Why do football players spit during matches? A scientific study reveals the reason

Many people wonder about the reasons why football players spit out the water or sports drink they drink during the break in matches, and the controversy surrounding this practice increased after the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) decided to stop after 22 minutes of the match for 3 minutes in each half to drink water, in order to reduce the severity of the physical stress of the players in the 2026 World Cup.

Although this behavior may seem strange, sports medicine experts confirm that it is based on scientific justifications related to physical performance. A study published by the European Journal of Sports Science found that this practice, known as “carbohydrate rinsing,” during which the athlete moves the drink inside his mouth for a few seconds before spitting it out, can contribute to improving performance in a number of high-intensity sports activities.

In detail, she explained that the mouth contains receptors capable of detecting the presence of carbohydrates, and when these receptors are activated, they send signals to areas in the brain related to the “reward” system, and thus the brain realizes that energy is on its way to the body, so performance improves without the need to consume additional calories or affect the digestive system such as bloating, nausea, or vomiting.

According to the study, a carbohydrate drink may affect an athlete’s perception of the level of effort expended once he tastes it, making intense exercises seem less tiring, even without swallowing the drink.

Sports nutrition experts confirm that this practice does not replace drinking fluids, as players are keen to replace fluids lost naturally during the break between halftime or after the match, while “rinsing the mouth” and “spitting” are often used during quick pauses that do not allow for drinking sufficient amounts of water.

On the other hand, football players may sometimes spit even without drinking anything, according to the BBC Science Focus website. The reason for this is that exercise increases the amount of protein secreted in saliva, specifically a type of mucus called “MUC5B”, which is responsible for making saliva thicker, making it more difficult to swallow, and thus the body’s natural response is to “spit it out.”

The reason for producing more of this mucus during exercise may be related to the fact that we, as people, naturally breathe more through the mouth, and mucus, in turn, prevents dryness inside the mouth.