Age-related differences in physical and technical match performance in FIFA Women’s World Cup players

This study examined age-related differences in match physical and technical performance in outfield players competing in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. Official FIFA post-match summary reports provided 740 full-match player-match observations from 319 unique outfield players across 60 matches. Goalkeepers, substitutes, players substituted off, dismissed players and observations from extra-time matches were excluded. Age groups were derived using k-means cluster analysis based on chronological age: 16–21, 22–24, 25–27, 28–30 and 31–37 years. Linear mixed models were used to examine age-cluster, positional and age cluster × position effects while accounting for repeated observations within players. Significant age-cluster effects were observed for Zone 4 distance (p = 0.018), Zone 5 distance (p < 0.001), combined Zone 4 + Zone 5 distance (p < 0.001), number of sprints (p = 0.002) and maximum speed (p = 0.010). Players aged 22–24 years generally displayed the highest high-intensity and sprint-related outputs. Significant age cluster × position interactions were observed for Zone 5 and combined Zone 4 + Zone 5 distance, mainly explained by forwards. These findings suggest that age-related differences in elite women’s match performance are most evident in high-intensity and sprint-related variables.