The science of sweat: How a UF researcher is helping Brazil prepare for the heat of the World Cup

As the world’s best soccer players prepare for the 2026 FIFA World Cup across North America this summer, teams are gearing up not only for opponents but also for the heat.

In stadiums from Miami to Mexico City, soaring temperatures and humidity could affect matches, recovery times and ultimately championship outcomes. And behind one of the most storied teams in soccer history is a University of Florida scientist using the science of sweat to help athletes perform, recover and stay healthy in extreme heat.

For more than a decade, Orlando Laitano, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the College of Health and Human Performance’s Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, has worked with the Brazilian national soccer team to develop individualized hydration strategies for its players.

“People used to think sweat just meant you were working hard,” Laitano said. “What we learned is that sweat carries way more than just water.”

Every athlete loses a different combination of fluids and electrolytes during competition, he explained, and those differences can affect muscle performance, recovery and susceptibility to heat illness. Instead of giving every player the same sports drink, Laitano evaluates each athlete individually by analyzing sweat composition, body mass changes and fluid intake patterns to create personalized hydration plans.

“It’s very specific,” he said. “We develop customized formulas because players’ sweat compositions vary, and they play different positions on the field with different physical demands — it’s individualized.”

This work has taken to Laitano to Brazil and recently to Orlando, where he conducted assessments during a Brazilian national team training camp ahead of the World Cup. Using sweat-collection patches and individualized monitoring systems, he and collaborators measure exactly how much fluid, sodium and chloride players lose during training and matches.

Each player receives a personalized bottle tied to a hydration formula tailored specifically for them. Some of the technology even tracks, sip by sip, whether players are drinking according to plan.

The system is the result of years of collaboration involving the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, where Laitano serves as a consultant, and research laboratories including his own. The project dates back to 2013, with early testing conducted alongside Brazil’s national team before the 2014 World Cup.

But for Laitano, the science goes far beyond sports performance.

“Our work is not just about optimizing athletic performance,” he said. “It’s about health.”

At UF, much of his federally funded research focuses on exertional heat illness — dangerous conditions that can strike athletes, laborers and military personnel exposed to intense heat. His lab studies exertional heat stroke and severe inflammatory response syndrome in projects supported by the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health.

“When soldiers go to train and combat in the heat, they collapse because it’s too hot,” Laitano said. “This is what we study in our lab.”

The same principles apply to elite athletes competing in summer tournaments where travel, recovery and repeated exposure to high temperatures create cumulative physiological stress.

“The strategy changes completely depending on climate,” he said. “The same player competing in different environments will need different hydration strategies.”

That challenge could become especially important during this year’s World Cup, where many athletes who normally train and compete in cooler European climates will face summer heat in parts of the United States.

“Whoever has the best ability to cope with heat will have an advantage,” Laitano said.

Some of the technologies developed for elite athletes are already making their way to the public. Laitano described consumer hydration patches that analyze sweat composition through a smartphone app and recommend personalized hydration strategies for recreational users.

He compares the process to Formula One racing.

“We test technology in high-performance athletes first,” he said. “Then eventually it becomes available for everybody else.”

For the Brazilian-born scientist, however, the work still carries an emotional weight beyond research papers and performance metrics.

“In Brazil, before you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, you want to be a soccer player for the national team,” he said. “I was not good enough to make it as a player. But I made it through science.”

As the world’s most successful nation in the history of the FIFA World Cup prepares for another run in the tournament, Laitano’s contributions and expertise will be a big part of its winning strategy.