England’s Football Association (FA) will provide the national soccer team with personalized, custom made bedding to ensure optimal sleep conditions for the players as the Three Lions team seeks to earn England’s second FIFA World Cup trophy at the upcoming tournament.
England is one of the 48 countries competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico between June 11–July 19. The English team, led by captain Harry Kane, will be staying at The Inn at Meadowbrook, a hotel near Kansas City.
The Sun reports that team coach Thomas Tuchel has deployed a meticulous plan — going as far as to enlist sleep scientists — to ensure that the English players receive optimal, “world-class” sleep time during their stay at the hotel.
Every member of the team will be provided with specialized, custom-tailored “sleep kits” containing bedding, blankets, pillows, and other sleep aid items to ensure that they are fully rested for the upcoming matches. Every kit also contains custom mattress toppers and a lightweight foam overlayer that reduces the bed’s firmness. Every item will be tailored down to each player’s exact measurements and sleeping patterns.
Furthermore, the extensively-detailed sleep plans calls for the use of “special gel cooling” pillows to help regulate the players’ body temperature and offset the heat and humidity conditions throughout the soccer tournament. GB News reports that English players were also encouraged to bring personal items with them such as blankets and photographs, to create “a more comfortable and relaxing environment.”
Past guests of the Kansas City hotel have reportedly complained of “rock-hard pillows and beds, with walls so thin that sex romps next door were audible.” Per The Sun, the UK Sports Institute will work with the FA to replace the hotel’s bedding and pillows with the team’s custom-made ones and prepare everything for the English team’s stay. Sleep scientist and physiology consultant Dr Luke Gupta has been advising the FA’s sleep quality efforts.
“Some players new to the squad might be unfamiliar with the late-night kick-off, versus those who are more experienced and can just go with it,” Gupta detailed to The Sun. “We try to take the edge off things, together as a team, to create a schedule that allows for what I call ‘recovery sleep.’”
Former England sleep coach Nick Littlehales explained to The Sun that soccer is now all about “maximizing performance” margins and that includes sleep.
“If Harry Kane sleeps better on a special mattress or pillow, or wants his favorite teddy bear, that’s what he’ll get,” he said.
England won its first and so far only FIFA World Cup back in 1966. The team is hoping to earn their second World Cup and end England’s 60-year drought in the upcoming tournament. The English team will first face off against Croatia’s national team at Dallas Stadium (AT&T Stadium) in Arlington, Texas, on June 17.
The FA has reportedly undertaken past measures to ensure that English soccer players receive adequate sleep and rest during prior tournaments. Custom sleep arrangements were carried out during the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament in Germany, which England lost the final against Spain.
Blackout blinds were installed for the English team during the 2028 FIFA World Cup in Russia to offset St. Petesburg’s near-constant daylight