It was Saturday night, June 6th, and the Brazilian team was facing Egypt in a friendly preparatory match for the World Cup. 15 minutes into the first half, Wesley sat down on the lawn and asked for medical attention. He had injured the adductor muscle in his left thigh and would be out of the World Cup. Éderson was called up to replace him.
Wesley is far from an exception. Two important names in the team also face physical problems in this World Cup. Raphinha suffered an injury to the back of his right thigh during the match against Haiti and will be out of the clash against Scotland this Wednesday (24).
Neymar is recovering from a grade 2 muscle injury in his right calf, suffered on May 17, while playing for Santos against Coritiba. The number 10 was left out of the games against Morocco and Haiti, and his presence against the Scots is uncertain.
The three cases have something in common: they are muscle injuries, the most common health problem currently among professional football players, according to experts interviewed by Sheet.
Muscle injuries occur when the fibers responsible for contracting and relaxing muscles are subjected to a load greater than they can withstand. This can cause anything from a slight stretch to a partial or complete rupture of the fibers.
Doctors usually classify these injuries into three grades. In grade 1, there is only a mild strain, with few functional limitations. In grade 2, there is a partial rupture of the muscle fibers, causing more intense pain and difficulty in carrying out movements.
Grade 3 corresponds to an extensive or complete rupture of the muscle, a situation that requires a much longer recovery period. In some classifications, there is also grade 4, to describe injuries that are even more serious than grade 3.
For Moisés Cohen, president of the Sports Medical Committee of the FPF (São Paulo Football Federation) and professor of orthopedics and traumatology at Unifesp (Federal University of São Paulo), muscle injuries lead the teams’ statistics.
“Football has changed a lot. What used to be called ‘art football’ is now ‘strength football’. There is a much greater intensity, that desire to win, and the game ends up becoming much more aggressive because the athlete is playing at his physiological limit”, he says.
Furthermore, factors such as excessive matches, little time for recovery, frequent travel, intense heat and pressure for results contribute to increasing the risk of injuries.
“The World Cup is a short but extremely demanding tournament. Athletes need to perform at high performance in a very short interval between matches, often with just three or four days to recover”, he adds.
In this edition there is still an additional factor: displacement. As the games are distributed between the United States, Mexico and Canada, some teams need to travel long distances between one match and another, facing changes in climate, altitude, time zone and training routine. This combination significantly increases the physical wear and tear on players.
Sports doctor Páblius Braga, from Hospital Nove de Julho, states that the characteristics of the sport make it practically impossible to eliminate the risk of injuries among players.
“Football is a very complex sport because you don’t have linear movements. There are many variables. The player needs extreme mobility, and at that moment he won’t spare a movement to go after the ball or an opponent”, he says.
“Even very well-prepared athletes remain prone to injuries throughout their career. Training, physical preparation and preventive work reduce the risk, but cannot eliminate it completely.”
A study conducted by Unifesp researchers identified 577 muscle injuries in players from series A and B of the Brazilian Championship between 2016 and 2018. These injuries corresponded to around 35% of all physical problems recorded in the championships.
The hamstring muscles (hamstrings) were most affected. The full-backs appeared as the most vulnerable position to this type of problem.
The majority of incidents were classified as moderate in severity, requiring removal from the lawns for a period of eight to 28 days. The study also showed that the part of the match with the highest concentration of injuries was between 61 and 75 minutes of play.
After muscle injuries, ligament problems appear among the most common among players. The main one involves the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), a structure located in the knee that is responsible for controlling rotational movements and ensuring joint stability.
This type of injury usually occurs when there are sudden changes in direction, sudden turns or landing after jumps, frequent movement of the sides. Symptoms include intense pain, swelling, a feeling of instability and difficulty performing rotational movements.
When a complete tear occurs, treatment generally requires surgery to reconstruct the ligament, followed by a long period of rehabilitation, which can take from six months to a year, depending on the severity of the case and the athlete’s response to treatment.
“Even if it is partial, the recovery time can range from six months to a year. Therefore, it is not uncommon to hear that an injured player should only return in the following season. The athlete needs to regain strength, stability, coordination and reacquire the sporting gestures specific to football”, says Braga.
Striker Rodrygo suffered an ACL tear associated with a meniscus injury in March, during a Real Madrid match. The injury required surgery and ruled him out not only of the World Cup, but also of most of the 2026 games.
Although they can affect any athlete, some injuries are related to the characteristics of each position. Players who depend on speed, explosiveness and frequent bursts, such as strikers and wingers, tend to suffer more from problems with the hamstring and calf muscles.
Striker Estêvão suffered an injury to his thigh biceps in a match for Chelsea against Manchester United.
Athletes who compete for many aerial balls, such as defenders, tend to overload the anterior thigh muscles and the tendons connected to the knee.
According to Braga, injuries frequently occur during training and games. In these cases, immediate care is essential to protect the injured area. “The faster this control is carried out, the better the conditions for recovery tend to be.”
