Background/Objectives: Cooling strategies are critical for optimizing athlete recovery and performance in team sports, yet practical, accessible solutions remain underexplored. This study evaluated the efficacy of a cool vest during a 15 min recovery period following 45 min of simulated soccer match play on core and skin temperature regulation. Methods: Forty-seven physically active males completed an exercise protocol replicating the physiological demands of a soccer half-match. Participants were randomized into an experimental group using a cool vest during recovery (IG, n = 24) or a control group (CG, n = 23) without cooling intervention. Results: Compared to CG, IG exhibited small but significant reductions in skin temperature (31.46 ± 0.67 °C vs. 32.40 ± 1.04 °C; ES = −0.24, 95% CI: −0.40 to −0.08; p = 0.003) and tympanic temperature (35.99 ± 0.45 °C vs. 36.54 ± 0.66 °C; ES = −0.43, 95% CI: −0.67 to −0.18; p < 0.001) 10 min post-exercise. These differences intensified to small and moderate effects at 15 min post-exercise for skin (31.07 ± 0.67 °C vs. 32.51 ± 0.91 °C; ES = −0.37, 95% CI: −0.53 to −0.21; p < 0.001) and tympanic temperatures (35.70 ± 0.42 °C vs. 36.65 ± 0.58 °C; ES = −0.71, 95% CI: −0.96 to −0.46; p < 0.001), respectively, with IG maintaining consistently lower values. No temperature changes were observed in CG. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that a 15 min cool vest application during halftime effectively reduces core and skin temperatures, compared to passive recovery. This supports its utility as a practical, low-cost strategy for thermoregulatory management in soccer, warranting further investigation into its long-term performance benefits.

Soccer is an intermittent sport requiring rapid recovery from repeated high-intensity efforts, especially under heat stress conditions. Cooling vests have emerged as a practical strategy to enhance post-exercise heat dissipation, yet their physiological effects remain underexplored. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of a cooling vest following a repeated shuttle sprint ability (RSSA) test under hot conditions, focusing on skin temperature, blood lactate, and heart rate responses. Eleven recreational male soccer players completed two RSSA tests in a randomized crossover design, each followed by 15 min of passive recovery with or without a cooling vest. Skin temperature was measured at five anatomical sites, while blood lactate and the heart rate were recorded at baseline, pre-test, and at 0, 1, 3, 5, 10, and 15 min post-exercise. Compared with the control condition, the cooling vest intervention significantly reduced skin temperature at the 3rd and the 5th min post-exercise (3 min: dz = −1.54, 95% CI [−2.53, −0.55], p < 0.001; 5 min: dz = −0.90, 95% CI [−1.71, −0.08], p = 0.016). Transient between-condition differences were also observed for blood lactate at the 3rd and the 5th min (3 min: dz = −1.00, 95% CI [−1.95, −0.006], p = 0.022; 5 min: dz = −1.34, 95% CI [−2.36, −0.31], p = 0.003) and for the heart rate at 1 min post-exercise (dz = −0.84, 95% CI [−1.59, −0.09], p = 0.013). No consistent differences were found at other time points. The protocol showed high between-day reliability (CV = 2.47%; ICC = 0.75), supporting the validity of the observed effects. In conclusion, post-exercise use of a cooling vest after repeated sprints in the heat accelerates early superficial thermal recovery, as evidenced by reductions in skin temperature during the first minutes of recovery. Transient and isolated differences were also observed for the heart rate and blood lactate concentration; however, these effects were not sustained across the full recovery time-course. From a practical perspective, cooling vests may be useful during short recovery windows in intermittent sports, while further research is needed to determine whether broader or longer-lasting physiological benefits can be achieved.