another
explosive weapon capable of changing a match in seconds.
Official Instagram: instagram.com/o.dembele7/
Your Brain Doesn't Know
You're “Just Watching”
One
of the biggest misconceptions in sports psychology is that spectators simply
observe competition.
Modern
neuroscience says otherwise.
When
fans strongly identify with a team, many of the same brain regions activated in
athletes become active in spectators.
Mirror
neuron systems help explain why we instinctively celebrate goals, wince at
missed opportunities, and physically tense up during penalty shootouts.
Our
brains are wired for tribal behavior. For most of human history, belonging to a
successful group meant survival. Victories increased status. Defeats carried
consequences.
Although
today's “tribes” wear soccer jerseys instead of animal skins, our biology
hasn't completely caught up.
That
emotional investment has measurable physiological effects. And that's where
testosterone enters the story.
The First Scientists to
Measure Soccer Fans' Testosterone
Back
in 1998, researchers published one of the first studies to directly examine
hormone changes in sports spectators.
Instead
of studying athletes, they studied fans. Researchers measured testosterone
levels before and after a televised FIFA World Cup match between rival nations.
The results were remarkable.
Supporters
of the winning team experienced measurable increases in testosterone. Fans of
the losing side experienced decreases.
The
study demonstrated something many sports fans had always suspected: watching
your team win isn't just emotionally satisfying — it produces a real biological
response.
Why Rivalries Trigger Even
Bigger Hormonal Responses
Not
all soccer matches affect us equally. A preseason friendly might be
entertaining. A World Cup group-stage game grabs your attention. But a knockout
match against a bitter rival? That's something entirely different.
Think
about some of international soccer's biggest rivalries:
•
🇦🇷 Argentina vs. Brazil
•
🏴 England vs. Germany
•
🇫🇷 France vs. England
•
🇺🇸 United States vs. Mexico
•
🇪🇸 Spain vs. Portugal
These
aren't simply games. They're contests tied to history, national pride, and
identity. Researchers believe your body recognizes that difference.
Winning Against Rivals Is
Biologically Different
One
of the most fascinating studies on testosterone and competition came from
researchers at the University of Missouri.
Rather
than studying professional athletes, anthropologist Dr. Mark Flinn examined
ordinary men participating in recreational competitions — including cricket and
even dominoes — in the Caribbean nation of Dominica.
The
findings were surprising: men who defeated strangers or rivals experienced
significant increases in testosterone. Men who beat close friends experienced
little or no hormonal change.
Dr.
Flinn summarized it perfectly:
"Our hormonal reactions while competing are part of how we
evolved as a cooperative species."
— Dr. Mark Flinn, Professor of Anthropology, University of
Missouri
The
implication for World Cup fans is obvious. When France plays England… when
Argentina meets Brazil… when the United States faces Mexico… your body doesn't
interpret those games as casual entertainment. It recognizes them as contests
involving status, group identity, and competition — the very situations that
shaped human evolution.
Dr. Miguel Maturana, MD — cardiologist, Houston Methodist, on why watching a game
triggers a real hormonal cascade: "The strong emotion itself can create a
sympathetic stimulation with releases of epinephrine, norepinephrine, and
catecholamines." He added that the effect is cortisol-mediated and expects
it during this year's tournament too: "This is something that, for sure,
we will be seeing."
Source: Study
Led by Fellow Shows Heart Health Risks of "Die-Hard" Sports Fans —
UTHSC News
Why Your Heart Is Racing
Before Kickoff
Here's
something many fans have experienced. The match hasn't even started. You're
already nervous. You can't sit still. You keep checking your phone. Your
stomach feels different.
That's
because your body has already begun preparing for competition.
Researchers
studying Spanish supporters during the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final discovered
something fascinating. They measured fans' hormones on a normal day, then
measured them again while Spain played the Netherlands in the World Cup Final.
Before
the match was even decided, both testosterone and cortisol were significantly
higher.
Perhaps the most surprising finding? Hormone levels didn't dramatically spike
after Spain actually won. The anticipation itself had already produced most of
the physiological response.
