KANSAS CITY — Argentina’s national football team is turning to advanced motorsport technology to combat soaring temperatures at the World Cup, following their dominant opening victory against Algeria. During a training session on Wednesday in Kansas, where temperatures reached a grueling 36°C (96.8°F), Lionel Messi and his teammates were spotted wearing specialized “cooling vests”—a technology heavily utilized in Formula One to prevent heat exhaustion. The vests feature custom-engineered pockets designed to hold specialized cooling gels. These gels actively lower core body temperature, mitigating physical fatigue during high-intensity training and accelerating post-exercise recovery.
Alongside the vests, the squad is also utilizing temperature-regulated boots engineered to prevent heat buildup in the feet. According to sports science experts, the tech is becoming a critical asset in modern tournament preparation. Carlos Cruz, a fitness coach with the Spanish national team—which has been using identical equipment since the start of the tournament—emphasized its effectiveness. “We use these vests regularly after training,” Cruz stated. “They can also be deployed post-warm-up right before kick-off to ensure players enter the pitch completely refreshed.”
While relatively new to football, cooling vests are a staple in Formula One, where drivers routinely face extreme cockpit temperatures during hot-weather races in Singapore, Australia, and Qatar. Argentina will look to maintain their momentum in cooler physical conditions when they face Austria in their second group match on Monday at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
