Why so many players are getting injured in this international break

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FT Desk

Footballers are worn out.

That is the message given by one top physiotherapist who works with many athletes in the game.

In this international break, we have seen a flurry of injuries to elite players and even before it started, many pulled out of their national team squads.

Thomas Tuchel, for example, had to deal with withdrawals by Declan Rice, Cole Palmer, Tino Livramento, Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford. Though the majority of those have minor injuries, there was musings about minutes being managed as well.

Since the international break started, Kylian Mbappe, Kai Havertz, Amine Gouiri, Derek Cornelius, Jamal Musiala, Alexander Isak, Brian Brobbey and Ibrahima Konate and Raphinha have all picked up injuries, some more significant than others.

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For many top level players, they have gone straight from the World Cup into the new season with their respective clubs and now into this international break without a meaningful break away from the game.

"Indeed, the link is direct," physiotherapist Farman Bhatti told Foot Mercato.

"The players had only three to four weeks of break after the 2026 World Cup. Physically, it is insufficient to regenerate tissues and repair muscle micro-lesions. Starting the season without a real phase of athletic preparation condemns the body to compensate with risky postures.

"This is a classic phenomenon and unfortunately very frequent after every major international event. The players arrive worn out and in addition are in the acceleration phase of the beginning of the season. The break in rhythm can be brutal."

The current international break is an extended one that will feature four fixtures for each nation compared to the usual two at this time of year.

There are increasing concerns about footballer burnout due to the number of games that keep being added to the calendar each year.

Over the last decade, we have seen the introduction of the Nations League, the Club World Cup was brought back as a full summer tournament, the Champions League league phase added more European fixtures and the World Cup was expanded to 48 teams.