England have begun training in specially-heated tents to replicate conditions at next summer’s World Cup finals, sources have told ESPN.
The Three Lions are in Spain this week undertaking a warm-weather training camp ahead of Saturday’s qualifier against Andorra, before finishing the 2024-25 football season with a friendly vs. Senegal in Nottingham.
However, the Football Association and head coach Thomas Tuchel already have one eye on next summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Sources have told ESPN that special pitchside tents have been erected with the temperature artificially increased inside. Players will then undergo bike work and their recovery will be monitored to assess how each individual reacts to the hot conditions.
There are fears that at least four of the host cities could exceed the 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit) mark which FIFA rules dictate would trigger automatic cooling breaks in each half, around the 30th and 75th minutes.
Research led by Queen’s University Belfast suggested as many as 14 of the 16 stadiums that will be used could reach the “potentially dangerous” level of 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit).
Speaking last week, Tuchel referenced a preseason tour to the U.S. during his time in charge of Chelsea and said: “It is important to see matches now in America, and in Miami at three in the afternoon. The actual experience is for the players, but I have done preseason there in Orlando and I will be very surprised if we do not suffer. Suffering is one of the headlines for this World Cup.”
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