Footballers who played on with broken bones - including Lucy Bronze, Stuart Pearce and Jason Roberts
Lucy Bronze has revealed she played the entire 2025 Euros with a broken leg.
As previously reported by NationalWorld, the Lioness confirmed after the Euro final that she has gone through the entire tournament with a fractured tibia.
Bronze, 33, started every single match under manager Sarina Wiegman, but did so while somehow nursing a major injury.
Speaking to BBC Sport after the final last night (July 28), she said: “I actually played the whole tournament with a fractured tibia, but no-one knew.
“I just hurt my knee today on the other leg. That is why I got a lot of praise from the girls after the Sweden game because I have been in a lot of pain.
“But if that's what it takes to play for England, that's what I'll do - they know that. We inspire each other by playing through things like that and it got us to the end, in the end.”
But Bronze is far from the first player to stay on the pitch despite an injury; there are plenty of footballers who join her in the ranks of hard-as-nails sports stars.
Here are some of the most famous footballers who played on with broken bones.
Cesc Fabregas
In 2010, Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas ended up fracturing his leg, either in the Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona or in the previous match against Birmingham City.
But in said Champions League match, he was definitely playing with an injury. However, that didn’t stop him from stepping up to take a penalty in the 85th minute, which he converted to bring the game back to 2-2 - later leaving the stadium on crutches.
Dietmar Hamann
The 2005 Champions League final was infamous for Liverpool’s insane comeback against AC Milan. But for Didi Hamann, the game will be remembered for a different reason.
A week after the game, a doctor told the German midfielder that he had a broken foot; Hamann connected the dots and realised the discomfort he’d felt during the match was probably this - although he still scored the first goal of the penalty shoot-out.
Hamann said: “I was determined to shake it off; all that mattered was I scored.”
Jason Roberts
During the same year, Wigan’s Jason Roberts was playing with a fractured leg against Reading in the Championship. His heroics - while nursing an injury - went down in club folklore.
While battling to even stay standing, Roberts managed to bag the second goal in a 3-1 win that got the Lactics promoted to the Premier League.
Stuart Pearce
In 1999, West Ham bruiser Stuart Pearce clashed with Watford’s Micah Hyde. He was in visible pain, but continued through the first half and even strapped his boots on to get back on the pitch after half-time.
Manager Harry Redknapp said: “He put his boot back on and said ‘I’ll give it a go’ - but even he can’t run off such a bad injury.”
He then broke the same leg six months later against Southampton, and refused to be stretchered off.
Marc Pugh
When Bournemouth were chasing promotion from League One, winger Marc Pugh was one of the players the Cherries could rely on when the chips were down.
Eddie Howe’s side went on an eight-game unbeaten run at the end of the season to secure promotion, with Pugh playing an instrumental role - despite having a broken foot for the run-in.
Speaking to the Bournemouth Echo after the season, he said: “I wanted to play through it because we were chasing promotion. It was my decision and nobody forced me.
“It was painful but I could play through it because it wasn't going to get any worse.”
Vincent Kompany
In the same season, Manchester City were beaten to the Premier League title by local rivals Manchester United. But in the following summer of international foodball, Man City defender Vincent Kompany picked up a nasty injury while playing for Belgium.
A defensive clash saw him break his nose and fracture his eye socket, but Kompany stayed on the pitch for 60 minutes before being substituted off. With concussion having almost been a certainty, we wouldn’t see this in the modern game.
Ally Maxwell
Speaking of heroics, goalkeeper Ally Maxwell went down as a Motherwell legend in 1991.
The team faced Dundee United in the Scottish Cup final that year, and early in the second half he was kneed in the stomach by John Clark. Motherwell had used all their subs, so despite being barely able to stand, Maxwell had to carry on playing.
In the dying moments of the game, Maxwell tipped a volley from Maurice Malpas over the bar to win the game 4-3; a trip to A&E after the final whistle showed he had finished the match with three broken ribs and a ruptured spleen.