Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world — and in the Washington, D.C. area, it’s everywhere, from youth recreation leagues to competitive adult divisions. But along with all the speed, skill, and teamwork that makes the game beautiful comes a very real risk of injury.
Whether you’re a serious player or someone who loves the game on weekends, understanding the most common soccer injuries — and what to do about them — can mean the difference between a quick recovery and months on the sidelines.
At Bethesda Physiocare, we work with soccer players of all ages and levels. In this blog, we’ll break down which injuries happen most often, why they occur, and how physical therapy gets you back on the field faster and stronger. Ready to get started? Call us at (301) 656-5613 or contact us online today.
Why Soccer Players Get Injured
The demands of soccer are unique. Players combine explosive sprinting, sudden direction changes, repetitive kicking, aerial challenges, and physical contact — often for 90 minutes straight. Lower extremity injuries dominate the sport, accounting for over half of all injuries recorded in professional play, with an incidence rate of nearly 7 injuries per 1,000 hours of exposure.[1]
The good news: the right rehabilitation approach makes a significant difference in recovery time, re-injury risk, and long-term performance. And that’s exactly where physical therapy comes in.
The Most Common Soccer Injuries
Hamstring Strains
Hamstring injuries are the single most common muscle injury in soccer — accounting for approximately 12% of all injuries and 37% of all muscle-specific injuries in professional players.[2] They occur most often during non-contact events: explosive sprints, rapid accelerations and decelerations, and forceful kicking motions that place enormous eccentric demands on the hamstring muscles.[2]
What makes hamstring injuries particularly frustrating is their tendency to recur. Recurrence rates range from 4% to 68% — and most re-injuries happen within two months of returning to play, underscoring the importance of thorough rehabilitation before going back to full training.[2]
Physical therapy focuses on progressive eccentric strengthening, restoring full range of motion, and building sport-specific speed and agility before clearing a player to return. Eccentric hamstring training protocols — such as Nordic hamstring exercises — have strong evidence behind them for both rehabilitation and preventing re-injury.[3]
Ankle Sprains
Ankle sprains are among the most common acute injuries in soccer across all ages and levels.[4] They typically happen when a player lands awkwardly, is slide-tackled, or makes a sudden cut — rolling or twisting the ankle and overstretching the lateral ligaments.[4]
One of the most important things to understand about ankle sprains: a previous sprain is the biggest risk factor for another one. If balance, proprioception, and sport-specific cutting skills aren’t fully rehabilitated, the ankle remains vulnerable.[5] Physical therapy addresses this directly — with balance retraining, neuromuscular exercises, and a graded return to the specific movements soccer demands. Research shows that injury prevention programs including balance training reduce ankle injury risk by up to 36% in soccer players.[6]
Knee Injuries (ACL and Meniscus)
Knee injuries are among the most consequential injuries a soccer player can face. ACL tears in particular can require many months of rehabilitation and carry significant implications for long-term performance and career longevity.[7]
Female soccer players are at especially elevated risk — experiencing ACL tears at rates two to eight times higher than male players in the same sport.[8] Sudden deceleration, planting and pivoting, and uncontrolled landing mechanics are the most common mechanisms.[4]
Physical therapy — whether post-surgical or conservative — is the cornerstone of ACL and meniscus recovery. A comprehensive program progresses through phases: restoring range of motion and swelling control, then rebuilding quadriceps and hamstring strength, then sport-specific plyometrics and agility, and finally a structured return-to-sport protocol using objective criteria to confirm readiness.[9] Research confirms that restoring strength symmetry and neuromuscular control — not just time — is the true measure of readiness to return.[10]
Hip and Groin Pain
Hip and groin injuries account for a significant proportion of muscle injuries in soccer, driven by the repeated kicking, change of direction, and adductor loading demands of the sport.[1] They’re notoriously tricky — often presenting as vague, poorly localized pain that can persist for months if not properly assessed and treated.
Physical therapy for groin pain focuses on identifying the specific structure involved, progressively loading the adductor and hip flexor musculature, and correcting the movement patterns that placed excess stress on the area. The Copenhagen adduction exercise has emerged as a particularly effective tool for building eccentric hip adduction strength — an area commonly deficient in soccer players.[11]
Shin Splints and Overuse Injuries
Overuse injuries — including shin splints, patellar tendinitis, and Achilles tendinopathy — are common across all age groups but particularly in youth players navigating rapid growth and rising training loads.[12] They often develop gradually and are easily dismissed until they become significant enough to limit training.
The key to treating overuse injuries is understanding why they developed — and that almost always requires looking beyond just the painful area. Load management, biomechanical assessment, footwear review, and targeted strengthening are central to any good treatment plan.
