Worst Injuries in Football: 13 Traumatic Moments in the Sport

Football is one of the most practiced sports in the world, and as such, it is also the scene of several traumatic injuries. Whether due to falls, intense physical shocks, or even lack of physical preparation, players are constantly subject to fractures, bone and muscle injuries, tendon problems, and much more.

The combination of fast, short, and intense movements makes football unique and exciting, but it also increases the risk of injuries and orthopedic problems. The high intensity of the sport, with 22 players frantically competing to score goals and win titles, can often result in serious injuries.

History is full of examples of great players who had their careers compromised or interrupted due to these problems. 

With this in mind, we have prepared a list of some of the worst football injuries in history.

David Busst – Fracture Of Fibula Shaft And Broken Tibia

^{DAVID BUSST BROKEN LEG turned into the WORST INJURY in PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL | HISTORIC INJURIES#7}

Silence reigned at Old Trafford after spectators witnessed one of the most horrific injuries in football history. Defender David Busst’s career was turned into a nightmare on 8 April 1996 after a severe injury during a game for his then-team Coventry against Manchester United. Busst broke both the tibia and fibula of his right leg after a collision with Manchester United duo Dennis Irwin and Brian McClair.  

The compound fracture left the player vomiting and requiring counseling. The match was postponed for 15 minutes after the blood had been removed from the pitch. It was a sickening aftermath, and it was later revealed that the Englishman required 26 operations to repair his leg, which contained MRSA in the damaged tissue and was at risk of amputation. Sadly, David Busst’s career ended with the injuries.

Petr Čech – Fractured Skull With A Cranial Cavity

_{Petr Cech’s Injury}

This is certainly one of the most famous injuries on the list. The player is a long-time football icon, highly decorated, and the injury was not why he stopped playing. 

On October 14, 2006, Petr Cech, in the early minutes of a Premier League match between Chelsea and Reading, collided with Stephen Hunt, resulting in a depressed fracture of the skull. The Chelsea goalkeeper was immediately rushed to hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery to repair the fracture and had two metal plates inserted into his head.

The player suffered a deep fracture and some internal bleeding and was advised by his doctors to stop playing the sport. However, his recovery was impressive. Within just three months, Čech was back on the field and debuted his iconic padded helmet, which would become an integral part of the goalkeeping legend, playing for over a decade after the injury.

Interestingly, the former goalkeeper now plays ice hockey for the Belfast Giants.

Eduardo Da Silva – Exposed Fracture Of The Left Fibula With Ruptured Ligaments

^{Eduardo Broken Leg Injury}

During his time at Arsenal, the Brazilian-born Croatian striker Eduardo da Silva suffered a shocking leg fracture playing for Arsenal. A mistimed tackle from Martin Taylor left Eduardo with a broken left fibula and a dislocated ankle with ruptured ligaments. The injury occurred in February 2008 in a match against Birmingham City in the Premier League. In that game, the player received a heavy blow from Martin Taylor. The heavy blow kept him out of action for ten months. Eduardo da Silva stated that the injury “was so serious that I could have lost my leg.” 

The incident was so severe that English TV at the time avoided replaying the play. At the time, doctors said that Eduardo did not have to amputate his foot due to minor details. Despite this, the player recuperated well but never returned to his former self. His career continued with Shakhtar Donetsk, where he found moderate success, before retiring from football in 2018.

Luc Nilis – Double Fracture In The Right Leg

^{Luc Nilis superb goal and unfortunate injury}

One of the saddest stories about players’ futures is Belgian Luc Nilis. He was a very promising player for Aston Villa and had a fantastic start. The star player, who was used to hearing the word “goal” followed by his name, met a tragic end on September 9, 2000. 

In a game against Ipswich Town in the Premier League, Nilis collided with goalkeeper Richard Wright, and the collision caused a very serious injury with a double fracture in his right leg. Nilis had to undergo intense surgery and rehabilitation. At one point, the horrific leg injury became infected, and the player even feared a possible amputation. Unfortunately, the injuries ultimately led to the end of Luc Nilis’s career.

