Written by Menswear Style in Sports on the 19th December 2022

It’s an exciting time for football with the first-ever winter World Cup kicking off and coming to a dramatic end. However, 134 players from the Premier League have been called up to play for the competing countries so it’s caused major disruptions for this Premier League season. With major players from Arsenal, Manchester City, and Aston Villa playing in Qatar, the league has been paused and is set to resume on Boxing Day. The World Cup has only been in action for a few days, but other leagues are already feeling the impact. Here’s everything you need to know about how the World Cup has affected Premier League football.

Time off for players 

During this most unusual season, teams are giving the players that aren’t participating time off. Each club has a different plan in place, but the general theme is to give players a few weeks off before sending them to training camps to keep their fitness levels up. Teams will be jetting off for warm-weather training and to play friendly matches abroad, intending to give them a reset before the season resumes. The reigning champions, Manchester United, will be travelling to Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, members of the Liverpool first-team squad will be for 12 days in the United Arab Emirates.

Impacted sales 

From a business perspective, sales could be impacted with players going abroad to train and no Premier League matches happening. And it’s not just the Premier League teams that will be affected – La Liga and other international leagues will be impacted by the lack of attention towards their games. The majority of clubs are going to have to make up for the lack of ticket and merchandise purchases, more than likely by holding sales in their stores. Make sure to keep an eye out to get the football shirt you’ve always wanted or to find a great gift for Christmas! 

Getting back to normal 

Getting back into the daily swing of things after the World Cup finishes is one of the biggest obstacles for the Premier League. Ideally, all players will be in top athletic shape when playing for the season but those returning from Qatar will be in poorer physical condition. The clubs with the most players in the World Cup are likely to be impacted the hardest. It also depends on how far certain countries go in the tournament and how many games players play.

Time off for players, Impacted sales, and Getting back to normal are the discussion points of this blog post on How the World Cup Has Affected Premier League Football.