Soccer players do not wear nearly as much protective gear, like helmets and shoulder pads, as hockey or football players.
Instead, they take the pitch with only shin guards to protect their lower body from reckless tackles or aggressive challenges.
Sometimes, however, soccer players will wear masks on their faces during a match.
Made from sturdy polycarbonate materials, the gear covers player's upper or entire face. Typically, the masks are black, but they can also be customized.
So, what is the purpose of wearing a mask in soccer?
Why do soccer players wear masks?
Soccer players wear masks to protect their faces from an injury that has not yet healed.
A mask guards the eyes, nose, and cheeks from risky challenges or errant elbows that could aggravate a recently broken or fragile area.
Although the masks are unpleasant to look at, they allow athletes to participate in a match with an active injury, instead of having to sit on the sidelines.
In fact, a player who gets injured mid-game can retreat to the sideline, receive medical attention, put on a mask, and return to the pitch just minutes later without getting subbed off.
Longer, lingering injuries require players to wear a mask for a prolonged stretch of games. The protective gear might be uncomfortable and burdensome, but it ensures the healing area does not get subjected to any further damage.
For fans, masks make tracking a certain player on the pitch much easier, especially in person.
Famous soccer players who have worn masks
Many renowned soccer players have donned protective masks throughout the years.
Former England and Lazio midfielder Paul Gascoigne was perhaps one of the earliest high-profile examples. He was forced to play the final few games of the 1992-93 season in a mask after being elbowed in the face during a World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands.
More recently, France and Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappé asported a mask during much of the 2024 European Championships after suffering a bloody injury in France's opening match against Austria.
He broke his nose in France's opening match against Austria after accidentally headbutting Austrian defender Kevin Danso’s shoulder.
Other famous examples of soccer players who have worn protective masks include AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini, Tottenham and South Korea star Son Heung-min, and former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech.
Do soccer masks hinder performance?
Whether or not masks hinder performance in soccer really depends on the player.
Mbappé, for example, appeared to struggle while wearing one at Euro 2024, describing the experience as "horrible."
“It’s quite difficult playing with a mask because it limits your field of vision, your sweat clogs up and you need to let the sweat out," he said at the time, according to CNN.
"I hate it. It’s really annoying. I’ve had to change it five times," he added.
Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, on the other hand, actually chooses to play in a mask.
Though initially forced to wear one back in 2021 after sustaining a fractured skull and eye socket during a game between Napoli and Inter Milan, he's now recovered, and, according to Napoli's former chief doctor, Roberto Ruggiero, opts to wear it anyway.
"Osimhen is perfectly healed, he's still wearing the protective mask because it gives him a sense of security, but he's healed," Ruggiero said in 2022, according to Tutto Napoli.
The mask hasn't hindered Osimhen's performance. If anything, it seems to have brought him good fortune, with the Super Eagles star going from strength to strength in front of goal while wearing it.
Still, we'd wager that most players would side with Mbappé's preference.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Do Soccer Players Wear Masks?.