Why footballers wear wrist strapping, and what it really means | OneFootball

From ritual to lingering injuries, wrist strapping in football is more than style. PSG centre-back Willian Pacho, Endrick and Cristiano Ronaldo are among those who play with taped wrists.

According to L'Équipe, Sadio Mané and Moussa Niakhaté follow a set pre-match routine with Senegal, asking physio Christophe Dormoy to strap them just before kick-off. Staff coach Iuri Annecchiarico, who works with Kalidou Koulibaly, calls it a symbolic switch into combat mode.

The trend grew after Karim Benzema began taping his right hand in 2019 following a finger injury, and has kept it since, whether for protection or superstition remains unclear. Mathys Tel’s childhood finger issue became a habit, while Christian Mawissa kept taping after a U17 sprain.

Mawissa used his tape as a notepad at Toulouse for set-pieces, but the notes have gone and he now wears two bands. Others, including Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Endrick, strap one wrist. Without a wrap that loops the thumb, as with Pacho, any preventive effect is limited.

The tape can also hide a lucky bracelet. Referees are more permissive despite Law 4 banning jewellery and forbidding it to be covered, and Cristiano Ronaldo has worn a connected bracelet under tape.

Straps carry messages, from Orlando Pride’s "Contigo Jenni" for Jenni Hermoso to Emanuel Emegha’s Ballers In God branding. Maxence Lacroix writes psalm numbers on his, and similar habits appear in the amateur game at kit checks.

Source: L'Équipe