Effect of FIFA 11+ intervention on change of direction performance in soccer and futsal players: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

This study systematically reviewed scientific literature regarding the effects of the FIFA 11+ intervention on the change of direction (COD) performance in soccer and futsal players. We conducted a keyword search on June 30, 2020, in SPORTDiscus, PubMed, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, Scopus, CINAHL, and Google Scholar. We performed a meta-analysis to estimate the pooled effect size of FIFA 11+ interventions on COD performance. Sixteen RCTs studies met the eligibility criteria and were included in this review. Compared to the control group, the FIFA 11+ intervention yielded a 0.87 standard deviation (95% CI = 0.52, 1.21; I2 = 96.2%) decrease in the time of COD task completion in soccer and futsal players. In addition, there were no differential effects of the FIFA 11+ intervention compared to the control group in COD performance enhancement among age, gender, athletic level, sport, intervention frequency, intervention duration, and measure covariates. In conclusion, the FIFA 11+ intervention is effective in improving the COD performance of soccer and futsal players. Future studies should recruit large representative samples from professional soccer or futsal teams and examine the effectiveness of the FIFA 11+ intervention on the COD performance among population subgroups (e.g., by age and gender). Studies focusing on different COD tests are warranted to deepen the understanding of the FIFA 11+ intervention effects on the COD performance.