Whole muscle glycogen levels remain low for a prolonged period following a soccer match. The present study was conducted to investigate how this relates to glycogen content and particle size in distinct subcellular localizations. Seven high-level male soccer players had a vastus lateralis muscle biopsy collected immediately after and 24, 48, 72 and 120 h after a competitive soccer match. Transmission electron microscopy was used to estimate the subcellular distribution of glycogen and individual particle size. During the first day of recovery, glycogen content increased by ~60% in all subcellular localizations, but during the subsequent second day of recovery glycogen content located within the myofibrils (Intramyofibrillar glycogen, a minor deposition constituting 10-15% of total glycogen) did not increase further compared with an increase in subsarcolemmal glycogen (-7 vs. +25%, respectively, P = 0.047). Conversely, from the second to the fifth day of recovery, glycogen content increased (53%) within the myofibrils compared to no change in subsarcolemmal or intermyofibrillar glycogen (P