Why Physical Therapy — Not Just Rest — Is the Answer
A common pattern we see at Bethesda Physiocare: a player gets hurt, takes a week or two off, feels better, and jumps straight back into training — only to get injured again, often worse.
Rest alone doesn’t address the underlying cause of a soccer injury. It doesn’t rebuild the muscle strength, neuromuscular control, or movement quality that protects you on the field. Physical therapy does.
Here’s what our approach looks like for soccer players:
Thorough assessment — We evaluate not just the injured area but how your whole body moves: your strength, mobility, balance, and the sport-specific demands your position places on your body.
Targeted rehabilitation — Progressive strengthening, proprioceptive training, and sport-specific exercises tailored to where you are in your recovery.
Hands-on treatment — Manual therapy, dry needling, and soft tissue techniques to address pain and restore movement quality. Our clinic is home to Dr. Jan Dommerholt, a world-renowned expert in dry needling — a powerful tool for the myofascial tension and trigger points that soccer players commonly develop.
Injury prevention programming — Research-backed programs like FIFA 11+ have been shown to reduce overall injury rates by 30–50% when implemented consistently.[13] We incorporate these principles into our work with soccer players, helping you stay on the field, not off it.[14]
A clear return-to-play plan — We don’t clear players based on time alone. We use objective criteria — strength symmetry, functional movement testing, and sport-specific performance benchmarks — to confirm you’re genuinely ready to return.[9]
Don’t Wait Until the Season Is Over
Nagging injuries have a way of becoming serious ones when they’re ignored. The sooner you get a proper assessment, the faster we can address the problem — and the less time you spend away from the game you love.
At Bethesda Physiocare, we offer physical therapy in Bethesda to soccer players at every stage: in-season pain management, off-season injury rehab, and return-to-sport planning. Whatever you’re dealing with, we’ll build a plan around you and your goals.
Call us at (301) 656-5613 or contact us online to schedule your evaluation.
Bethesda Physiocare | Serving Bethesda and the greater Washington, D.C. area
References
[1] Epidemiology of injuries in professional football: a systematic review … https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9929604
[2] The Hamstring Hold-Up: A Look into Professional Soccer’s Most… | AOSSM https://www.sportsmed.org/membership/sports-medicine-update/summer-2026/the-hamstring-hold-up-a-look-into-professional-soccers-most-common-injury
[3] Injury Prevention Programmes in Male Soccer Players: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews https://www.jomh.org/articles/10.31083/j.jomh1810200
[4] Mitigating the Risks of Lower Extremity Injuries in Soccer: A Comprehensive Analysis of Lower Extremity Injury Rates in Soccer Between 2014 and 2023 | Published in Orthopedic Reviews https://orthopedicreviews.openmedicalpublishing.org/article/122315-mitigating-the-risks-of-lower-extremity-injuries-in-soccer-a-comprehensive-analysis-of-lower-extremity-injury-rates-in-soccer-between-2014-and-2023
[5] Common Soccer Injuries | The Latest Data [Updated 2026] https://lilyfieldphysio.com.au/blog/common-soccer-injuries
[6] Injury prevention programs that include balance training exercises … https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1836955322000509
[7] Bridging the Return-Sport Gap After ACL Reconstruction in… | AOSSM https://www.sportsmed.org/bridging-the-return-sport-gap-after-acl-reconstruction-in-soccer
[8] ACL Treatment in Clifton, NJ | Trinity Rehab https://trinity-rehab.com/physical-therapy-clinic/clifton-nj/acl-treatment
[9] [PDF] Rehabilitation Protocol for Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL … https://www.massgeneral.org/assets/mgh/pdf/orthopaedics/sports-medicine/physical-therapy/rehabilitation-protocol-for-acl.pdf
[10] American Academy of Sports Physical Therapy Platform … – jospt https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/josptopen.2024.AASPTCSM3
[11] [PDF] Hip and Groin Injury Prevention in Elite Athletes and Team Sport https://ijspt.scholasticahq.com/article/18705-hip-and-groin-injury-prevention-in-elite-athletes-and-team-sport-current-challenges-and-opportunities.pdf
[12] Risk Factors for Lower Extremity Overuse Injuries in Female Youth Soccer Players https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5656111
[13] Injury Prevention for Soccer Players – Emory Soccer Medicine Program https://www.emoryhealthcare.org/centers-programs/sports-medicine-center/soccer-medicine-program/injury-prevention
[14] A systematic review and meta-analysis of various injury prevention programs in youth soccer players | BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation | Springer Nature Link https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13102-025-01246-8