In
other words, the excitement leading up to kickoff may affect your hormones just
as much as celebrating the winning goal.
Penalty Shootouts: One of the
Most Stressful Experiences in Sports
Ask
almost any soccer supporter. Nothing compares to watching your team in a
penalty shootout.
Every
kick feels like life or death.
Players
stand alone.
Goalkeepers
become heroes — or villains.
Entire nations hold their breath.
Sports
psychologists often describe penalty shootouts as one of the purest examples of
acute competitive stress. During those moments your body activates its
sympathetic nervous system — often called the “fight-or-flight” response. That
means:
•
Your
heart rate increases.
•
Your
breathing becomes faster.
•
Adrenaline
surges.
•
Cortisol
rises.
•
Blood
pressure climbs.
•
Attention
becomes intensely focused.
Even
though you're sitting safely on your couch, your nervous system reacts as
though something important is happening directly to you.
From
an evolutionary perspective, that reaction makes perfect sense. For thousands
of years, humans depended on their group for survival. Victories meant greater
status, better access to resources, and stronger alliances. Our brains haven't
forgotten those instincts.
It's Not Just Testosterone —
Cortisol Matters Too
When
people think about hormones, testosterone usually gets all the attention. But
there's another hormone playing an equally important role: cortisol.
Often
called the body's primary stress hormone, cortisol prepares us to respond to
challenging situations. During a World Cup knockout match, cortisol helps
sharpen attention and increase alertness.
Too
much cortisol for too long isn't healthy. But short-term increases during
emotionally meaningful events are completely normal.
Interestingly,
scientists now believe the interaction between testosterone and cortisol may
explain why some people thrive under pressure while others become overwhelmed.
Dr. Paola Santalucia — cardiologist and European Heart Network board member, on
why World Cup matches specifically raise stress hormones: "Intense
emotions, whether positive or negative, can act as 'precipitating risk
factors'" for cardiovascular events, and can raise "heart rate, blood
pressure and stress hormones such as cortisol."
Source: Too
Much "Football Fever"? Why Some World Cup Fans Should Limit Their
Excitement — Euronews
The Dual Hormone Hypothesis
One
of the most influential modern theories in behavioral endocrinology is known as
the Dual Hormone Hypothesis. Instead of looking at testosterone alone,
researchers examine how testosterone interacts with cortisol.
Their
findings suggest something remarkable: men with relatively high testosterone
and lower cortisol appear more likely to embrace competition. Those with
elevated cortisol may become more cautious or avoid risk altogether.
Translated
into soccer, a World Cup semifinal against a historic rival may trigger a very
different biological response than a routine regular-season match. Your brain
isn't simply watching soccer — it's constantly evaluating:
•
How
important is this?
•
What's
at stake?
•
Who
are we competing against?
•
What
does victory — or defeat — mean?
Sports Betting Adds Another
Layer
Now
imagine adding money to the outcome.
The
World Cup has become one of the most heavily wagered sporting events on Earth.
Every year, billions of dollars are legally bet on tournament matches.
Researchers
studying gambling have discovered something remarkably similar to what they
found in sports fans: winning tends to produce temporary increases in
testosterone, while losing often produces the opposite effect.
This
phenomenon has been called the Winner–Loser Effect. If you've ever felt
emotionally exhausted after losing a sports bet, there may be genuine biology
behind that experience — not simply disappointment.
Dr. Timothy W. Mackey's
Perspective
"One of the most fascinating things about testosterone is
that it responds to much more than exercise or muscle building. Competition,
anticipation, emotional investment, and even watching your favorite team
compete can create measurable hormonal changes. These temporary shifts are part
of normal human biology and remind us just how closely the brain and endocrine
system work together."
— Dr. Timothy W. Mackey, DO
Dr.
Mackey emphasizes that while these temporary hormone fluctuations are
scientifically fascinating, they are very different from the persistent
symptoms of clinical testosterone deficiency.
