What Do Soccer Players Do After A Match?

We all see professional soccer players while they’re on the field during a match. But what happens after the match?

I have been watching soccer for more than 10 years. I have also been following soccer news for a long time, watching soccer players interviews, and much more. 

During this time, I’ve gathered some knowledge about what soccer players do immediately after a soccer match ends, and I’d like to share that with you.

Here’s a timeline of what soccer players do immediately after the match ends.

1- Shake hands with opponent players and exchange jerseys.

Immediately after the referee ends the match, soccer players pay respect to each other by shaking hands, hugging, or having quick chats with each other.

After all, soccer is all about respect, and no matter what happens during the match, you’ll see the players greeting each other and paying respect to each other.

Some soccer players exchange their jersey with one of the opponent team players after the game ends.

Exchanging jerseys between soccer players after a match ends is kind of a ritual in soccer. Players usually do it out of respect towards the player that they are swapping their jersey with.

What do they do with the jerseys that they get? Some add them to their collection of jerseys, and others sell them or give them away.

2- Celebrate and wave to the audience in the stadium.

Usually after a match ends, the winners of the match run towards their audience to clap and point at them as a way to thank them and a way to celebrate with them.

The bigger the match is, the bigger the celebrations are after the match ends.

You don’t always see celebrations after a soccer match though. There are many matches that aren’t important enough, and players won’t celebrate a lot after they win these matches.

However, they still pay some respect to the audience in the stadium and at least interact with them for a few seconds before they leave the field.

3- TV interviews

After a match ends, you’ll see reporters running around asking players for interviews. The interview will be set up on the soccer field which means that the player will do the interview before they leave the field.

Usually, reporters will ask the players about how the game went and why did they perform the way they did. These interviews are usually less than a few minutes long because the players will be exhausted after the long soccer game that they played.

Keep in mind that not all players get interviewed after a match. Only a few will be interviewed after a match by reporters.

4- Spend some time in the locker rooms.

After the players finish their celebrations and interviews, they go to their locker rooms and rest for a few minutes. They’ll also get changed and get ready to leave the stadium that they played the match at.

Players who feel a little bit hurt after the game will be checked by the team’s medics.

Players will also celebrate inside their locker rooms if they have won a big game.

5- More interviews

Many TV reporters are allowed to go into the rooms of the soccer stadiums after the match ends and ask players and coaches for interviews about how the game went and how the team is going to move forward.

6- Leave the stadium the way they came in

After the players get some rest in the locker rooms and get changed, they’ll head towards the vehicles that will take them home.

If the team is playing a game away from their club’s home, then usually they’ll leave together using the team’s bus. Most soccer teams have their own transportation vehicles that they use to carry their team players around during soccer matches.

Keep in mind that soccer teams travel a lot because they are sometimes supposed to play on their opponent’s stadiums which can be very far away.

After a match on these far away stadiums ends, the team players will usually leave the stadium together and later take a flight together back to their homeland.

While soccer players leave the stadium, they will most probably find the fans waiting for them outside asking for autographs and pictures.

Some players decide to spend a few seconds with the fans before they leave the stadiums, and others head directly to their vehicles.

What happens after the players leave their team’s stadium depends on their club, but usually players are free to go do what they want to do. Some of them go see their families, others decide to spend some time with their teammates, and so on.

However, players are supposed to be careful not to exhaust themselves doing demanding physical activities when they have other matches coming very soon.

Summary

After a soccer match ends, players will usually shake hands with their opponents, do some interviews, get changed, leave the stadium and then spend some time with their family or their teammates.