How Far Do Football Players Run In a Game? Answered!

Football is a physically demanding sport. Players need speed, endurance and strategy. Players will cover different distances according to their positions; a midfielder and winger will run more than a central defender. 

SportsBoom looks at the data from the English Premier League and UEFA Euro 2024 to see which players ran the most in games, last season. Goalkeepers do not run that much during matches. Goalkeepers spend most of their time walking around inside their 18-yard area. They rarely move fast or cover great distances, even in the modern ‘sweeper-keeper’ era. They only move quickly when making saves or running to clear the ball from an attacker.

Average Distance Covered by Football Players

The average distance covered by players in a game varies depending on their position. The midfielders cover more ground because they attack and defend. Midfielders must cover the ground in all directions; up and down, and side to side to help their fullbacks. Strikers and fullbacks cover more ground than central defenders, who often stay inside their own team’s half of the field. 

In the 2023/24 English Premier League season, nine of the top 10 players, who covered the most distance during the campaign, were midfielders. Bruno Guimaraes covered the most kilometres per game, last season. The Newcastle midfielder ran 423.09 km, two kilometres more than Pascal Gross of Brighton and Hove Albion.

Declan Rice placed third for mort distance run in matches in the Premier League. He is one of the best midfielders in the EPL, and the hardest working. Rice also covered the most ground of any player at UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany. 

Dominic Solanke (who was playing for Bournemouth) ran the most in EPL games in the striker’s department. He was the only non-midfielder to place on the 2023/24 list. Solanke finished eighth overall. The top 10 distances covered in a Premier League match were all above 13 km, and all completed by midfielders.

Declan Rice//Getty Images

The Most Distance Covered at UEFA Euro 2024

At UEFA Euro 2024, five of the top 10 runners per game were midfielders. There were two right backs, one centre half, right winger, striker. Eight of the footballers played for England, two for Spain, and one from France. However, all these footballers played six or seven matches because their country’s made the semi-final or final of the championship. 

Seven of the top 10 players who covered the most distance in games at UEFA Euro 2024 played for England. Two players came from Spain and one from France. Declan Rice ran 85.70 km in Germany, the most by any footballer. Rice was the only player to run more than 80 km during the tournament. 

Bukayo Saka//Getty Images

Kyle Walker ran the most in matches out of the defenders. The City right back covered 74.80 km in the seven games he played. Walker’s work-rate proves he is still one of the best defenders in the in the world. Jules Kounde, the right back from France, is the only other defender in the top 10 list of most distance covered. Kounde ran 66.60 km, but he only played six games, one fewer than Walker and Rice.

Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka are the only two forwards to make the top 10 charts. Kane ran 70.40 km, Saka covered 69.90 km from the right wing. Kane’s work-rate was immense, as he often dropped deep into midfield to collect the ball. Fabian Ruiz and Rodri are the other players not from England or France in the top 10 at Euro 2024.

The Most distance Covered After the Round of 16 Knockout Stage at UEFA Euro 2024

Seven countries were represented in the top 10 most distance covered statistics after the quarter-final stages. Adam Gnezda Cerin (Slovenia) and Stanislav Lobotka (Slovakia) topped the charts in first and second place, respectively. Cerin (51.20 km) and Lobotka (50.04 km) were the only players to cover more than 50 kilometres after four matches at the tournament. Declan Rice (49.20 km) was in third place leading up to the quarter-finals. 

For context, SportsBoom looked at the players who covered the most distance after the round of 16 first knockout stage. Rice, who topped the running metres in matches in Germany, was in third position after the quarter-finals at Euro 2024. Incidentally, no other player in the overall top 10 at the end of the tournament was on the top 10 charts after playing four games. Reasons for this, however, are down to injuries, players being rested after the group stage, and suspensions. 

Six players were midfielders, one a hybrid midfielder-defender, and three defenders (all right backs). The reason more fullbacks made the list of top runners is the change in evolution of the position. Full backs are expected to attack more, which means more tracking back to defend after an attack, hence the increased running distances. Midfielders have always run more than other outfield positions due to the nature of their positional role. 

Granit Xhaka (sixth) and Kevin De Bruyne (equal ninth), despite their age, ran the most up until the quarter-final stages of the European Championships. Xhaka was voted into the Bundesliga Team of the Season in 2023/24. He was central to Borussia Dortmund making the UEFA Champions League final. De Bruyne, although injury plagued the past three seasons, helped Manchester City to a fourth successive Premier League title. Age is nothing but a number. 

Xhaka ran 46.60 km in four games for Switzerland, while De Bruyne ran 45.50 km for Belgium. Peter Pekarik (47.30 km), Zan Karnicnik (46 km), and Timothy Castagne (45.50 km) ran the most up in matches by full backs leading up to the quarter-finals. Joshua Kimmich (46 km) played both right back and in midfield, finishing equal seventh on the list. No strikers or central defenders placed on the most distance run by players at Euro 2024.