How Watching the 2026 World Cup Can Boost Your Mental Health – Especially With Dad This Father's Day.
The 2026 World Cup is here, and with Fathers Day following close behind, there is no doubt that huge numbers of men and boys will be watching and playing football with their families and friends over the next few weeks.
It’s no surprise that playing sports is good for your physical and mental health. For example, my survey of seven thousand men in the US and UK found that the more a man values sport and leisure, the better his mental wellbeing. But what about watching football - is watching someone kick a ball, rather than kicking the ball yourself, good for your mental wellbeing?
Social and historical significance
Let’s start by recognising that being a football fan is much bigger than just one person being a fan. The experience of watching a match reaches right back into our social and biological roots. Places like Wembley stadium are probably as important to England fans as Stonehenge to ancient Britons. The shared group experience of singing, chanting and cheering a winning team can – at it’s peak – create an ecstatic group experience. The links to our ancient past are not hard to imagine when you hear the roar of a hundred thousand voices singing in unison. Profoundly emotional experiences create profoundly emotional memories shared by hundreds of thousands of fans. These memories last a lifetime and can even be shared through the generations. Say the words “nineteen sixty-six” to any England fan of any age and you will see what I mean.
Each person’s own unique history is important too. A football game takes 90 minutes, but the influence can last a lifetime. Many boys grow up supporting their local club, and often this allegiance is passed on to his son, and then his son after that, on through the generations. Each football game is a part of this history. (Fathers Day is 21st June this year. Remember to get him a gift).
Does it matter if you win or lose?
Watching your team lose can be heartbreaking (literally), but what about if you are lucky enough to support a team that always seems to win? For a kick off, football is a funny old game, and even if you support the very best team, you never truly know if they are going to win or lose. For this reason, football fans learn to be optimistic of the chances of a win, even in the last minutes of the game, and learn to be resilient in the face of losing. So even if losing didn’t improve your mental wellbeing, it made you better able at dealing with adversity.
Testosterone is essential to men’s physical and mental health, so some good news is that the joy of watching your team winning gives your testosterone levels a small boost, especially for avid fans. The bad news is this mechanism can work the other way if your team loses, reducing testosterone levels a little. So enjoy the wins, and don’t let the losses get you down too much.
The impact of excited fans on the players is not hard to imagine either. Most teams perform better when playing at home, where their own supporters outnumber the ‘away team’ supporters. That’s why when fans were banned from attending matches during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the advantage of playing at the home stadium decreased.
Is watching football as beneficial to mental health as playing football?
Perhaps surprisingly, there isn’t as much research into football and mental health as you might guess, but one study found that playing football can help men with mental health issues. One study even found that playing football can modestly benefit the physical and mental health of people with schizophrenia. These benefits are likely to be mostly because playing football increases fitness, involves socialisation, and creates a sense of purpose.
But what about watching football? There are relatively few studies looking at the impact of watching football on mental health problems, and the ones that have been done have produced a mix of positive and negative findings. This doesn’t mean there is no effect, it just means that more good-quality research needs to be done on this topic. However for people without mental health problems, several studies suggest that football can give fans a psychological boost from time to time, helping with loneliness, mental wellbeing, and stress relief.
Conclusion
Probably no researchers are going to get a Nobel prize for discovering this, but the evidence so far suggests that watching football can lift your mood, especially if your favourite team wins. Football is something that anyone can enjoy. Even when you get too old to play football, there is a slow version called walking football. And even when you get too old to play walking football, you can still benefit from looking back fondly on your footballing memories.
Am I saying there are no down sides to football fandom? Of course not – don’t get me started on the tsunami of gambling adverts in football. But my advice is that whatever age you are, now is a great time to get together with your family and friends - via the internet if they don’t live nearby - and thoroughly enjoy several weeks of watching some of the most exciting football in the world.
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Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, legal advice, or other professional opinion. Never disregard such advice because of this article or anything else you have read from the Centre for Male Psychology. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of, or are endorsed by, The Centre for Male Psychology, and we cannot be held responsible for these views. Read our full disclaimer here.
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John Barry
El dr. John Barry es psicólogo, investigador, hipnoterapeuta clínico y cofundador de la Male Psychology Network (Red de Psicología Masculina), la BPS Male Psychology Section (Sección de Psicología Masculina de la BPS) y The Centre for Male Psychology (Centro de Psicología Masculina). También co-editor del Palgrave Handbook of Male Psychology & Mental Health (Manual Palgrave de Psicología Masculina y Salud Mental), y coautor del nuevo libro Perspectives in Male Psychology: An Introduction (Wiley) (Perspectivas en Psicología Masculina: Una Introducción [Wiley]).