ENGLAND stars will be taking their own bedding to the US — to help send Harry Kane’s boys into World Cup dreamland.
The FA will provide bespoke mattress toppers and pillows to guarantee quality sleep at the squad’s base hotel in Kansas.
Guests at England’s base camp hotel in Kansas have complained of rock-hard pillows and beds, with walls so thin that sex romps next door were audible.
Meticulous team coach Thomas Tuchel has drafted in sleep scientists to help stars — including captain Harry Kane — get world-class shut-eye between games in the tournament starting next month.
They will bring comfortable bedding and blankets, while other sleep aids will help them nod off after late-night games, even in stifling heat and humidity.
Experts from the UK Sports Institute, working with the FA, will strip out standard hotel pillows and bedding at the England squad’s base — The Inn at Meadowbrook, near Kansas City.
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The players will arrive with their own “sleep kits”, including soft bespoke mattress toppers — a lightweight foam overlayer which reduces the firmness of the beds.
Special gel cooling pillows will also help stars including Jude Bellingham regulate their core body temperature in the heat and humidity of the tournament, held in the US, Mexico and Canada.
Both the pillows and mattresses will be tailored to each player’s specific body type, weight, and sleeping posture.
Three Lions heroes will also be encouraged to bring their own blankets to replicate the exact weight, material, and familiarity of their bedding back home.
The sleep kits also include contoured eye masks which shut out light without putting pressure on the eyelids, while special earplugs will block out all external noise.
Finishing touches to create a comfy home-from-home in the players’ rooms will include framed pictures of loved ones.
The move follows online complaints about bed quality and noise at the £260-a-night The Inn at Meadowbrook.
In February this year, guest Casey Arens wrote of the 54-bedroomed establishment: “The pillows are flat and terrible, as hard as rocks.”
Another, Elizabeth McLenon, posted on Google reviews: “A luxurious hotel has a bed that feels like a cloud. The bed at The Inn was as hard as a rock. I had to schedule a chiropractic appointment after sleeping in it.”
In 2024, Frank Banfield told how he was kept awake by the sound of a sex romp next door. He wrote: “We’ve visited on two occasions and each time were surprised by the lack of soundproofing.
“We heard the ‘enjoyable activities’ of a couple in the next room. The property lacks acoustic considerations.”
In 2022 Lori W wrote in another review on Yelp: “There is a very big problem with this place.
“The floors are so thin you will hear people walking in the room above you. We got no sleep.”
It led to an apology from hotel bosses who replied: “No amount of soundproofing can stop noise, though ours was designed well above the industry standard. We’re sorry that you lost sleep.”
In 2023 another Yelp reviewer wrote: “The room is echoey, and non-soundproofed walls didn’t do much to cut down on significant noise from adjacent rooms.”
England — along with reigning world champions Argentina, Holland and Algeria — will set up camp in the central US state of Kansas to reduce travelling time between games.
The Three Lions — who take on Croatia at their World Cup curtain-raiser in Dallas on June 17 — have booked out the entire Inn at Meadowbrook for the duration of their tournament.
They will face the double challenge of late kick-offs as well as recovering from playing in stifling heat and humidity.
Top sleep scientist and physiology consultant Dr Luke Gupta has been advising the team for the FA.
The performance innovation consultant with the UK Sports Institute has previously worked with the Euros-winning England Lionesses and Team GB Olympic stars.
He advises players not to worry about struggling to sleep while high on adrenaline after late-night games — and to take naps for up to an hour during the day.
He said: “Some players new to the squad might be unfamiliar with the late-night kick-off, versus those who are more experienced and can just go with it.
“We try to take the edge off things, together as a team, to create a schedule that allows for what I call ‘recovery sleep’.”
Ex-England sleep coach Nick Littlehales said: “These days everything in football is about maximising performance margins and sleep is a very important factor.
If Harry Kane sleeps better on a special mattress or pillow, or wants his favourite teddy bear, that’s what he’ll get.”
At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, staff installed blackout blinds as the near 24-hour daylight in St Petersburg was keeping players awake.
Bespoke bedding and sleep aids also played a part at the 2024 Euros in Germany, where the Three Lions eventually lost in the final to Spain.
An FA spokesman said: “We wouldn’t be looking to issue any comment or guidance on private arrangements for our playing squad.”
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