Introduction: Heading is a football-specific skill that can determine match results in Association Football, with headers being the second most efficient goal scoring technique, following kicks during free play. In the 2022 UEFA Women`s European Championship, 28% of all goals were scored from a header, and 19% of all goals in the 2020 UEFA Men`s European Championship. It has been estimated that the mean number of headers per player per match is 2.7 and 5.0 headers in boys and men`s football compared with 2.3 and 4.8 headers in girls and women`s football. There is limited heading incidence data in professional women`s football and while studies exploring some aspects of technical proficiency of heading during match play exist in men, there is paucity of such data in women. The aim of this study was to compare the incidence of headers, attempted headers, and other head impacts, and the difference in heading descriptors, including technical performance, between men and women in a purposive sample of FIFA World Cup 2022 (FWC2022) and FIFA Women`s World Cup (FWWC2023) matches. Research hypotheses: Hypothesis one: Professional women football players will perform fewer headers than professional men. Hypothesis two: There will be differences in heading technique between men and women, including women will close their eyes earlier than men when heading a ball. Methods: Video analysis was completed of all observed headers, attempted headers, and other head impacts during eight FIFA World Cup matches (FWC2022 (n=4); FWWC2023 (n=4) where the same national teams competed (Spain v Costa Rica, Australia v Denmark, The Netherlands v United States of America, and France v Morocco). Heading descriptors (including ball delivery method, purpose of the header and involvement of other players), and technical performance of each header (including controlled or uncontrolled header, eye closure, use of upper body, point of head contact), were recorded for all headers in the included matches. A Chi-Square test (with effect size calculation) was used to assess the strength of association between categorical data (or t-test for continuous data) with the effect size reported using Cramer's V (or Cohen's d); a-error was set at p=<0.05. Results: Across all eight matches in the FWC2022 and FWWC2023 there were 973 head impacts events, of which 845 (87%) were headers, 93 (10%) were attempted headers, and 35 (4%) were unintentional head impacts. Differences between men and women for header type were all non-significant. There was also a non-significant difference between men and women in headers per playing position (p=0.98). In both men and women defenders performed more headers than midfielders and forwards for both men and women (Cramer`s V 0.09; p=0.02). Goal keepers were not observed to head the ball in any of the eight matches. When compared with men, women performed less controlled headers (73% v 83%, ES=0.12, p < 0.001), closed their eyes earlier before the header (1.91 v 1.56 frames, d=0.41, p=0.002) and were less likely to use their upper body (79% v 87%, ES=0.11, p=0.006). Discussion: This descriptive video analysis study aimed to explore the incidence of headers, attempted headers, and other head impacts performed during a purposive sample of FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women`s World Cup matches. Our results did not support our first hypothesis that professional women would perform fewer headers than men in their respective World Cups. While women did record slightly fewer head impact events than men (n=477 compared with n=496) as well as fewer headers (n=409, n=436), this difference was not significant. The mean number of headers per player per match was also very similar (n=4.6, n=5.0). We also aimed to explore the difference in heading descriptors, including technical performance, between men and women, where our second hypothesis was supported that there were differences in heading technique between men and women. We found that in our study women performed less controlled headers, differed in their point of head contact, closed their eyes earlier before the header and were less likely to use their upper body when compared with men. Impact/Application to the field: This study provides new information regarding differences in the technical performance of headers between professional men and women. Technical heading descriptors such as eye closure, point of head contact and use of the upper body could be important factors to include in heading coaching frameworks which can be addressed in training to improve heading performance particularly in women and girls. Future heading research should include technical heading descriptors to explore whether heading technique has any relationship with head impact magnitude and mechanism of head injuries in football.
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