How far do soccer players run?

Distance by Position At the 2022 men's World Cup, average distances across eight outfield positions ranged from about6.0 to 7.2 miles (9.7-11.6 km). FIFA's figures cover players who completed a full match, use a normalized 90+ minute basis and exclude extra time.

How far do soccer players run by position? The table below uses FIFA's published positional averages.

Keep in mind thattotal distance includes walking, alongside jogging and faster running. The miles accumulate throughout a player's time on the field, including movement away from the ball.

Average total distance by position, men's FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Outfield players who completed the full match; data normalized for 90+ minutes, excluding extra time.

Source: FIFA positional analysis, Figure 1 (May 24, 2023). Position Average distance (miles) Average distance (km) Center-back 6.0 9.7 Full-back / wing-back 6.4 10.3 Defensive midfielder 7.2 11.6 Central midfielder 7.1 11.4 Attacking midfielder 6.5 10.5 Wide midfielder 6.7 10.7 Wide forward 6.5 10.5 Center forward 6.4 10.3 These are averages for each role within one tournament.

They do not set a minimum distance that every player should reach. FIFA's 90+ minute label includes stoppage time; it should remain distinct from a statistic calculated for exactly 90 minutes.

Which soccer positions run the most? Defensive and central midfielders recorded the highest average totals in this sample.

FIFA also separated wide midfielders from wide forwards, so combining both categories into a single "winger" average would lose part of the comparison. The work behind a total can differ substantially.

In FIFA's player case studies, Achraf Hakimi's role involved attacking support as well as defensive recovery runs.