What are Nike mind-altering shoes? England squad’s new ‘hack’ for World Cup

At the Euro 2024 it was the state-of-the-art Oura Ring tracking sleep quality and heart rate, but England may well have stumbled on their favoured newfangled 2026 World Cup gadget fad seven months early.

On Wednesday, Ezri Konsa revealed to the media that the England players have been given new ‘mind-altering shoes’ produced by Nike.

Thomas Tuchel then confirmed that the shoes are supposed to help his players focus better and that they had been encouraged to wear them in camp this week when given them on Wednesday morning.

Perhaps this is what England have been missing most during their 60 years of hurt…

The shoes look a lot like ‘Crocs’ or sliders but are slightly clumpier and are advertised on the Nike website either in fluorescent orange or in grey.

The so-called ‘Mind 001 Men’s Pregame Mules’ have nodules on the soles which Nike claims “work by engaging the sensory areas of your brain via the thousands of mechanoreceptors underfoot”.

Tuchel was told on Tuesday that his players would be wearing them as a trial to help improve their focus.

“They just told me they can focus better in meetings if they wear these shoes,” he said. “I hope they believe it.”

The science behind the shoes is that they are thought to activate pressure points on the foot which send signals to the brain in a reflexology method. They are described as a “pre-game hack” and the hope is that they will give England the edge.

The ‘Pregame Mules’ are to be worn pre-game, in the lead-up to taking to the pitch.

It has been explained to the squad that wearing them in team meetings should help to improve their concentration and it is important they keep them on when travelling around camp.