"A great World Cup match may temporarily influence your
hormones for an evening. But if you're experiencing fatigue, low libido,
decreased muscle mass, poor recovery, brain fog, or loss of motivation for
months at a time, it's worth talking with a physician and having your
testosterone levels properly evaluated."
— Dr. Timothy W. Mackey, DO
Do World Cup Victories Really
Lead to Baby Booms?
Every
four years, after a memorable World Cup run, headlines begin to appear around
the world:
“Baby Boom Expected Nine Months After Historic Victory!”
It's
a fun idea. A nation celebrates. Fans pour into the streets. People stay out
all night. Nine months later, maternity wards supposedly fill with newborns.
But
is it actually true? Like many great sports stories, the answer is more
complicated — and much more interesting — than the headlines suggest.
Where the Idea Came From
The
connection between major sporting victories and birth rates first gained
widespread attention after several high-profile soccer tournaments.
Following
FC Barcelona's dramatic 2009 UEFA Champions League victory, local media
reported an increase in births in parts of Catalonia approximately nine months
later. After Northern Ireland qualified for the 2016 UEFA European
Championship, hospitals reported a noticeable increase in births that many
jokingly nicknamed the “Green and White Baby Boom.”
Stories
like these quickly spread across newspapers and social media. Soon, every major
tournament seemed to generate speculation about another “World Cup baby boom.”
Scientists, however, wanted to know whether the phenomenon was real — or simply
a collection of memorable anecdotes.
What the Research Actually
Shows
Researchers
have now examined birth records following multiple international sporting
events, including FIFA World Cups, UEFA European Championships, and major
soccer league championships.
A
comprehensive scientific review evaluated numerous sporting events from around
the world and concluded that some major tournaments were indeed associated with
temporary increases in births, or changes in the ratio of male-to-female
births, approximately nine months later.
However,
the effect was not universal. Some tournaments appeared to influence birth
patterns. Others showed no measurable change at all. The researchers concluded
that emotional intensity, national significance, cultural celebrations, and
social context likely all play important roles.
In
other words, it isn't simply winning that matters. It's how a country
experiences the victory together.
📖 Sporting Tournaments and Birth Rates: A
Systematic Review — PMC
Celebration, Emotion, and
Human Biology
Why
would sporting victories influence birth rates at all? Scientists believe
several factors may contribute. Large sporting events create:
•
Increased
social gatherings
•
Elevated
positive mood
•
Community
celebrations
•
Alcohol
consumption
•
Reduced
stress immediately following victory
•
Heightened
emotional bonding between partners
Combined
with temporary hormonal changes — including modest increases in testosterone
among some supporters — these conditions may create an environment that
encourages intimacy.
It's
important to note that testosterone alone does not determine conception, and
researchers have never concluded that hormone changes from watching sports
directly cause pregnancy. Rather, these tournaments may influence behavior,
mood, and social interactions in ways that modestly affect birth patterns
within certain populations.
The Iceland Myth
One
of the most famous stories involved Iceland. Following the country's magical
run at UEFA Euro 2016, newspapers around the world reported a dramatic baby
boom nine months later.
It
was a wonderful headline. There was just one problem: it wasn't true. When
researchers examined the actual national birth records, they found no
significant increase in births attributable to Iceland's soccer success.
The
story serves as an excellent reminder that viral headlines aren't always
supported by data. Science often tells a more nuanced — and ultimately more
interesting — story.
Sports Connect Us in Powerful
Ways
Whether
birth rates change or not, one thing is undeniable: major sporting events bring
people together.
Psychologists
have repeatedly shown that shared victories strengthen social bonds. Neighbors
celebrate together. Families gather. Friends hug complete strangers. For a
brief moment, millions of people experience the same emotions simultaneously.
From
an evolutionary perspective, those moments reinforce something humans have
always needed: community.
Temporary Hormone Changes vs.
Low Testosterone
The
hormone fluctuations observed during exciting sporting events are real. But
they're also temporary.
For
most healthy men, testosterone naturally rises and falls throughout the day.
