Shin guards are a piece of safety equipment that changed a lot over time. Mainly due to being questioned if it’s actually beneficial by some players. They believe there are valid pros of not wearing them, and that leads to questions like “Do professional soccer players wear shin guards?”.
All professional soccer players wear shin guards. They are mandatory by FIFA’s safety equipment laws, which apply to all the pro leagues. Some players wear shin guards for safety, and some would prefer not to wear them at all, which leads to some bizarre shin guards only to satisfy FIFA’s laws.
What Are Shin Guards Used for in Soccer?
Shin guards are mainly used to protect against cuts and bruises. These happen when tackling the ball out of an opponent’s control. They are, in fact, not made to prevent more extreme bone-breaking injuries. That’s why there are many different shin guards, and the regulations aren’t that strict.
Are Shin Guards Required in Soccer?
Shin guards are mandatory in soccer, as stated by FIFA’s safety regulations. They are in use since 1874, but FIFA made them compulsory in 1990.
Furthermore, FIFA’s regulations state that shin guards have to be made from rubber, polypropylene plastic, or carbon fiber to comply with safety standards. Additionally, they can include polyurethane foam for comfort.
The statement doesn’t refer to which size or how effective at injury prevention shin guards must be. This leads to some bizarre shin guards that players use, which we will discuss later on.
Can You Play Soccer Without Shin Guards?
Technically, players who don’t wear shin guards aren’t allowed to participate in a soccer game. Even in all the minor leagues, not wearing shin guards will get you sent off from the field.
However, there are exceptions to every rule. Some players in smaller leagues sometimes avoid wearing shin guards. The referees don’t always keep an eye on everything since some of these leagues don’t practice giving out fines to players who don’t follow the rules.
So basically, you can get away with not wearing shin guards in some leagues. Is it a smart idea? From the point of safety, it is not. However, not wearing shin guards has some advantages.
Do Professional Soccer Players Wear Shin Guards?
As we already established, professional soccer players must wear shin guards while on the field. So every soccer player wears them. However, we’ve seen lots of pro players being called out for not wearing shin guards.
How is that possible?
Well, since FIFA doesn’t regulate the size and actual protectiveness of shin guards, some players wear stuff that shouldn’t even be called shin guards. These shin guards are often too small or too soft to protect players’ shins from anything.
FIFA allows it because players have a lot of power and freedom in today’s world, and their voice is very important for the spirit and branding of the sport. They sort of turn a blind eye for the sake of keeping everyone happy.
Before we discuss if small and weak shin guards have any validity, let’s see what types of proper shin guards are there and why the majority of players still wear those.
What Type of Shin Guards Do Professionals Wear?
Pro soccer players wear three types of shin guards. Slip-in shin guards, ankle shin guards, and shin socks are slowly being replaced by sleeve shin guards.
Slip-in Shin Guards
Slip-in shin guards (affiliate link) are widely popular and most common among professional soccer players. They are easy to use and can be placed in several ways regarding the part of the shin a player wants to protect the most.
Out of all three types, slip-in shin guards are the most adaptive to each player’s needs but at the same time offer the least protection. Not only that, but they tend to move around inside the sock, which can lead to mistakes in ball control and being useless against injuries.
Some players use tape to fix them in place, but for others, that’s just too much to worry about.
Pros of slip-in shin guards:
- Lightweight
- Don’t disrupt the player’s movement
Cons of slip-in shin guards:
- Less protection than other types of shin guards
- Tend to move around unless fixed with tape
Slip-in shin guards are worn by pro players who like to change direction a lot and dribble the ball effectively while avoiding physical contact as much as possible.
Ankle Shin Guards
Ankle shin guards (affiliate link) have built-in straps and ankle protection. It’s worn beneath the sock, same as slip-in shin guards, but it provides way better protection. Protective plates are bigger and stronger, and additional ankle protection is a game-changer for some players.
The soft ankle protection is removable with most brands, so pro players don’t need to have two different pairs of shin guards if they want to play without it to move more freely.
Pros of ankle shin guards:
- The best protection for shins and ankles
- Straps prevent them from moving
Cons of ankle shin guards:
- They can be heavy and bulky
- They can restrict movement a bit
Ankle shin guards are worn by pro players who get into tackling the ball a lot and like physical contact.
Shin Socks And Sleeve Shin Guards
Shin socks have shin protection built into them. They are right in the middle of functionality and protectiveness. However, there is a problem with the sock itself sliding on the player’s skin. That moves the protection as well, and it renders it kind of useless. Players wearing these have to constantly fix the position of the sock after each contact.
This is why shin socks are slowly being replaced by sleeve shin guards (affiliate link), which are separate from the socks but have the same characteristics. This way, the sleeve under the sock stays in place while the sock can slide over it during contact.
Why Do Soccer Players Wear Small Shin Guards?
Lots of players prefer having the ability to move freely over the safety, as we mentioned with slip-in shin guards. For this reason, some players wear the tiniest little slip-in shin guards. They are basically wearing them only to satisfy FIFA’s laws, and they probably wouldn’t wear anything given a choice.
Being used to playing with tiny shin guards plays a role in professional player’s decisions as well. Some of these players come from leagues and places that can’t afford really good equipment. Small slip-in shin guards are really cheap and practical for younger players who then continue wearing them even when they reach professional leagues.
Professional Soccer Players Who Wear Small Shin Guards
Here are some of the players that wear small shin guards:
- Toni Kroos
- Thomas Muller
- Paulo Dybala
- Jack Grealish
- Lorenzo Insigne
- Memphis Depay
- Jason Denayer
- Marek Hamšik
- Francesco Totti (retired)
- Laurent Blanc (retired)
- Rui Costa (retired)
- Juan Sebastian Veron (retired)
- Rigobert Song (retired)
These are just some players that we could find by doing a quick search; however, there are many more. Not everyone wears those really tiny shin guards, but everyone on this list wears smaller shin guards than they should. Most of them wear them really low with low socks.
There are even a few players that don’t cover their shin guards completely with socks. They get away with it, even though FIFA’s safety laws state that shin guards must be completely covered. And by the number of retired players who had this habit, we can see that wearing small shin guards isn’t a new trend.
Toni Kroos doesn’t seem to wear shin guards because they are so thin that you can’t even see them. Many more players wear similarly thin shin guards, but we barely ever notice that unless the cameras zoom in on them during a match.
Jack Grealish, while playing in Birmingham, had an interesting response when asked about wearing his tiny shin guards very low with socks barely covering them: “One year when I was here, the socks one shrunk in the wash. So they wouldn’t go higher. That season, I ended up playing really well. So it became a superstitious thing for me.”
Jason Denayer had bad calf cramps, so he switched to low socks and small shin guards to be able to play at all.
Conclusion
Every professional soccer player wears shin guards. However, due to today’s style of the game and the player’s increasing freedom of how they want to play the game, shin guards are sometimes just a formality rather than a valid piece of safety equipment.
Essentially, we could say that some of these players don’t actually wear shin guards. It’s questionable if something that doesn’t protect players’ shins and is there only to please FIFA’s laws should even be called a shin guard.
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