Ronaldo, who recently became an official global ambassador and investor for WHOOP, wore the device throughout the match. The game against Slovenia proved to be a gruelling test for Portugal. After a 0-0 draw in normal time and extra time, the match went to penalties. Portugal ultimately secured a 3-0 shootout victory, with goalkeeper Diogo Costa making three crucial saves.

One of the most intriguing aspects of Ronaldo’s WHOOP data was his heart rate during the penalty shootout. Despite missing a penalty during regular play, Ronaldo’s biometrics showed a remarkable ability to compose himself when it mattered most. Just moments before taking his penalty in the shootout, Ronaldo’s heart rate dropped significantly. This indicates he had entered a state of flow – a psychological state characterised by full immersion and focus.

This ability to regulate his physiological response in high-pressure situations is a testament to Ronaldo’s mental fortitude and years of experience at the highest level of the sport. It also demonstrates the potential of wearable technology like WHOOP to provide insights into the mind-body connection in elite sports.

At 39 years old, Ronaldo continues to perform at an elite level, largely due to his legendary discipline and work ethic. In partnering with WHOOP, Ronaldo has integrated the device into his training, sleep, and recovery routines. He claims the impact has been “transformative,” calling it “one of the most important tools” in elevating his game and monitoring his day-to-day health.

Ronaldo isn’t the only high-profile soccer player benefiting from WHOOP’s technology. Virgil van Dijk, another global ambassador for the brand, has been sharing his sleep and recovery insights throughout the Euro 2024 tournament. For instance, before the Netherlands’ opening match against Poland, van Dijk’s WHOOP recorded an impressive sleep performance of 8 hours and 17 minutes. That equated to a 100% Whoop Sleep Score.

Final word

While WHOOP is used by elite athletes like Ronaldo and van Dijk, its benefits extend to a broader audience of regular folks. As noted in our hands-on review, the device’s focus on recovery and sleep quality makes it particularly valuable for those who tend to push themselves hard in training.

WHOOP helps users understand when their body is ready for intense training and when it needs rest. It provides detailed sleep data, helping users improve their sleep quality and duration.

One of WHOOP’s most valuable features is its journal, which allows users to track how various lifestyle factors affect their performance and recovery. This includes diet, supplements, alcohol consumption, and other variables.

For those who take their fitness seriously but aren’t professional athletes, WHOOP can be useful. It teaches the importance of recovery and sleep, often overlooked aspects of fitness.

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While professional matches have allowed player tracking technology before, this marks the first approval for a sensor located in the boot. Previous technologies typically attached to the upper body, limiting the scope of data collection. The new boot sensor introduces fresh opportunities for data-driven coaching.

Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets

UK-based Playermaker’s journey began five years ago. Despite skepticism and doubts, the company persevered. Today, FIFA has acknowledged the safety, precision, and undeniable future potential of footwear sensors. Playermaker has already formed partnerships with over 200 professional football clubs, including Premier League sides Manchester City and Fulham.

Technology’s impact on soccer: a brief history

Technology has been a game-changer in soccer for years. In the World Cup 2022, its integration in the beautiful game had reached new heights. The football named Al Rihla, designed by Adidas, featured unique texturing and a tracking system embedded within the ball.

Goal-line technology and VAR have already made their mark, improving the fairness and objectivity of the game. Wearable tech like Electronic Performance & Tracking Systems (EPTS) have been employed to analyze and assess team and individual performances. The new boot sensor technology builds on this foundation, offering even more precise data collection and analysis.

Not just for the pros

The implications of FIFA’s approval extend beyond the professional arena. While elite clubs and athletes will undoubtedly benefit from the detailed analytics, the technology also holds promise for amateur players, youth academies, and even recreational leagues.

Playermaker designed CITYPLAY for soccer players as young as 8, capturing more than 25 technical and physical metrics. Users can analyze this data in the accompanying smartphone app.

