Research presented at the July 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in London suggests that retired professional soccer players show signs of potential neurological impacts in midlife. The study found that former players were more likely to report anxiety, depression, and problems with thinking or decision-making compared to people who had not played contact sports.
Brain Impacts and Soccer
The concern is not just about concussions, but about repeated hits to the head over the course of a lifetime. In soccer, this can come from collisions, but an important source is when players hit the ball with their head, called a “header.”
The research team looked at many measures of impact, including questionnaires, clinical assessments, and brain scans. Among the 142 former players, brain scans did show lower gray matter in regions that affect memory, decision-making, attention, and emotional regulation.
While the findings are important when thinking about how to make sports safer, the data is still preliminary. More people will be studied, more tests will be done, and the participants will be looked at for a longer period to get a better sense of the impacts.
In the United States, efforts have been implemented to protect brain health. The US Soccer Federation banned headers in 2016 for players younger than 10 and limited how long 11- to 13-year-olds could practice them each week.
Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.
