Soccer fitness tests, and what good looks like
Testing a squad tells you who is fit enough to play 90 minutes, who needs more running, and whether your pre-season worked. Here are the tests soccer clubs use, how to run them, and the marks published for professional players, each with its study.
Check a result
These marks come from professional and international players. A junior, State League or NPL player sitting below them is normal; the useful number is your own change from one test day to the next.
Beep test or Yo-Yo test for soccer?
The beep test (the 20 m multistage shuttle) runs without a break until you drop off, so it measures steady aerobic fitness. Soccer is stop and start. The Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery tests add 10 seconds of jogging after every shuttle, so they measure how well a player repeats hard efforts, which is closer to a match. Both are useful; for a soccer squad the Yo-Yo or the 30-15 tells you more.
The tests and the published marks
Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test, level 1
Shuttles of 2 x 20 m at rising speeds from the audio, with 10 seconds of easy jogging between each. Your score is the total distance before you miss the line twice. It is closer to a soccer match than the beep test because of those short recoveries.
| Published mark | Result | Who, and the study |
|---|---|---|
| International male | 2420 m | international-level male players. Bangsbo, Iaia & Krustrup 2008, Sports Medicine 38(1) |
| Elite male | 2190 m | elite male players. Bangsbo, Iaia & Krustrup 2008, Sports Medicine 38(1) |
| Moderately trained male | 1810 m | moderately trained males. Bangsbo, Iaia & Krustrup 2008, Sports Medicine 38(1) |
Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test, level 2
The same format as level 1 but starting faster, so it tests the hard, repeated efforts of a match. Used more with senior and well trained players.
| Published mark | Result | Who, and the study |
|---|---|---|
| International elite | 1059 m | 35 international-level players (Scandinavia). Krustrup et al. 2006, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 38(9) |
| Moderate elite (2nd division) | 771 m | Danish second-division players. Krustrup et al. 2006, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 38(9) |
Elite players covered 41% more than sub-elite on this test in a Norway and Denmark sample of 203 (Ingebrigtsen et al. 2012).
30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test
30 seconds of shuttle running, 15 seconds walking, with the speed rising each stage. The final speed is used to set interval running speeds for each player.
| Published mark | Result | Who, and the study |
|---|---|---|
| Elite soccer, typical | 19.5 km/h | elite male soccer, average final speed. Buchheit, 30-15 IFT two decades of learnings (SPSR 148) |
| Elite male soccer, range | 18.5 to 20.5 km/h | elite male soccer players. Buchheit 2008 via Topend Sports test norms |
| Elite academy U17 to U19 (France) | 19 to 22 km/h | 72 academy players. HIIT Science, integrating the 30-15 IFT in soccer pre-season |
10 m sprint
From a still start, timed with gates or a slow-motion phone video. Acceleration over the first steps.
| Published mark | Result | Who, and the study |
|---|---|---|
| Polish first-league professionals | 1.74 s | 87 professionals; 0 to 5 m 1.02 s plus 5 to 10 m 0.72 s, added. Relationship between CMJ and sprint performance in professional football players, 2024 |
National-team and first-division players were 3 to 4% faster than third- to fifth-division players over 0 to 20 m in 939 tested players (Haugen et al. 2013).
20 m sprint
From a still start. Acceleration plus the first part of top speed.
| Published mark | Result | Who, and the study |
|---|---|---|
| Elite AFL players (Australian rules, not soccer) | 2.94 to 3.13 s | elite AFL, range of reported means. Johnston et al. 2018, Sports Medicine Open, systematic review |
| Local-level AFL players | 3.22 to 4.06 s | local-level AFL, range of reported means. Johnston et al. 2018, Sports Medicine Open, systematic review |
No published soccer 20 m benchmark with a stated population and value was found; the AFL range is shown because it is Australian and labelled as such.
40 m sprint
From a still start. Mostly top speed by the end.
| Published mark | Result | Who, and the study |
|---|---|---|
| English Premier League first team, peak speed (context) | 9.53 | 21 first-team players, 2019 to 2021, peak sprint speed in a 40 m test, 9.53 ± 0.38 m/s (34.3 km/h). 1200 m shuttle test and 40 m sprint vs EPL match distances, 2025 |
That study reports peak speed, not a 40 m time, so it is context beside your times, not a target on the same scale.
505 change of direction test
Sprint through a gate, turn 180 degrees on a line 5 m past it, and sprint back through. Test both turning feet.
| Published mark | Result | Who, and the study |
|---|---|---|
| Elite (male) | 2.3 s | male athletes, faster than this is rated elite. Haff & Triplett 2015 ratings via Topend Sports |
| Good (male) | 2.3 to 2.5 s | male athletes. Haff & Triplett 2015 ratings via Topend Sports |
| Average (male) | 2.5 to 2.7 s | male athletes. Haff & Triplett 2015 ratings via Topend Sports |
Countermovement jump
Hands on hips, dip and jump as high as you can. Jump height depends on the device: a force plate reads lower than a contact mat or a phone app, so compare like with like.
| Published mark | Result | Who, and the study |
|---|---|---|
| Mexican national team, 2002 | 45 cm | national team before the 2002 World Cup, mean 45 ± 8 cm. PMC12300504 (2025) reporting the 2002 assessment |
| Polish first-league professionals | 36 to 39 cm | 87 first-league professionals, force plate, group means 0.36 to 0.39 m. Relationship between CMJ and sprint performance in professional football players, 2024 |
Jump height depends on the device: a force plate reads lower than a contact mat or an app. Compare like with like.
How to run a test day
Same surface, same footwear, same warm-up and the same time of day each time. Sprints and jumps first while players are fresh, the running test last. Test at the start of pre-season, before round 1 and once mid-season, so you are comparing a player with themselves.