Does the External Load Have an Impact on Winning Matches in Football?

The present study was conducted to examine the impact of external load on winning matches in football. The study group comprised players of the football team in the Spor Toto 1 st League. A total of 13 matches, including 6 won matches and 7 lost matches, were used in the analysis. The data on matches were taken from the 2022-2023 season of the Spor Toto 1st League. The following external load parameters were used in the analysis: total running distance (m), total high-speed running (HSR) distance, total sprint distance (m), acceleration distance (m), deceleration distance (m), ACD load, and maximum sprint reached (km/h). Data were collected with the wearable technology tracking system on football players during matches via GPS. The independent t-test was used in the program (SPSS 26.0) when analyzing normally distributed research data. The analysis of research data found a statistically significant difference in the total distance covered, total HSR distance, total sprint distance, and acceleration values among the external load results for the won and lost matches (p 0.05) but did not find a statistically significant difference in the deceleration, ACD load, and sprint speed values (p>0.05). Consequently, it can be concluded that differences in many values that are considered necessary for success in the football field have an effect on winning matches in football. For values with no statistical difference, it may be recommended to conduct studies in a higher league, with more matches and more players. Keywords: football, external load, gps