Why Are Soccer Players Skinny? (11 Famous Skinniest Players)

When you think of athletes, you typically picture muscular, bulky physiques. But when you think of soccer players, the picture of slim men tackling a ball on a field comes to mind. For such skill and stamina, it makes you wonder why soccer players are so skinny.

Soccer players are skinny because they train excessively. Their training includes a great deal of cardio with fat-burning exercises that keep them lean and toned. Agility, speed, and endurance are more important to soccer players, and extra fat or muscle might hinder their performance.

Angel Di Maria, a truly skinny Argentinian soccer player, also known as the ‘wiry winger,’ produced one of his all-time best performances in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, despite his size. Body mass is the least of concerns for a soccer player.

Table of Contents

• Are Soccer Players Skinny?
• 5 Reasons Soccer Players Are Skinny
  • Excessive Training
  • Healthy Eating
  • Need For Speed
  • Endurance
  • Flexibility
• 11 Famous Skinny Soccer Players
• Conclusion

Are Soccer Players Skinny?

Soccer players have ectomorphic body types. You rarely see a soccer player with a bodybuilder-sized mass. Overweight soccer players are seldom seen, especially in recent years. Heavier players exist, but they are often toned and play goalkeeper positions.

Most soccer players are thin and lean and don’t carry as much body weight as you expect from an aggressive masculine athlete. The average weight of a soccer player is around 130-200 lbs. Many players are heavier and still thin because size doesn’t necessarily depend on weight.

5 Reasons Soccer Players Are Skinny

There are multiple reasons why soccer players are skinny and why a smaller body size is preferred. Bulky and fat players are not discredited, but being thin is definitely favored.

These are the primary reasons many soccer players are skinny and why that will always be the preferred body type for the sport:

Excessive Training

Unsurprisingly, professional soccer players train between an hour and a half to two hours a day and five to six days a week. They do multiple types of exercises, including cardio and weight training. Their excessive, high-intensity, and long training hours help them burn body fat and tone.

They don’t train only to keep the fat away. Soccer players train for speed, stamina, skill, etc., but the level of their training naturally keeps them thin, even if they gain muscle in the process. The muscle players gain are lean and toned, free from excess fatty connective tissue.

Healthy Eating

Soccer players eat pretty healthy diets. They have balanced meals that are high in protein with good sources of carbohydrates for energy. Players tend to avoid refined carbohydrates like high-sugar foods. Candy, chips, white bread, fizzy drinks, etc., are not included in their lifestyle.

It is not challenging to prevent body fat when following a healthy balanced diet and working out a lot. When sugary, refined foods that typically cause weight gain are not part of the diet, a player will naturally be able to maintain a skinny size.

Need For Speed

Speed is an essential requirement of being a soccer player. Being on the soccer field means you do a lot of running and need to be fast and efficient. A smaller, lighter body size is likely to be faster for having less weight to carry.

The lighter and skinnier a soccer player is, the faster they can move around without their weight weighing them down or tiring them out.

Endurance

Endurance is crucial for a soccer player. You must last 90 minutes for the game, continuously running around and tackling other players. It can wear a player out, and having good stamina is essential. Skinny players are underestimated and assumed to have no endurance.

However, with the excessive training soccer players undergo, they have intensive stamina and can endure hours of the sport successfully. A player with a heavier weight may have less strength because of the extra fat they carry on their body.

Flexibility

A valuable requirement besides speed and stamina a soccer player must have is flexibility. It is also one of the primary reasons players are thin. While large muscular, and fat people can have great flexibility, soccer players require extreme agility.

Soccer players go through many twists, turns, kicking, bending, and jumping. Their flexibility must be at its peak to get the correct angles and movement required to be skilled at the sport. Large muscles allow less movement, and extra body fat hinders flexibility. Skinny players have an advantage in flexibility.

11 Famous Skinny Soccer Players

Did you know that several of the most famous soccer players with superb achievements are skinny? Their body mass index does not affect their abilities as players. Instead, their thin anatomy works to their advantage by boosting their existing skills.

The table below provides a list of the skinniest famous soccer players with their body weight:

As mentioned earlier, the average weight of a soccer player is 130-200 lbs. The height of a player also affects their size. The skinny player averages between 137-170 lbs. These players might be thin, but they are skilled and successful.

Jurgen Damm was labeled the world’s fastest player in 2015, while Angel Di Mari is considered one of the world’s best wingers. Neymar, a popularly loved Brazilian soccer player worldwide, is known as one of his country’s most prolific scorers. They might be skinny, but they are brilliant at their sport.

Conclusion

Being a soccer player is more than size and weight. There is space for all types of players on the field. Check out more details on the best soccer positions for slow, short, fast, tall, and weak players and the beginner’s guide to choosing the best position in soccer.