Thigh muscle injuries occur frequently as a result of contusions, and as muscle strains due to repeated maximal sprints and acceleration. Because football combines maximal sprints with frequent player-to-player contact, it is not surprising that up to 30% of all football injuries are thigh muscle injuries. In fact, results from the elite leagues in England, Iceland and Norway show that hamstring strains are the most common type of injury in men’s football, accounting for between 13% and 17% of all acute injuries. Other studies have shown that muscle contusion injuries to the thigh account for up to 16% of all acute football injuries at the elite level. F-MARC studies have revealed similar results. On average, a male elite-level football team with a squad of 25 players can expect around 18 muscle injuries per season. Of these, seven will affect hamstrings and three will affect quadriceps.1
According to our observations (FC Barcelona, unpublished data) in young players, the most common muscle injury is a tear of the rectus femoris, whereas in professional football players it is the hamstring.
Due to the magnitude of the problem, a need for a better understanding of muscle injuries and their prevention has become an emerging challenge for football clubs.