ReviewBiology of sport2026
An umbrella review of soccer small-sided games: developing an evidence-informed design model linking training components to performance outcomes.
Review in Biology of sport, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Small-sided games (SSGs) are widely used in soccer training to develop multiple performance domains, though interactions among design components can complicate targeting specific outcomes. This umbrella synthesis aimed to integrate findings from systematic reviews and meta-analyses to clarify how key SSG design components are associated with different training objectives and to develop an evidence-informed framework for SSG design. A synthesis of 37 systematic reviews and meta-analyses was conducted. The analysis focused on eight commonly manipulated SSG design components-Area per Player, player format, bout duration, work-to-rest ratio, rules and task constraints, touch limitation, joker usage, and directionality/goalkeeper involvement-and examined their associations with six primary performance domains: aerobic load, anaerobic/glycolytic demands, high-speed running and sprint exposure, neuromuscular/mechanical demands, technical execution, and tactical behaviors. Consistent patterns indicate that spatial density and player format are central determinants of SSG responses. Aerobic strain is most frequently reported in formats ranging from 2 v 2 to 4 v 4, with approximately 100-150 m
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.