Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jun 26;9(7):808.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare9070808.

Relationships between Sleep, Athletic and Match Performance, Training Load, and Injuries: A Systematic Review of Soccer Players

Filipe Manuel Clemente  1   2 , José Afonso  3 , Júlio Costa  4 , Rafael Oliveira  5   6   7 , José Pino-Ortega  8   9 , Markel Rico-González  9   10
Affiliations
Review

Relationships between Sleep, Athletic and Match Performance, Training Load, and Injuries: A Systematic Review of Soccer Players

Filipe Manuel Clemente et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize available evidence regarding the relationships between sleep and (i) athletic and match performance, (ii) training load, and (iii) injuries in soccer players. A systematic review of EBSCOhost (SPORTDiscus), PubMed, Cochrane Library, FECYT (Web of Sciences, CCC, DIIDW, KJD, MEDLINE, RSCI, and SCIELO) databases was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of 297 titles were identified, of which 32 met the eligibility criteria. Results revealed that soccer players are no exception for sleep inadequacy. Although there was inconsistency in the findings, some studies suggested that sleep restrictions in soccer negatively affected athletic and match performance while also increasing the number and severity of musculoskeletal injuries. On the other hand, inconsistent results were found between sleep and athletic and match performance, and training load in soccer players. Physiological responses (and their intensity) during drill-based games were not influenced by changes in sleep. The available evidence is inconsistent; however, it appears to suggest that poor sleep affects soccer players' performance and increases the risk of injury. However, it remains important to study this complex relationship further.

Keywords: athletic injuries; athletic performance; football; load monitoring; sleep.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Belenky G., Wesensten N.J., Thorne D.R., Thomas M.L., Sing H.C., Redmond D.P., Russo M.B., Balkin T.J. Patterns of performance degradation and restoration during sleep restriction and subsequent recovery: A sleep dose-response study. J. Sleep Res. 2003;12:1–12. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2869.2003.00337.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Walsh N.P., Halson S.L., Sargent C., Roach G.D., Nédélec M., Gupta L., Leeder J., Fullagar H.H., Coutts A.J., Edwards B.J., et al. Sleep and the athlete: Narrative review and 2021 expert consensus recommendations. Br. J. Sports Med. 2021;55:356–368. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2020-102025. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tuomilehto H., Vuorinen V.-P., Penttilä E., Kivimäki M., Vuorenmaa M., Venojärvi M., Airaksinen O., Pihlajamäki J. Sleep of professional athletes: Underexploited potential to improve health and performance. J. Sports Sci. 2017;35:704–710. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2016.1184300. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kalkhoven J.T., Watsford M.L., Coutts A.J., Edwards W.B., Impellizzeri F.M. Training Load and Injury: Causal Pathways and Future Directions. Sports Med. 2021 doi: 10.1007/s40279-020-01413-6. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Peake J.M., Kerr G., Sullivan J.P. A Critical Review of Consumer Wearables, Mobile Applications, and Equipment for Providing Biofeedback, Monitoring Stress, and Sleep in Physically Active Populations. Front. Physiol. 2018;9 doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.00743. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources