## 1 Introduction  
In soccer, athletes cover an average total distance during a full match (90 min plus added injury time) of around 8-14 km and are characterized by a highly variable pattern of actions such as walking, jogging, running at high and low speeds, sprinting, moving backward, kicking, jumping, or tackling [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. However, the distances covered depend mainly on (i) the time played (linked to substitutions during the match), (ii) the team's style of play, (iii) the number of matches in the same week, or (iv) the different playing positions [8].  
[PERSON] et al. [2] observed a greater distance covered by lateral defenders, midfielders, and wingers compared to forwards and central defenders. These results are similar to another study [3], where midfielders and wingers covered greater distances than lateral defenders, forwards, and central defenders after analyzing 20 Spanish league matches and 10 Champions League matches. In addition, goalkeepers during training and matches tend to cover a total distance of around 50% less than other positions [9; 10]. It is, therefore, plausible that, due to the physical demands and specific roles during play, body composition may vary according to playing position.  
Kineanthropometry is the area of science responsible for measuring the composition of the human body. Changes in nutrition, lifestyle, physical activity, and ethnic composition of populations are some of the factors that can modify body dimensions [11]. In sports (including soccer), the main assessment methods used are anthropometry, bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), and dual X-ray densitometry (DXA) [12; 13]. The somatotype is another relevant tool in the study of body composition, defined as the quantification of the shape and composition of the human body through the numerical qualification of three components using different anthropometric formulas and measurements [14]. Derived from the somatotype, the somatostatin is a graphic representation expressed in endomorphy, mesomorphy, and ectomorphy (three components). It is useful in the field of sports to be able to situate the somatotype of the athlete being evaluated against the reference somatotype of the sport he/she practices based on a wide collection of data [15]. In soccer, body composition is decisive for reaching an optimal physical level, which can translate into a good level of play, as performance in this sport depends on multiple technical, biomechanical, tactical, mental, and physiological factors [16]. Recently, our research group studied, through a systematic review and meta-analysis, the existing differences in the analysis of body composition in male professional soccer players between different measurement methods (anthropometry, BIA, and DXA) [17]. However, due to the limitations of the study, it was not possible to specify these values between the different playing positions.  
The aim of the present systematic review with meta-analysis was to describe anthropometric characteristics, body composition, and somatotypes in male professional soccer players and to compare the reported values according to playing position. Accordingly, it was initially hypothesized that:  
**Hypothesis (H1).**: _There will be significant differences between the different playing positions, especially in height, weight, skinfold sum, and muscle mass (MM)._  
**Hypothesis (H2).**: _Goalkeepers have the most different body composition values compared to the rest of the playing positions, with a higher weight, height, skinfold sum, and MM due to their sporting role._