Players competing in the 2026 World Cup are often seen wearing vests or tops under their game uniforms.
The piece, which resembles a bra, has an increasingly indispensable function in sport: collecting individual data from athletes.
Speed, heart rate and oxygenation are some of the data provided by the equipment.
The region of the field that a player covers and the distance he covered are also available to the coach and assistants — during and after the game.
The technology embedded in sports bras allows the coaching staff to build statistics and improve players’ performance. This input of information can be important, for example, to define a team’s tactical scheme.
Better choices can also be made during a match. Which players share the same characteristics? Who is more efficient if improvised in a certain position? Which formation favors the team’s star player and why? Which players don’t perform playing together?
These questions — and many others — can be answered through the use of smart vests.
Another advantage of sports bras is linked to the recovery of injured players. Muscle injuries to the thigh, like the one suffered by Raphinha from the national team, are common in elite football players and there is no single way to be treated.
Choosing between a quick recovery or a more conventional one can involve using vests, as they also show how the athlete is responding to treatment.
The device is not exclusive to official club and national team games. Athletes also wear the smart tops during training.
Despite the strangeness that the piece still causes for some fans, smart vests have been used for more than a decade in football championships around the world.
In Brazil, technology has been present in elite clubs for at least ten years.
