The Study
Effectiveness of a soccer injury prevention program based on creatine supplementation and internal load monitoring: a randomized controlled pilot study
This study looked at whether taking creatine might help soccer players get hurt less, but it only had 23 players and didn't find a clear difference. So we can't say creatine stops injuries, but we can say it might be linked to fewer injuries and definitely helped players jump higher and get stronger.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Soccer players took a daily supplement called creatine for 14 weeks to see if it made them stronger and less likely to get injured.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 578 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The strength and jump improvements are meaningful for athletes—better power can help with sprinting and changing direction.
- 2The injury reduction is promising but too small to be sure it wasn’t just luck.
- 3Players who took creatine jumped 0.6 cm higher and got stronger in their knees and hips.
- 4Only 1 out of 12 got injured (8.3%), compared to 4 out of 11 in the placebo group (36.4%).
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
Year
2025
Authors
María Soler Hurtado, Moea Treguier, Ángel Gónzalez-de-la-Flor, Diego Domínguez-Balmaseda, María García-Arrabé, Diego Miñambres Martin, Guillermo García-Pérez-de-Sevilla
Related Content
Claims (5)
In amateur soccer players taking 3 grams of creatine daily for 14 weeks, the rate of musculoskeletal injuries was 8.3% compared to 36.4% in those not taking creatine, and fewer training sessions were missed, but the difference was not statistically significant.
Taking 3 grams of creatine daily for 14 weeks does not change hip flexibility or hip strength in amateur soccer players compared to taking a placebo.
Amateur soccer players who take 3 grams of creatine monohydrate every day for 14 weeks show measurable increases in isometric knee extension strength, hip extension strength, and jump height during countermovement jumps.
Taking 3 grams of creatine daily for 14 weeks does not change how much pain amateur soccer players feel, how they feel overall, or how hard their bodies are working during training, compared to taking a placebo.
Taking 3 grams of creatine daily for 14 weeks does not cause adverse effects in amateur soccer players and most of them continue taking it as directed.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.