Key result
Umbrella review identifies 240 soccer injury risk factors, predominantly intrinsic, with the knee most commonly affected.
Why the study?
The review aimed to identify risk factors for soccer injuries and provide the elements needed to build an injury risk profile for soccer players.
Systematic Review
This umbrella review comprehensively maps 240 intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors for soccer-related injuries, highlighting the knee as the most vulnerable area.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May inform soccer injury prevention targeting intrinsic factors and knee; extends synthesized evidence for prospective validation.
This review aimed to identify risk factors for soccer injuries and provide researchers the needed elements to build a soccer-player’s injury risk profile. An umbrella review was conducted following the PRIOR criteria (OSF registration link: https://osf.io/jr7xe/). A literature search was run to identify studies investigating soccer-related injury risk factors. We included systematic reviews published between 2013 and 2023 related to soccer and analysed the identified risk factors to classify these in intrinsic and extrinsic, group in categories and identify relationships between risk factors and injury location. Among 240 risk factors, 181 (75.4%) were classified as intrinsic and 59 (24.6%) as extrinsic. We grouped risk factors in 14 categories. Finally, we found relationships between risk factors and injury locations for 159 factors, with the knee representing the body area most affected by risk factors (N = 101), followed by the ankle (N = 65) and the thigh (N = 65).
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Genovesi et al. (2025) conducted a systematic review in Soccer-related injuries. Risk factors was evaluated on Identification and classification of risk factors and their relationship with injury location. Risk factors for soccer injuries were identified in an umbrella review, finding 240 factors, with the knee being the most affected body area.
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