Decision-making in Football and the Influence of Sociocultural Context

  

    

           

    

           

    

           

  

On 26 September, Lusófona University – Porto University Centre hosted the International Opening Conference for the 2025/2026 Academic Year of the Master’s Degree in Football Coaching, under the theme “Decision-making in football and the influence of the sociocultural context”. The event brought together lecturers and students for a reflection on talent development in football.

The event aimed to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the master’s degree and featured the special participation of Full Professor Sixto González-Víllora, from the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (Spain), a renowned researcher in the field of sports pedagogy and talent development in football. The session was organised by Professor Filipe Casanova, director of this 2nd Cycle of Studies.

Professor Sixto González-Víllora shared his extensive research experience on decision-making in football. “The main message I would like to convey is the importance of working on decision-making to improve football development and the adaptations to the sociocultural context that affect players as they adjust to new ways of playing football.”

Throughout the conference, the researcher presented different pedagogical models applied to sports training, emphasising the importance of methodologies that foster autonomy, tactical intelligence, and motor competence among athletes. He also argued that practice should go beyond the coach’s direct instructions, “Players must think for themselves. The goal is to develop intelligent athletes, capable of making effective decisions on the pitch.”

The guest speaker also addressed topics such as gender equality in football, cognitive research in the design of representative games, and the relevance of observation and scouting for talent development.

See photos of the event on ULusófona's Facebook page

Text
Bruna Pereira

Photography
Paulo Renato

Video (Coverage)
Paulo Renato

Video (Editing)
Paulo Renato