Competition. Exercise. Sleep. Stress. Nutrition. Even watching your favorite
team. All can produce modest short-term changes.
These
fluctuations are very different from clinical testosterone deficiency, also
known as male hypogonadism. Low testosterone develops gradually and often
produces symptoms that persist for months rather than hours. Common symptoms
include:
•
Persistent
fatigue
•
Decreased
libido
•
Erectile
dysfunction
•
Loss
of muscle mass
•
Increased
abdominal fat
•
Difficulty
building strength
•
Poor
exercise recovery
•
Brain
fog
•
Decreased
motivation
•
Mood
changes
•
Reduced
athletic performance
If
these symptoms sound familiar, it's worth discussing them with an experienced
physician rather than assuming they're simply part of getting older.
Dr. Timothy W. Mackey's
Perspective
"Watching your favorite team win the World Cup may give you
a temporary emotional — and hormonal — lift, but it shouldn't be confused with
treating true testosterone deficiency. Persistent symptoms deserve proper
laboratory testing and an individualized treatment plan."
— Dr. Timothy W. Mackey, DO
According
to Dr. Mackey, many men dismiss symptoms of low testosterone for years because
they assume they're simply stressed, overworked, or aging normally.
"One exciting soccer match can't correct chronically low
testosterone. If symptoms persist despite good sleep, exercise, and nutrition,
objective blood work is the next step — not guesswork."
— Dr. Timothy W. Mackey, DO
How NovaGenix Can Help
At
NovaGenix Health & Wellness, every testosterone evaluation begins with
understanding the individual — not simply treating a lab value. Comprehensive
testing may include:
•
Total
Testosterone
•
Free
Testosterone
•
Estradiol
•
SHBG
•
CBC
•
Comprehensive
Metabolic Panel
•
PSA
(when appropriate)
•
Thyroid
testing
•
Additional
hormone testing based on your symptoms
Dr.
Timothy W. Mackey and the NovaGenix team develop personalized treatment plans
designed to restore hormone balance while carefully monitoring safety
throughout therapy.
Whether
you're an avid soccer fan, a competitive athlete, or simply someone who hasn't
felt like yourself lately, understanding your hormone health is an important
first step.
Learn
more:
•
Testosterone Replacement Therapy
•
Symptoms of Low Testosterone
Final Whistle
The
FIFA World Cup reminds us that sports are about much more than scores and
trophies.
They
tap into something deeply human.
Competition.
Identity.
Belonging.
Hope.
From
measurable changes in testosterone and cortisol to the unforgettable emotions
of a dramatic penalty shootout, science is revealing that our bodies often
participate in the game almost as much as our minds do.
So
the next time you leap off the couch after a spectacular goal by Kylian Mbappé,
Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, or Julián Álvarez, remember:
Your excitement isn't “just in your head.”
It's
part of a remarkable biological response that has fascinated scientists for
decades.
Enjoy
the match.
Cheer
loudly.
Celebrate responsibly.
And
if your energy, motivation, recovery, or libido haven't felt quite the same
lately — even after the final whistle — it may be time to find out whether your
testosterone levels are telling a different story.
References
1.
Bernhardt PC, Dabbs JM Jr, Fielden JA, Lutter CD. Testosterone changes during
vicarious experiences of winning and losing among fans at sporting events.
Physiology & Behavior, 1998. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9811365/
2.
van der Meij L, et al. Testosterone and cortisol release among Spanish soccer
fans watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final. PLOS ONE, 2012. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3329546/
3.
Knight EL, et al. The causal effect of testosterone on men's competitive
behavior is moderated by basal cortisol and cues to an opponent's status:
Evidence for a context-dependent dual-hormone hypothesis. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 2022. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35201818/
4.
University of Missouri. Male testosterone levels increase when victorious in
competition against rivals, but not friends, 2013. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130514185338.htm
5.
Ferrari MAA, Chan M, Brown PN, Clark L. Slot machine gambling and testosterone:
Evidence for a “winner–loser” effect? Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000425
6.
Sporting tournaments and birth rates: a systematic review. PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10906258/
