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5 Mistakes Professional Footballers make with their Nutrition


Through our extensive work with FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League winning teams, players from the top 5 European leagues over the last 20 years, combined with our research & innovation work with UEFA to create the UEFA Nutrition Consensus, we consistently see 5 key mistakes elite players make with their nutrition. 


Do any of these apply to you?


Professional footballers on match day

1. Not having a plan


For the modern player, on-pitch and off-pitch conditioning is well planned and ‘periodised’ day-to-day, week-to-week. However, often when it comes to nutrition, decisions often are ad-hoc, based on old habits or what is enjoyable at a specific meal (e.g. lunch). 


It’s important that nutrition should also be periodised to meet training and match demands. Within this every meal should have a purpose; such as to support fuelling or recovery from training or matches, to support muscle adaptation to training (i.e. improve speed and strength), or to support the immune system and decrease illness. 


Each meal is an opportunity to have a positive (or negative) impact performance. 


2. Fuelling doesn’t match training demands 


Players tend to eat the same meals and snacks each day based on habit - missing key opportunities to optimise their performance. 


The evidence tells us that 1) players typically ‘under-fuel’ in preparation for, and recovery from, match day (match day -1, match day and match day +1) but, 2) also ‘over-fuel’ on days with lower physical demands (e.g. rest/recovery days). 


This can lead to a reduced physical capacity in matches, particularly during the second half  (as players are under-fuelled for high intensity exercise football performance). Whilst over time a lack of periodisation of nutrition may lead to sub-optimal body composition (increased body fat and loss of muscle mass). 


3. Match day routine built on old habits, not science 


Down the years players have been told to ‘fuel up’ on match days, but many still don’t know what is right for them personally, and don’t have full confidence in their preparation. 


This can often lead to players feeling very different (e.g. ‘energy’ or ‘readiness’) in preparation for lunchtime, afternoon or evening kick-off's. 


While it’s important to respect behaviours or superstitions around match preparation, it's vital that players have a personalised match day strategy which includes foods and nutrition products (supplements; carb-based drinks, gels, recovery drinks - see section 5) which are right for them, and don’t lead to gut discomfort. These strategies take time to be trialled and refined in training scenarios to build confidence ready for competitive matches. 


At INTRA we conduct full nutrition profiling of training and match days to ensure players have the confidence that they are hitting optimal nutrition targets - based on the latest science and strategies from the federations/team we work with - but crucially, personalised to the players unique context. 


4. Lack of variety within food choices 


Different meats, fish, grains, pulses, fruits and vegetables all contain different vitamins, minerals, trace elements, antioxidants and phytonutrients. However, as mentioned in section 1, many player food choices day-to-day become monotonous: same breakfast each day, chicken and pasta dish at lunch, etc. 


Especially when preparing for a match, food intake can focus on nutrient-poor foods for fuel (e.g. white bread, juices, sports drinks, sweets), at the expense of more nutrient-rich foods, which also support longer term health. 


It’s important for players to be intentional about increasing the diversity of foods in their repertoire. This means regularly trialling new foods, both to avoid micronutrient deficiencies (e.g. iron, calcium) and to support a range of functions from; muscle adaptation & recovery, immune health and also a healthy gut microbiome. 


5. Over-reliance on supplements 


We often see players overly focus on sports drinks during training and post-session recovery shakes, without paying any attention to their overall nutrition (food intake)! 


To optimise football performance, it’s important to build your personalised supplement strategy (yes, sports drinks and recovery drinks are both classed as supplements!) from the ground up.


Food first, is a term that we recommend with our UEFA Nutrition Consensus Guidelines - shaping nutrition through the foods and fluids you eat each day, a key starting point with your nutrition - to support your athletic development and overall performance. However, specific supplement use can also be useful. 


Supplements should be targeted depending on need (e.g. ‘sports foods’ - carb-based gels/drinks around matches, or micronutrients to correct clinically diagnosed deficiencies). Finally, it is crucial to only use supplements which are both safe and effective and have been independently batch tested (e.g. Informed Sport, Kölner Liste) and certified. More on supplementation in a future article. 


By Mr James Collins and Dr Rob Naughton


Date for review: 03 July 2026




About INTRA Performance Group


INTRA Performance Group is an international nutrition consultancy with a rich heritage of supporting the world's best over the last 20 years. These include: Arsenal FC, Chelsea FC, France football (2018 world cup winners), England football, UEFA, Team GB Olympic teams and athletes, through to US Major winners (golf), Hollywood actors and headline musicians.

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