Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40261535›Full record

ArticleSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2025

Fueling Soccer Players: A Scoping Review and Audit of Literature Related to Soccer-Specific Guidelines for Carbohydrate Intake.

Wee Lun Foo, Emma Tester, Graeme L Close, José L Areta, James P Morton

Abstract readScoping Review
In one paragraph

Article in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Wee Lun FooResearch Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences (RISES), Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK.ORCID 0009-0001-8702-9898
Emma TesterTottenham Hotspur Football Club, Enfield, London, EN2 9AP, UK.
Graeme L CloseResearch Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences (RISES), Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-7210-9553
José L AretaResearch Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences (RISES), Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-6918-1223
James P MortonResearch Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences (RISES), Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK. J.P.Morton@ljmu.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0003-2776-2542

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundProfessional soccer players are advised to consume 3-8 g kg

objectiveTo identify the gaps in existing literature that inform CHO guidelines for soccer players.

methodsA scoping review was conducted without date restrictions up to 21 March 2024, employing a three-step search strategy to identify relevant English-language primary and secondary articles through PubMed and reference searching. Data were extracted using a standardized audit tool from studies assessing direct and indirect impacts of CHO on soccer players' performance and health.

resultsWithin 258 studies identified, experimental studies were the most common (~ 36%), followed by observational (~ 33%) and narrative reviews (~ 26%), with systematic reviews, meta-analyses and case studies making up the rest (~ 5%). Most observational studies were field-based (~ 98%), while experimental studies were laboratory-based (~ 75%). Among 4475 participants, ~ 16% were female, and only ~ 12% of the original research was exclusively conducted on female players. Observational studies included developmental (~ 52%) and professional players (~ 31%), whereas experimental studies primarily featured recreationally active (~ 40%) and collegiate/university participants (~ 26%). Key research topics were 'dietary intake' (~ 52%) and "energy expenditure and dietary intake" (~ 30%) for observational studies and 'CHO interventions' (~ 74%) for experimental studies. Only eight experimental studies exclusively involved professional players, focusing on CHO intervention (n = 7) and CHO co-ingestion (n = 1). Narrative reviews were published in journals with higher impact factor (4.1 ± 6.4) than were observational studies (3.2 ± 1.6, p < 0.001) and experimental studies (3.4 ± 1.6, p < 0.001). Narrative reviews had the most studies, with Altmetric scores ≥ 20 (n = 26), followed by experimental (n = 16) and observational studies (n = 14).

conclusionsCurrent CHO guidelines for elite soccer players lack experimental research specific to professional and world-class players. More field-based experimental trials involving elite soccer players are required to ensure evidence-based CHO recommendations.

Indexed as

Athletic PerformanceDietary CarbohydratesSoccerHumansDietary Carbohydrates

Identifiers

PMID40261535
PMCPMC12152048

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.