INTRODUCTION: Post-match travel is a concern for national team footballers due to physiological and physical stresses of travel, combined with the need to recover from match-play. The combination of match load [1] and travel requirements [2] are likely to have significant implications for the athlete`s fatigue, sleep, soreness and recovery. Additionally, physiological stresses of travel and the imposed time constraints may impair post-match recovery processes of athletes, particularly on return to clubs. This study explored how variations in travel demands and match-loads influence perceptual recovery, fatigue and sleep of footballers following travel after a national team match. Additionally, this study aimed to identify the influence of travel demands and the time between match kick-off and travel departure on match recovery (on Match Day +3). METHODS: Data was collated from 79 male national team footballers between October 2018 and December 2023. Total distance, high-speed distance, very high-speed distance and counts of accelerations and decelerations were measured using GPS. Post-match travel duration, direction, time zone difference, and the time between match kick off and travel departure was calculated based on travel schedules. Athletes completed a perceptual monitoring questionnaire daily from 1 day pre-match through to 3 days post-arrival from travel. The questionnaire included perceptual ratings of fatigue, soreness, sleep and stress, as well as the perceived recovery status scale [3]. Linear mixed models were built to assess the influence of match load and travel variables on each perceptual scale for the 3 days post arrival. Additional models were built using a standardised post-match timepoint of MD+3 to determine whether travel demands, and the timing of travel had influence over post-match recovery. RESULTS: Perceived recovery, fatigue, soreness, and sleep were reduced on day 1 post-travel and significantly improved for each day post-arrival (p
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