Neymar – Rupture Of The Anterior Cruciate Ligament Of The Left Knee And The Meniscus

^{Neymar INJURY vs Uruguay (17/10/2023) HD 1080i}

Neymar is a Brazilian icon acclaimed by many, but he has a long history of serious injuries in his career. The star player was injured at the beginning of his career at Barcelona. He then suffered a lower back injury for Brazil in the 2014 World Cup that prevented him from competing in the semi-final against Germany that year, and he has been struggling with physical problems at Paris Saint-Germain since 2018. However, he recently suffered one of the most severe injuries of his career and has even expressed frustration with the situation, saying, “There are days when I feel like giving up.”

Neymar was injured in Brazil’s match against Uruguay in October 2023, which ended in a 2-0 defeat for Brazil in the World Cup qualifiers. He ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee. The star player had recently returned from a serious ligament injury in his right ankle, which had occurred in March of the same year.The player left the field crying and on a stretcher. He is currently working to recover from the injury.

Henrik Larsson –  Double Fracture Leg

Henrik Larsson breaking his leg

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Henrik Larsson was the star of Swedish football. An idol, a celebrity on the pitch. However, during a UEFA Cup match against Lyon in 1999, in a fight for the ball with French defender Serge Blanc, Larsson broke his leg. The collision caused a double fracture of the leg, which could have ended the player’s international and club career.

After his miraculous recovery in eight months, he still had time to come back and score crucial goals in Sweden’s qualifying campaign for Euro 2000.

Djibril Cisse – Tibia And Fibula Fracture

^{Cisse breakes leg again}

One more, actually, in this case, “two more” serious injuries that almost caused the early end of a player with a very promising future. Fortunately for Cisse, this was not the case, and the Frenchman managed to recover (with great effort) twice from this tragic end!

The first occurred in 2004 while representing Liverpool in a Premier League match against Blackburn, when Cisse was caught in a brutal tackle. Unfortunately, his foot got stuck in the turf, causing a double fracture in his left leg, which almost cost him his entire leg. An impressive seven months later, he was back on his feet and playing again, having the chance to win the Champions League with the club. 

However, luck seemed not to be on the player’s side and in 2006, while the striker was playing in a friendly against China, on the eve of the World Cup, he got his foot stuck in the ground. The bones above his ankle were visible and it took him a good few months to recover from his broken leg (the right one this time).

For many, this would have meant the end of his career. For Djibril Cisse, two devastating leg breaks didn’t stop him, and he still had eight years left to play in various clubs.

Alf-Inge Haaland – Knee Injury (ACL)

^{Roy Keane Haaland Tackle – Career Ending Tackle}

This story is by far one of the most outrageous in football history, all because it was an injury that could have been avoided. In fact, it was an intentional injury, which apparently occurred as a form of revenge.

It all started in 1997 when Roy Keane suffered a serious injury during a match against Leeds. During the incident, Alf-Inge Haaland, then a Manchester United player, along with David Wetherall, mocked Keane, accusing him of faking the injury.

Four years later, on April 21, 2001, Keane decided to settle the score. During a derby between Manchester United and Manchester City, with just four minutes left in the game, Keane made a violent tackle with his boot cleats directly on Haaland’s right knee, causing a serious injury. The impact was shocking. After receiving the red card, Keane approached Haaland, who was lying in pain on the pitch, and said: “Don’t you ever stand over me again and make fun of fake injuries. And tell your friend Wetherall there’s more of that for him, too.” Haaland, who was 29 at the time, never played a full match after the incident. In 2003, at 30, he was forced to retire.

Alan Smith – Leg Break And Dislocated Ankle

The Manchester United player injured himself in a match against Liverpool. He broke his leg and ankle while defending a free kick from John Arne Riise in the closing stages of an FA Cup fifth-round match at Anfield.

