Five-time champions Brazil face 2022 semi-finalists Morocco in their 2026 FIFA World Cup opener on Saturday at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, hoping to get off to a good start as they look to win the covetted title for the first time since 2022. And among the tools the Carlo Ancelotti-coached team has been relying on is player tracking technology. Guilherme Passos, head of sports science for Brazil, has spoken about how the coaching staff uses the data around the clock to analyse the national team players. “On a daily basis, when we are not with the players, we communicate with the clubs and they send us the players information from the tracking system. So it’s easy to integrate in our database and to analyse the players when they are not with us. We know exactly where the players are in this transition process,” Passos told BBC in an interview. The ‘smart vests’ worn by the players are sensor laden with the sensors providing data on sprint speeds as well heart rates to fatigue levels and injury recovery of the players. With the sports scientists studying the data, the coating staff is updated of the data of every player being tracked through the smart vests. Passos spoke about how the data about spiriting as well running at high speeds helps in player’s recovery as well how the coaches manage the particular player in a particular position. “If the player’s a high speed player, it’s very important to devote to this metric, small steps to guarantee that the muscle is well recovered. If you have a very, very fast player, the coach can maybe think about using that player in a style where you can counter-attack,” added Passos. The head of sports science with the Brazil team also shared how he identified a player, who was only covering six km during the matches. According to Passos, the other team players were running close to double that distance in the matches and how relying on the data alone would have implied that the particular player was underperforming in terms of running the distance. But with the coaches studying the data and footage, it showed something different. “This specific player was always in the right spot in the perfect tactical position. He was a very efficient player,” shared Passos. Passos also shared how the coaching staff can be surprised about the data from one player and how the coaching staff analyse the data and translate it into practical decisions in matches as well for team selection.”Sometimes we can be surprised about having very good data from one player regarding the physical side. But the coach decides not to select them because technically and mentally he doesn’t believe they can perform under his playing style. The main difference is the specialised people behind the technology analysing the data and translating it into practical decisions,” added Passos.
FIFA World Cup: How Brazil are relying on player tracking technology