The sensors are paired with durable silicone straps and are compatible with both cleats and artificial turf shoes. The technology is versatile, functioning seamlessly both indoors and outdoors, making it suitable for futsal as well.

The product is not just about data collection; it aims to be a holistic solution for player development. It offers insights for parents, giving them a unique perspective into their child’s progress on the field. The system is designed to show tangible improvements in player performance within three to four weeks of usage, backed by extensive benchmarking across diverse age groups and geographical locations.

The cost-efficient nature of these sensors (check price on Amazon) makes them accessible to a broader audience, allowing aspiring players to tap into the kind of data-driven insights that were once the exclusive domain of professionals. This democratization of performance analytics could level the playing field, offering emerging talents the tools they need to refine their skills and catch the eye of scouts and coaches.

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The gadget is a completely different take on the concept of wearable technology than we’ve seen before. The mouthguard is intended to be worn during sports or other physical activities and provide athletes, coaches, and trainers with valuable information in order to improve performance and reduce the risk of injury.

Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets

The mouth is actually a great location for tracking heart rate and other metrics due to its proximity to the carotid artery, which carries blood from the heart to the brain. This enables precise monitoring of the heart rate and other vital signs.

Additionally, because the mouthguard is worn inside the mouth, it can detect small movements and vibrations that other types of sensors may not be able to detect. This information can be used for tracking head impact, which is important for athletes as it can help detect and prevent concussions or other head injuries.

The gadget comes from a London-based startup called ORB Innovations. Some five years in the making, ORB Smartguard is specifically designed for contact and combat sports such as boxing, field hockey, rugby, and others. Since 2019, the company has been testing with professional sports teams such as the Rugby Football League, Allianz Premier 15s, and RFU Championship.

Tracks 20 different metrics

As its name implies, ORB Smartguard is, first and foremost, a mouth guard. In that regard, it was created using the same high-quality EVA plastic that is used in regular mouthguards.

Place it in your mouth, and it will track twenty different performance and activity metrics from there. This includes data on heart rate, average heart rate, heart rate zones, maximum and minimum heart rate, head impact exposure, steps, distance, movement intensity, active calories, and other factors. All of this can help you assess how hard you should push yourself during training to prepare for match intensity.

GPS is not used by the gadget. But you can connect ORB Smartguard to third-party GPS trackers that accept Bluetooth connections.

Information is stored directly on the device, so you can leave your phone behind. Post exercise sync the data with the ORB App for detailed info, trends and insights. The ORB App can even be used to monitor your heart rate in real-time.

Something that is unique to this wearable is an impact exposure breakdown. This gives you an overview of how the head impacts you experience during training change from session to session. If you enjoy combat sports, use this feature to help you identify weak points in your defence.

In 2022, the company turned Kickstarter to raise funds for production. Pre-orders for those that have not backed the campaign are expected to start in the next few weeks. The first customers will get their ORB Smartguard in early March.

ORB Smartguard will be available for £120 at launch, but there will be a special limited offer where you can get one for only £80. This type of pricing sounds pretty reasonable given all of the metrics the device monitors.

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The device is called CITYPLAY. It takes the existing Playermaker smart wearable football tracker and supplements it with educational and training content from Manchester City club. The wearable is already being used by players in the Club’s Academy. But now anyone can tap into Man City’s training philosophy and chart their progress over time.

Essential reading: Training sensors for football (aka soccer) players

To use CITYPLAY you need to attach it to your footwear. This is done with the aid of a silicon elastic strap. The sensors are squarish in shape, but small so should in no way impede your playing ability. As soon as you start playing stats will be collected. Although you can use the wearable on any pitch, the recommended surfaces are grass or artificial turf.

The data collecting tech includes a 6-axis motion smart sensor that is built with a gyroscope and accelerometer. This samples movement events at 1000 times per sec and measures every micro-movement, including impact with the ground, with the ball and the rotation of each foot. There’s no GPS on-board so the wearable works equally well indoors or out.

