Preparing for a mile-high World Cup isn't rocket science, but it's close

Korea’s national football team is turning to advanced sports science as it prepares for what could be one of its toughest challenges at the 2026 FIFA World Cup: adapting to the high-altitude conditions of Mexico.

The players on the Korean men's national team for the World Cup warm up at the Zions Bank Training Center in Utah on May 28. [YONHAP]

SALT LAKE CITY — Korea’s national football team is turning to advanced sports science as it prepares for what could be one of its toughest challenges at the 2026 FIFA World Cup: adapting to the high-altitude conditions of Mexico.

Led by manager Hong Myung-bo, the Taeguk Warriors will play their first two group stage matches next month in Guadalajara, Mexico, which sits at an elevation of 1,571 meters (5,157 feet) above sea level, nearly a mile up.

At high altitudes, reduced oxygen levels can impair endurance and slow recovery. Players may find themselves short of breath and unable to perform at their usual level, while decision-making and passing accuracy can also suffer.

In more severe cases, altitude sickness can trigger symptoms such as headaches, nausea, dizziness and difficulty concentrating — a potentially decisive disadvantage in a sport where split-second decisions often determine the outcome.

To prepare, the team has established a pretournament training camp in Salt Lake City, Utah, with an elevation of about 1,460 meters, similar to Guadalajara.

“The biggest factor in adapting to altitude is time,” said Dr. Song Joon-seop, the national team's chief physician and the director of Gangnam JS Hospital in Gangnam District, southeastern Seoul, on Wednesday. “It usually takes about two to four weeks for players to adjust, and the challenge is maintaining peak fitness and performance throughout that process.”

Dr. Song Joon-seop, the physician for Korea's men's national team for the World Cup, explains the training strategy at the Zions Bank Training Center in Utah on May 27. [YONHAP]

The medical staff monitors players' physical conditions four times a day.

The staff checks the players' sleep duration, oxygen saturation levels and heart rate before breakfast. Players are also weighed before and after training, with those losing more than 2 percent of their body weight classified as at risk of dehydration and placed under special monitoring.

After training, players submit their daily Rating of Perceived Exertion scores on a scale of one to 10 into a system. The data is then used to adjust training intensity and workloads.

While the training camp and the match venue sit at similar elevations, the climates differ significantly. Salt Lake City, located near the Rocky Mountains, has a dry and relatively mild climate.

The players on the Korean men's national team for the World Cup train at the Zions Bank Training Center in Utah on May 28. [YONHAP]

Guadalajara, by contrast, is more humid, making apparent temperatures feel higher. While daytime highs in both cities reach around 31 to 32 degrees Celsius (88 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit), the humidity level in Guadalajara ranges from 60 to 66 percent — roughly double that of Salt Lake City.

The team is also using a heat adaptation program that alternates cold and hot baths after training to help players get adjusted to Guadalajara’s heat.

Forward Oh Hyeon-gyu of Besiktas joined the team on Sunday.

“Because I’m just coming back from an injury, it’s hard to tell whether the difficulty comes from the altitude or the recovery process,” said Oh on Thursday. “I do feel that recovery is a little slower after high-intensity training and that I get out of breath more easily. But it seems to be getting better every day.”

The players of the Korean men's national team for the World Cup take cold plunges as part of heat-adjustment training. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Korea will play warm-up matches against Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday and El Salvador on Wednesday before moving to its base camp in Guadalajara on Friday.

Meanwhile, defender Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich joined the squad on Thursday.

Midfielder Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain remains the only player yet to report as his club faces Arsenal in the Champions League final on Saturday, with the 26-man roster otherwise complete.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY PIH JU-YOUNG [lee.jiwon10@joongang.co.kr]