England's football team has embraced cutting-edge technology in their preparations for the 2026 World Cup, with players swallowing £60 digital pills during intensive heat training at their Girona camp this week.
The specially-devised capsules, brought in by the Football Association, monitor players' internal body temperatures and heart rates whilst they undergo gruelling exercise sessions in artificially heated environments.
Thomas Tuchel's squad completed 45-minute high-intensity bike sessions inside tents heated to 36°C, designed to replicate the extreme conditions they will face in the United States, Mexico and Canada next summer.
The biometric pills transmit real-time data to sports scientists, allowing them to assess how individual players cope with heat stress.
Thomas Tuchel's England side have consumed pills that give off radio signals
PA
The pills work by transmitting data on a radio frequency to a wristband gateway, which uploads the information immediately to the cloud for analysis.
Sports scientists can monitor core and surface temperatures, heart rates and other vital metrics in real time as players exercise.
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The capsules pass through the body naturally after providing crucial data about how long players can perform at optimum levels before fatigue sets in.
This technology, whilst common in other sports for the past decade, represents football's relatively late adoption of biometric monitoring.
The data helps Tuchel determine which players are best equipped to handle the extreme heat expected at World Cup venues.
Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze described the experience as challenging, saying: "45 minutes on a bike is a long time!
"You just had to keep going. But it was definitely helpful. It gave a bit of insight into yourself, and how you would cope in those conditions.
"It was about understanding how hot you actually are while doing the training. It was interesting."
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Thomas Tuchel warned England fans that the World Cup will involve a lot of suffering due to the heat
PA
Chelsea's Cole Palmer was similarly tested by the regime, stating: "Yeah, it was tough.
"We had to get to a certain wattage or something on a bike and maintain it. For 45 minutes."
The players' feedback suggests the innovative training methods are pushing England's stars to their physical limits.
Research from Queen's University Belfast indicates that 14 of the 16 World Cup stadiums could reach "potentially dangerous" temperatures of 28°C, with at least four host cities expected to exceed 32°C.
Such extreme conditions would trigger FIFA's automatic cooling breaks at the 30th and 75th minutes of each half.
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Eberechi Eze was among the England players left wiped out by the training
GettyTuchel, drawing on his experience of pre-season tours with Chelsea, warned: "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."
Dallas recorded 33°C with 93 per cent humidity this week, highlighting the brutal conditions awaiting England's players next summer.
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