###### Abstract  
(1) Objective: Compare the internal load (ILO), external load (ELO) and wellness (WS) between official preparation friendly matches (FM) and France 2019 women world cup (WWC) matches in female soccer players. (2) Methods: Ten field players of the Chilean national football team (age \(27\pm 3.4\) years, height \(162.8\pm 4.32\) cm, weight \(60.5\pm 4.6\) kg, fat percentage \(24.7\pm 1.62\%\) and muscle percentage \(49.2\pm 1.63\%\)) participated in the study. Participants were compared across three FM before the world cup and three matches of the group stages in the WWC in June 2019. Both, ELO and ILO were recorded using GPS (Catapult Sports(r), \(10\) Hz) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE), respectively. In addition, wellness was analyzed via personal questionnaire at 24 and 48 h after match. The intra subject difference was analyzed with a Student's \(t\)-test for related samples. (3) Results: Moderate differences were observed between WWC and FM for total and relative total distance covered [TD and TDr, respectively] (\(p=0.025\), ES \(=-0.74\) and \(p=0.017\), ES \(=-0.6\)). In addition, a non-significant (\(p=0.088\); ES \(=-0.43\)) larger high-intensity distance (HSR) was also found for WWC. Likewise, greater RPE was observed in WWC (\(p=0.001\); ES \(=-1.50\)) when compared to FM. Finally, significantly better wellness scores were shown for FM at stress ST24h, fatigue FT48h, and muscle pain MS48h (\(p=0.038\); ES \(=0.72\), \(p=0.066\); ES \(=0.71\); and \(p=0.63\); ES \(=0.77\)) when compared to WWC matches. (4) Conclusion: It was concluded that ELO and ILO were greater at WWC soccer matches, whereas WS scores were better for FM. Moreover, ILO measures (i.e., TD, HSR and TDr) were greater in WWC, which could be at least in part, be the reason behind the differences in the values reported in the wellness questionnaires at 24 and 48 h after the match. socire; football; contextual factor; match running performance; internal load; fatigue +
Footnote †: journal: _Applied_  
is commonly used to monitor ELO, which allows analyzing the physical demands of the competition [4; 5]. Furthermore, internal load (ILO) is defined as a measurable physiological aspect that occurs within the athlete [6]. In soccer, the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) is commonly used, due its simplicity, validity and low cost [7; 8], although it must be considered that this is an indirect measure [6]. In this line, perceived fatigue is another important aspect that must be taken into account by the technical staff. It is defined as the change in the sensations that control the integrity of the athlete [9]. For this purpose, the use of subjective self-reports is usually applied by coaches and practitioners. Wellness is among the most commonly used, as reported by [PERSON] et al. [10] and [PERSON] et al. [11]. For technical and medical staff, the ability to control ELO and ILO has many advantages. For example, they can regulate training loads during microcyles to ensure players are in the best possible condition for competitions [12; 13]. In terms of match load, numerous studies have analyzed the influence of contextual factors over ILO and ELO, such as the final score, match relevance, location, and distance traveled to play (i.e., home or away, and long or short trip), quality of the rival (i.e., ranking), and tournament configuration, among other aspects [14; 15; 16]. The reports mentioned above showed the extent to which the soccer context (i.e., level of rival or type of tournament) can influence ILO and ELO [17], and allow coaches to use these results as reference values to better control training loads [18]. In this regard, it has been reported that ELO values in official matches were higher when compared to friendly matches [19; 20].