Epidemiologia das lesões no futebol: uma análise da distribuição temporal e espacial das principais ligas globais (2017-2025)

Abstract

Football, considered to be the most popular sport in the world, has many health and social benefits as a physical activity. However, this sport carries an increased risk of injury. Therefore, clubs and scholars in the field have become increasingly concerned about the epidemiological aspects linked to these injuries, such as incidence, cause, severity and even preventive strategies, considering the inconvenience these injuries bring to the football industry and, above all, to athletic health. In this context, this study aims to analyse the temporal and spatial distribution of injuries in male professional footballers in the six main global leagues (Brazil; England; France; Germany; Italy; and Spain) between the last eight seasons (2017/2018 and 2024/2025). The data was obtained from a public database (Transfermarkt.com, Hamburg/Germany). During this follow-up period, 15,102 injury reports were collected, involving the exposure of 12,260 players from 179 teams. The proportion of injury-free players in the seasons analysed was approximately 71%. The incidence of injuries per team was 20.6 (95%CI: 20.3, 21) per 1000h of playerexposure, with a burden rate of 33.2 (IQR: 8, 35) days lost per 1000h of player-exposure. Injuries mainly affected the lower limbs (68%), with the majority being of the muscular or tendon type (48%), of moderate severity (46%) and predominantly in defence players (38%). Concussions have increased in recent seasons in France and Spain; concussions had higher rates in England (especially in 2018/2019 and 2019/2020); while muscle or tendon injuries were more frequent in Germany and Brazil throughout the period analysed. The epidemiology of injuries in professional football highlights their high incidence and impact on athletic health. The stabilisation of incidence rates, together with the increase in the burden, indicates progress in immediate prevention, but reinforces the need for improvements in prevention, rehabilitation and return to sport.