Introduction: Central instability is associated with insufficient endurance and strength of the stabilizer muscles, and it can lead to muscle imbalance and injuries. Objective: Relate side bridge performance with the presence of injuries in amateur soccer athletes. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study with a sample of 188 male athletes, aged between 11 and 17 years. To identify the injuries, a questionnaire developed by researchers was applied and the players' clinical records were reviewed. The time of the side bridge test was used to identify muscle imbalance. For statistical analysis, the following tests were used: chi-square test; Pearson's chi-square test; Fisher's exact test; Yates's correction for continuity; two-way