12.5% of all women's and 7.7% of all men's players from the 2022 and 2023 FIFA World Cups underwent a previous anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions in athletes who participated in the men's 2022 and women's 2023 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA®) World Cups, comparing the incidence between genders, positions and the stages reached by the teams during the competition.

METHODS

This is a media analysis study, and data were collected from official club and FIFA® websites: a list of athletes who played during the men's 2022 and women's 2023 FIFA® World Cup, a list of athletes who already did an ACL reconstruction (ACLR) and rehabilitation before the competition, and stages from each team during the competition.

RESULTS

12.5% of the athletes in the women's competition (92 athletes) and 7.7% in the men's competition (64 athletes) underwent ACLR surgery before. When comparing positions (goalkeeper, defence, midfield and forwards), there were no statistical differences between men (p = 0.97) and women (p = 0.26). According to the competition stage, the prevalence increased from 12.5% in the group stage to 17.4% in the finals (p = 0.05) for women and ranged from 6.8% to 7.9% (p = 0.87) among men. The number of ACL revision surgeries was 18 in women players (2.4% of total, 19.4% of those operated) and 5 in men players (0.6% of total, 7.5% of those operated). No statistical difference in revision rates between men and women (p = 0.16).

CONCLUSION

In the highest football level competition in the world (FIFA® World Cup), there was no statistical difference between the number of men and women called up and who participated after ACLR, rehabilitation and return to sport (12.5% vs. 7.7%; p > 0.05). Furthermore, the incidence of ACL-operated players belonging to each team that played in the World Cup increased from the stage of groups to the final in the female category (p = 0.05), but remained stable in the male category (p = 0.87).

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Not applicable.