A wealth of stats, plus training content

As far as stats you can expect to receive, this includes info on both the technical and physical aspect of the game. In total, 15 football specific metrics are tracked. This includes ball touches, sprint distance, r/l receive balance, playing tempo, speed, agility and much more.

The tracker works with the CITYPLAY app. This is Manchester City’s contribution to the partnership. The app is full of the Club’s training methodology, personalised training advice and more. There are also position-specific instructions and training exercises that can be practiced at your leisure.

Finally, there’s also a social aspect to the whole thing. It lets you compare your performance with others and connect to peers in the CITYPLAY community.

Manchester City is not the only club using Playermaker’s wearable. Others include Leicester City, Liverpool, and Bodø/Glimt. Playermaker is also partners with the Rangers, Hull City, and Fulham FC.

You can check out CITYPLAY on Man City’s website. It comes with a minimum 6 month subscription that will set you back £149 (including the hardware).

The other option is to just purchase Playermaker. You won’t get Man City specific content but you will get most of the other technical analysis. The wearable typically retails for around £190 in the United Kingdom but will work indefinitely so is the cheaper option (check price on Amazon).

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The costly device is called Hublot Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. It will set you back more than it would cost to fly to Qatar and watch all the games in person.

The watch is very much along the lines of its predecessors. This is actually a third generation watch that has been adapted for the Qatar tournament. So technically, it is not really a new watch.

Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets

Inside is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 4100+ processor, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of storage, an accelerometer, gyroscope, heart rate sensor, built-in GPS, NFC, WiFI and Bluetooth connectivity. The whole thing runs on Google Wear OS 3.0. Which means you can use the Google Pay store to install third-party apps. But it also means you can expect only about a day between charges.

As far as design, you get something with a 44mm black ceramic and black-coated titanium body. The AMOLED display measures 1.39 inches and comes with 454×454 pixel resolution, sapphire protection and anti-reflective treatment. On one side is a large crown which you can use to scroll through the screens. The straps that come attached to the watch are available in the colours of each of the 32 participating national teams.

Like its predecessors, the watch provides live scores and stats from the games. You will also get team line-ups and player profiles 15 minutes before each match. The timeline mode will keep you informed on the most memorable moments during the 90 minutes. So there should be a lot there to keep fans both informed and entertained.

The tournament doesn’t actually start until 20 November, but you can already pick up the watch on Hublot’s website. At $5,800 a pop you would think there will not be too much demand for it. But Hublot has had a similarly priced smartwatches for each of the prior three world cups. They were all sold out.

The Qatar edition is limited to 1,000 pieces. This is in addition to 129 watches that will be distributed to all 129 referees at the thournament. Presumably, they will get a revamped version of the same.

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Next year clubs might go beyond launching the typical new kits, streetwear and training wear. Smart tech is all around us and it will soon be introduced into the fan experience.

Manchester City might be the first out of the box with a scarf capable of measuring heart rate, body temperature and emotional responses. The garment has a sensor from EmotiBit that is stitched into the thing to capture the data.

Currently in pilot testing, the device has been created to measure the highs and lows of the spectator experience. This would make it one of the first wearables to track how fans feel during the game!

It is clear what’s in it for the clubs – they will be more in tune with their supporters. The benefits that fans will get from purchasing the smart scarf are a bit less clear. Hence, the reaction on Twitter has been mixed.

The technology has already been trialled in Manchester City’s final games of last season. A total of six City fans were invited to try it out. The scarf captured 120 moments of interest during the matches.

Cisco, which is the official technology partner of Manchester City Football Group, has partnered with Octagon agency to come up with the wearable. You are meant to wear it just like you would any scarf. The biosensor comes in contact with the neck from where it gathers the necessary data.

Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets

If things go well with further trials, the Connected Scarf will be made available to Manchester City fans from next season. It will also be introduced to other global clubs.

“For more than 100 years, the scarf has been the ultimate symbol of football fandom,” Manchester City club said in a statement.

