It means "He ruptured himself while he was playing football". He was playing football, and at some point during the game he ruptured himself. I'm not quite sure what you mean by "He ruptured himself in the process of playing football". Isn't that the same as 'while playing football'? "He ruptured himself by playing football" is possible, but less likely. Football is generally a relatively safe game, and the mere fact of playing football should not lead to a rupture. This would only be the case if he had a previous injury or wound, and it was the simple activity of running and kicking that was to blame for the rupture.

I have no idea what "he ruptured himself" is supposed to mean. Can someone explain? I might use rupture as follows: He suffered a ruptured blood vessel. He had a ruptured spleen. When he ran into the pump he ruptured a pipe. His infidelity ruptured their marriage.

Thank you. I would say something like “If he continues straining like that, he’ll give himself a hernia.” I would never associate hernias with playing soccer either.

DavidK asked for a definition of 'rupture himself'. Here's one from the Merriam Webster dictionary: Dictionary definition of 'rupture oneself': medical : to give oneself a hernia I almost ruptured myself trying to lift that heavy box. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rupture%20oneself

I think most English speakers would agree that the rupture is usually used in medical context or a plumbing! We would not use rupture to describe someone getting injured while playing football. I agree with David K that rupture is usually used to describe something bursting open-- I generally think of pipes or blood vessels-- something that has liquid running through it. When David explains that infidelity ruptures a marriage-- it's like saying his actions 'busted' the marriage. To answer your initial question-- you could say: -He injured himself playing football meaning He injured himself while he was playing football an example of Rupture: -The pressure of pipe was too high and the water pipe ruptured -He died because of a ruptured artery i hope this helps