How do the climatological variables impact on match running performance in Spanish professional soccer players?

Research has demonstrated that climate can affect the match running performance of soccer players. This study aimed to analyze the influence of various meteorological variables (i.e., air temperature, humidity, wind speed and rainfall) on the match running performance of Spanish professional soccer players. A total of 10,859 individual match observations from 515 soccer players competing in the First Spanish soccer league (i.e., LaLiga; n = 380 matches) over the 2023/24 season were collected. Match running performance was obtained using the Sportian Performance video tracking system in accordance with LaLiga. Air temperature, humidity, wind speed and rainfall were collected as climate variables. Linear Mixed Models showed that climate variables significantly impacted match running performance. Specifically, Temperature and Wind Speed significantly and negatively influenced on Total Distance (TD; p < .001), and significantly and positively on Decelerations (DEC; p < .05). Conversely, Humidity and Rain significantly and positively influenced on TD ( p < .001), and Very High-Speed Running ( p < .001). Also, the regression models revealed significant interaction effects of humidity, wind speed and rainfall on match running performance across temperature levels. Specifically, the influence of Humidity, Wind Speed and Rain on TD was most pronounced at high temperatures where was decreased, while Accelerations and DEC increased. This study contributes to our understanding of the influence of climate variables on match running performance in the First Spanish soccer league. These results should be considered when designing training programs and strategies for extreme environmental conditions.