Could England players turn to Viagra to deal with Mexico's altitude?

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Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

The discourse surrounding England's upcoming battle with Mexico has given rise to some, shall we say, interesting theories.

The Three Lions will take on El Tri at the Estadio Azteca on Sunday (Monday morning in the UK), and much has already been made of the players' possible struggles with altitude.

Mexico City's 87,523-capacity football cathedral sits more than 7,000 feet (2,200 metres) above sea level, which can have noticeable physical effects on athletes not used to such conditions.

The altitude combined with the partisan home crowd gives Mexico an almighty home-field advantage. El Tri have only lost twice at the Azteca since 1966 and are undefeated there in 10 World Cup games.

Plenty of suggestions have been made as to how to limit the effects of altitude on England players. Taking extra carbohydrates and drinking beetroot juice are two of the more straightforward ways to improve performance at altitude.

Could England players take Viagra?

A more leftfield theory, put forward by talkSPORT, is that England players could resort to using Viagra, usually a remedy against erectile dysfunction.

Viagra was originally invented to deal with high blood pressure. It blocks an enzyme and results in a widening of the blood vessels in the lungs. This, in turn, helps the body cope with the effects of altitude by enabling it to pump more oxygen around.

Lower blood pressure in the lungs can combat fatigue and dizziness, two symptoms that are caused by the thin atmosphere and low concentration of oxygen at altitude.

The outlet emphasises that there is no suggestion that England players will use Viagra, but it notes that it would technically be permitted. The medication is not on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances as of January this year.

Viagra is not a significant stimulant at sea level and only really begins to exhibit signs of being comparable to a performance-enhancing drug at an altitude of more than 3,800 metres.

Union de Santa Fe from Argentina previously experimented with Viagra for a game in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito. Two years earlier, in 2017, the Argentinian national team used Viagra and oxygen tanks for a World Cup qualifier against Bolivia in La Paz.

Ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, reports made the rounds that England were planning to use Viagra to deal with the altitude of the so-called Highveld, the massive plateau on which Johannesburg and Rustenburg, where they had their base camp, are located.

However, the Three Lions publicly denied these reports. Judging by their limp performances in South Africa, though, they should perhaps have considered using Viagra...

Other ways to deal with altitude

Besides Viagra, there are other ways to try and combat the effects of altitude. Performance expert Steve Magness took to X to give the England team some tips ahead of their clash with Mexico.

“1 - Hydration and plasma volume,” he wrote. “Altitude drives respiratory water loss and diuresis, and plasma volume decreases acutely. Hydration strategies can blunt this. Folks have even tried manipulating high sodium intake to help shift plasma volume

“2 - Fuel with carbohydrates. We generally will burn more carbs at higher altitude. Make sure you are fuelled up and use fuelling strategies mid-game more like an elite endurance athlete. Something like maurten gels would work well.

“3 - Bicarb it up. Altitude is going to harm aerobic abilities. All those sprints and high speed running will build up more fatigue. The new sodium bicarbonate is a must here. I'd load up if I were England. Plus, altitude tends to lower blood bicarb. Also, it tends to help more for folks who aren't fully acclimated.

“4 - Protect sleep. Disrupted sleep is a major part of it. So do everything you can to help get a good night's sleep. Limits screen time, blue light blockers, all the stuff.

“5 - Tactics and pacing. You've got to adjust. Mexico will be adapted. You won't. Learning how to pace better and time your runs will be key. If you try to do the same thing as always, you will be screwed.

“6 - Beetroot juice. It can boost endurance performance. Works better on non-elite endurance athletes. Which would honestly be a lot of these soccer guys. And altitude can impair the natural turning of nitrite into nitric oxide, so theoretically beet root juice would help even more at altitude.

“7 - Caffeine. Not altitude specific, but boosts endurance performance. A well timed dose to peak in the 2nd half would be helpful.

“8 - Heat adaptation. Where England may have benefited from playing in the US is that heat adaptation (and its boost in plasma volume) can help with altitude. So even if they aren't altitude adapted, the heat wave in the US may have helped them.”

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Tom Weber | Writer

Tom Weber is an experienced, multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer as part of his freelance work for FootballTransfers.

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