World Cup Footballers Are Cutting Holes in Their Expensive Boots to Avoid Injury

They earn millions, yet footballers at the World Cup are walking around with holes in both their socks and their boots. What looks like worn-out kit is actually a calculated choice. The famous holes in socks are nothing new - players like Jude Bellingham and Xavi Simons have long done it to reduce compression on their calves. But this tournament has brought a striking new trend: players cutting the heels out of their boots entirely.

Portuguese forward Pedro Neto shocked fans when he took the field with a massive hole cut out of the back of his expensive boots, just above the sole. It was not a fashion statement but a medical emergency.

Top footballers increasingly suffer from Haglund's syndrome, a painful benign bone deformity at the back of the heel. When a rigid boot heel presses against the protruding bone, it causes severe inflammation of the Achilles tendon. Since sponsorship contracts prevent players from swapping boot models, medical staff simply cut the plastic away. When the difference between the bench and the starting eleven is measured in millimeters, no sock or 300-euro boot is safe from the scissors.