“It’s seen the highs and the lows; and captures the blood, sweat and tears of fans, week in and week out.”

“Now, together with our partner Cisco, we are excited to share an innovative upgrade to the scarf that allows us to measure those ups and downs and get a better understanding of the emotion at the heart of the world’s beautiful game.”

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The patent

This is according to filing US 20220046089 A1. It was submitted to the US Patent and Trademark Office on February 10th, 2022 (via). The patent suggests the system could be used to enable parents stay on top of the action from the comfort of their home.

Essential reading: Best fitness trackers and health gadgets

The idea here is to create something that would pull data from a network of connected devices. The information would be analyzed and collated by an online portal that would be accessible to a wide network of fans through the cloud. Sources of info would include notes of events during the game from spectators and coaches (via smartphones, laptops, smartwatches, etc), along with more high-tech means such as cameras built into spectator’s smart glasses recording the moment a goal was scored.

The online server would keep tabs on the action. It would put together team and player statistics, along with play-by-play real-time coverage. For example, for a hockey game this could include things such as faceoffs, shots, goals, penalties, time change, period change, a stoppage of play and much more. This info could also be used to automatically update the scoreboard at the game.

If the portal receives conflicting information from differing sources, it could send a request to clarify the discrepancy through a system of upvotes. The information would be corrected based on the majority response.

Potentially, this could also be used to send videos and photos through the communication system. Considering that most youth sports are not televised, it would create the next best thing.

The potential revenue source is big

Youth sports is a big market. This includes everything, from organized sports leagues to amateur activities. According to statistics, the youth sports industry in the US was valued at over 19 billion dollars in 2019. That’s bigger than the size of the $15bn NFL! Projections are that the value of the US sports market in the US will top $70bn in the next four years.

All of this means there’s lots of potential here for a wearable tech company in a time when many brands are looking for alternative sources of income. Now that it has the backing of Google, Fitbit can set its sights beyond wearable tech.

Whether the company is just looking to create a system to collate data or is planning to supplement this with a network of its own connected devices remains to be seen. Of course, this is just a patent so it is not definite it will make it into the real world. Lots of products remain in the patent stage never seeing the light of day. Regardless, it is interesting that Fitbit is looking in this direction as it is quite different from the market it has been involved in so far.

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The company is well known for working with professional athletes and teams for some 15 years now. According to its press release, its equipment is currently utilised by over 3,200 elite teams in 137 countries. These are wearables that help to optimise performance, mitigate injury risk, and quantify return to play protocols.

Essential reading: Training sensors for soccer (aka football) players

Unlike some of its competitors, Catapult has not made its athlete monitoring devices available to amateurs. It was all reserved for professional athletes. But now we have Catapult One – a device meant for the rest of us.

Catapult One – pro-level soccer stats for amateurs

Like some of its other equipment, Catapult One is a pod-like device that slips into a vest. Inside the thing is a 10Hz GPS tracker and a few other sensors. The combination of these provides info helping players track, analyse and improve performance on the pitch.

The stats that you can expect to receive via the app and web based dashboard include sprint distance, acceleration and intensity, with 10-times the amount of data you’d get from a high-end smartwatches. All of these stats are designed to mimic info that is available to pro-level athletes.

Catapult One is designed both for individual and team use. Coaches can utilise the info to make tactical decisions and mitigate player injury risk. Or you can just strap it on and analyse the stats post practice or game in the comfort of your living room.

The novel thing about the device is that it goes beyond soccer. Players of American football, rugby, field hockey, cricket, lacrosse, tennis, and Australian rules football can also benefit from tracking their performance. Presumably, these come with their own set of metrics.

The company says after 3 months of use, players typically see a 26% increase in sprint distance, 25% increase in power output, 11.7% increase in distance covered and 3.5% increase in top speed. These are some pretty impressive stats.

The wearable can be purchased by going to one.catapultsports.com. Unfortunately, this is not a one-off cost. You will need to fork out for a subscription which starts at $15.99 per month on top of a $34.00 kit cost. The $179 annual subscription comes with a free kit so there’s some saving to be achieved by going for that option.

