Study shows teams that sing anthem with more passion are more likely to win games

A study from Staffordshire University has noted that level of passion displayed by players singing their national anthem at Euro 2016 predicted their team’s success or failure at the tournament.

Matthew Slater, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Staffordshire University, looked at how football teams at the Euro’s sang their national anthems before each game – and what impact it had. 

The study examined both verbal and non-verbal clues of passion. They looked at whether players sang at all and, if so, to what intensity (greater intensity indicating greater passion).

Slater found that the level of passion displayed by players predicted their team’s success or failure in the subsequent match.

They noted that football teams who collectively sang their national anthem with greater gusto went on to concede fewer goals (but did not score more goals). They also found that in the knockout stage (but not the group stage) singing with more passion led to a greater likelihood of victory in that game.

The study looked at teams with low levels of passion and compared how they fared at the tournament to countries that sang their anthem with high levels of passion.

An extract reads:

‘Switzerland and Spain were two countries that sang with low levels of passion. Neither of them made it through to the quarter finals. In contrast, Wales and Italy were two of the countries that sang with the most passion. Italy made it to the quarter finals and Wales made it all the way to the semi finals. The winners, Portugal, also scored high on passion across their games.’

The study also compared the effect of singing the anthem with ‘gusto’ to what New Zealand rugby players feel when the perform a tribal dance known as the “haka” before games.

A link to their study can be found here.

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