England defender Lucy Bronze has revealed that she played the entire tournament with a fractured tibia.
Is it possible for a professional footballer to compete with a fractured leg?
Following Sunday’s Euro 2025 final victory over Spain, England defender Lucy Bronze disclosed that she had done just that, stating: “I actually played the whole tournament with a fractured tibia, but no-one knew.”
Her mother, Diana Bronze, indicated that the Chelsea full-back sustained the injury in June, yet she started all six of the Lionesses’ matches in Switzerland and played a pivotal role in their success.
“We’ve known all the time. We knew the medics had checked it, and they knew what they were doing,” Diana Bronze told BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour.
“I think a lot of the girls knew and not a whisper got out.”
Dr. Mark Bowditch, President of the British Orthopaedic Association, clarified to BBC Sport that the tibia is, “the shin bone and the main weight bearing bone from the knee to the ankle.”
“Fractures of the tibia range from partial break, such as a stress or fatigue split, through to a complete break and separation,” the consultant knee and sports surgeon added.
“A complete break is the high-energy sudden injury from a fall from a height, twist or direct blow, such as a studs-up tackle. You cannot continue to play on or even walk on a complete break.”
“Stress/fatigue fractures – which is likely to be the type Lucy Bronze has – are low-energy repeated injury and usually seen in athletes or army personnel.”
“They normally present with pain after activity, rather than a sudden incident.”
Following Sunday’s final, England manager Sarina Wiegman said that Bronze, “had some issues with her tibia so of course we tried to manage that.”
Nick Worth, who served as the England men’s under-21 team physiotherapist between 2000-2003, told BBC Sport that Wiegman’s comments further support the view that the defender’s injury was a stress reaction, rather than a clean break.
However, BBC Sport has yet to ascertain the full extent of the injury.
The 33-year-old accumulated 598 minutes of play throughout the tournament, with only Keira Walsh, Alex Greenwood, and Hannah Hampton logging more time for Wiegman’s side.
Dr. Bowditch described it as “remarkable” that Bronze was able to participate in so much tournament football.
“She probably has had to reduce the amount of training she has done in between games or train in a low weight-bearing environment such as a swimming pool or anti-gravity trainer,” he suggested.
“It’s a great tribute to Dr Ritan Mehta and Lionesses medical team that they have managed to keep Lucy going.”
Worth believes that Bronze’s decision to play through her injury would have been based on a calculation of risk versus reward, made in collaboration with the Lionesses’ medical team.
“No doubt she’s been exceptionally brave, you can’t underestimate the mentality and resilience to do that,” he added. “But it must be a manageable injury to enable her to do that.”
Bronze’s aunt, Julie Tough, told BBC 5 Live: “Lucy wouldn’t damage her body but she’ll play through pain if she thinks she’s not going to do anything worse to it.”
“She’ll not let the pain get in the way.”
Painkillers and anti-inflammatories may have aided Bronze in managing her pain during matches, along with potentially utilizing different insoles in her boots to redistribute weight away from the injured leg.
Bronze’s mother, Diane, added: “The medics had checked it and they knew what they were doing, and so does she because she did a sports science degree.”
“She reads research papers and things. She knows about injuries. That’s how she can keep going.”
The defender, who was England’s oldest player at the tournament, managed 105 minutes in Sunday’s showpiece final, before leaving the pitch in tears as she was forced off with a separate injury to her right knee.
Wiegman praised her attitude afterwards, saying: “The whole team has a great mentality but she has a crazy mentality, it’s unbelievable.”
Worth told BBC Sport that pain is experienced subjectively.
“What Lucy has shown is that bit extra – she’s an exceptional individual, and not everyone would do that,” he said.
“She knows her own body, and I have no doubt she would speak up if something isn’t right.”
During the quarter-final against Sweden, Bronze was shown on camera self-strapping support around her right leg during a break in play. Worth suggested that this is unlikely to be related to her fractured tibia.
It is difficult to say, without knowing the full extent of the injury.
Dr. Bowditch told BBC Sport that the worst thing that could have happened was that, “the partial break progressed into a full break and the bone effectively snapped.”
“This fortunately hasn’t happened,” he said. “It may need a prolonged time off to allow it to heal itself or she may need surgery to try to help the bone heal properly”
Worth suggested that Bronze should hopefully not face any long-term consequences after playing during the tournament, and the most important thing now will be rest.
While she will need to offload the tibia a little bit, Bronze should be able to continue with work in the gym and the pool, and that weight-bearing can help the healing.
“Bones heal in the lines of stress, so in a converse way, putting weight on a fracture at the right time can help with healing.”
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