The incident left Smith with “about ten pins” in his ankle and a difficult recovery from surgery. After a year out, he returned to the field but never quite regained his former form. He had a number of club careers before retiring, but unfortunately, it was a painful decline for Smith, who had been touted as a great prospect following his high-profile move from Leeds United to Manchester.

Patrick Battiston – Concussion And Damaged Vertebrae

^{Schumacher & Battiston collision in 1982. Most iconic World Cup moments.}

It all happened in 1982, in the World Cup semi-finals, with nerves on edge. Michel Platini’s pass to Patrick Battiston was impeccable, creating the perfect opportunity for France to turn the game around against West Germany. Battiston managed to get a light touch on the ball, which seemed headed for the back of the net. But before the fans could confirm whether the ball had gone in or not, attention was no longer on the play. Goalkeeper Harald Schumacher charged forward, brutally colliding with Battiston, and the focus shifted from the play to the impressive clash between the two.

The clash is considered the most violent incident in all of the World Cups. At the time, it left Battiston unconscious. It was later discovered that the player suffered spinal injuries (he broke three ribs), a concussion, and lost two teeth. However, the referee of the game, Charles Corver, did not warn the German goalkeeper and did not even call a foul on the play (causing much outrage among the French). Battiston’s serious injury sparked a diplomatic row between Germany and France. Schumacher’s mocking statement after the match made the atmosphere even worse, but it was followed by a personal apology (which was accepted).

Fortunately, 6 months later, the player was able to recover and return to the field.

Aaron Ramsey – Tibia And Fibula Fracture

^{Aaron Ramsey Horror Tackle Broken Leg 🙁}

The Arsenal midfielder suffered one of the most brutal injuries in the Premier League title running in 2010 when a strong tackle by Stoke City’s Ryan Shawcross fractured the tibia and fibula in his right leg. The severity of the injury was immediate, and the incident shook English football. Shawcross was sent off the field in tears, while Ramsey required surgery and was sidelined for nine months.

Although it was a devastating moment, Ramsey made a remarkable recovery. He returned to the pitch in early 2011, and after overcoming difficulties to regain his best form, he finally found his rhythm again in the following seasons. In 2013-14, Ramsey enjoyed one of the best moments of his career, being one of the protagonists for Arsenal and scoring the decisive goal in the FA Cup final.

Luke Shaw – Tibia And Fibula Fracture

^{Luke Shaw HORRIBLE INJURY! & Hector Moreno Reaction After THE HORRIFIC TACKLE}

Manchester United players seem to have a tendency to get injured, or is it just me? This is the third player on this list.

Luke Shaw suffered a double leg fracture in a Champions League match against PSV in 2015 after a brutal challenge by defender Héctor Moreno. This was certainly one of the most dramatic moments in the player’s career, as he was only 20 at the time.

Interestingly, the opposing player escaped punishment by Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli, causing controversy at the time.

Shaw was out of action for almost a year and said, after recovering and being called up to the England squad in September 2018, that he almost lost his leg.

Kieron Dyer – Broken Leg

^{Dyer Breaks Leg}

Kieron Dyer had a long list of injuries during his entire football career, which is why the Englishman never became a star of stars, despite many people’s expectations. The most famous incident occurred in 2007, shortly after his transfer from Newcastle to West Ham. During a League Cup match against Bristol Rovers, Dyer suffered a double fracture in his leg after a hard tackle from Joe Jacobsen. He was immediately carried off on a stretcher, and the prognosis was harsh: Dyer was out of the pitch for 17 months.

His rehabilitation was a challenge, and most doctors advised him to retire early due to the severity of the injury. Even after returning to football, Dyer was never the same. Although he played sporadically over the next five years for clubs such as Queens Park Rangers, his body could not cope with the demands of elite football. The injury virtually ended his competitive career, with Dyer later admitting that he never fully recovered his physical and mental fitness after the incident.

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