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The tournament was due to be held between 12 June and 12 July last year. The COVID-19 pandemic has wrecked havoc with this plan, though. Hence, the competition has been rescheduled for 11 June to 11 July 2021.

Essential reading: Training sensors for soccer/football players

Technically, this is not really a new watch. Hublot has already released a device with pretty much the same specs last summer. Our guess is that was the version of the watch that was planned ahead of the tournament. Hublot already had parts in stock so it made sense to shift the devices. At the time it was anyone’s guess when/if the tournament would take place.

But now we are getting a revamped version called Hublot Big Bang e UEFA Euro 2020. You’ll notice the luxury watch maker has not changed the year in the naming convention. No point in doing this as UEFA has decided to retain the name “UEFA Euro 2020”.

Let’s get this out of the way first – this is an overpriced timepiece. At $5,800 it impresses as a collector item rather than specs.

In terms of design, Big Bang e UEFA Euro 2020 packs a 42mm case that holds a 1.2 inch (390 x 390 pixel) AMOLED touchscreen protected with scratch-proof sapphire crystal. On the side is a push-button bezel that you can use to interact with the thing.

The bezel is decorated with flags of the original 12 host nations of the tournament. There have been venue changes due to the pandemic since the initial announcement, so not all of these countries will host games at EURO 2020.

Under the hood the WearOS device sports a Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor, 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage. Powering everything is a 300mAh battery. You’d think for that price tag Hublot would include the latest Snapdragon Wear 4100. Or a heart rate sensor and GPS for that matter. But you do get an accelerometer, gyroscope and microphone.

The device provides live scores and stats from the games. But then again, for the $5,800 you could just travel to the tournament and watch the games yourself.

Only 1,000 pieces of the watch will be made, which should be enough. If you’ve a few thousand dollars lying around and are a soccer/football fan, the timepiece might pique your interest.

You can check out the Big bang e UEFA Euro 2020 model on Hublot’s website.

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It follows the Big Bang E UEFA Champions League smartwatch that was unveiled for the UEFA tournament last October. That one was a revamped version of the Big Bang E which launched for the last World Cup. The original cost a whopping $5,800 so you really had to be a hardcore football fan to buy it or have deep pockets.

Big Bang e Premier League

The latest watch in the Hublot collection is a revamped version of the Big Bang E. This limited edition piece was created in partnership with the Premier League. The company has been the Official Timekeeper of the competition for a number of years now. In case you were wondering, Hublot is first Swiss watch brand and luxury brand to get involved with football.

The watch comes with the league’s purple colorway and a new dial. This is coupled with a purple fabric strap with velcro. Other extras over the original version include a new football app which will, at a later stage, be made available to existing Hublot Big Band e connected owners.

As before the watch is powered by Wear OS. Football dedicated features include notifications of Premier League kick-off times, alerts for goals, penalties, substitutions yellow and red cards are dished out and more. Other functionality includes pre-match team line-ups and real-time VAR decisions.

Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets

Unless you’re a hard-core fan all of this might be information overload. Thankfully, the alerts can be customized from the smartphone app so that you are not overwhelmed with too many notifications.

“In these challenging times, football continues to be a source of much-needed joy for fans all over the world. Hublot loves football and continues to partner with the game’s greatest competitions,” said Ricardo Guadalupe HUBLOT CEO.

“It’s our privilege to introduce the Hublot Big Bang e Premier League, a connected watch designed to bring passionate fans even closer to the world’s most-watched league. Hublot is really proud to be working with the Premier League and to be creating memorable experiences for people who love watches and love football.”

Big Bang e Premier League  has a 42mm diameter with satin-finished and polished titanium case. Water resistance is 3 ATM. The watch is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor, while battery life is around a day between charges.

The watch is available on hublot.com. A bit cheaper than the original, Big Bang e will set still set you back a hefty $5,200.

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