Which camera are you using? The answer depends upon the model and camera capabilities. In general, the less data moved and the faster the card then the less likely the camera will fill its buffer but different models have very different behaviors with respect to buffering and transfer.
Even with burst mode, timing is still critical to get the shot you want.
I have been shooting a few baseball and softball games recently with my 1DX III and even though it shoots 16 FPS and will shoot over 1,000 frames in RAW or unlimited in JPG without filling the buffer, getting the ball coming off the bat is still dependent upon both skill and luck.
I lock focus when the batter steps up to the plate, have the shutter set for minimum release time since I am shooting wide open aperture and the lens doesn't need time to settle, and will trigger the shutter while watching the ball. This type of timing is another reason I won't yet consider going mirrorless for sports because the viewfinder lag with mirrorless makes this type of shooting technique impossible.
Softball is slower than baseball and during the last game I shot, I think I had a total of 3 captures with the ball contacting the bat and that was in a high scoring contest. Shot with Canon 1DX III and EF 400 f2.8 @ 1/1600, f2.8, ISO 200.
Rodger
Thanks and thank you for providing the additional info.
I rarely use polarizing filters, just good quality clear "filters" on most lenses to protect the front element and make field cleaning easier (I don't mind taking the chance on damaging a "filter" if I need to quickly wipe rain or "stuff" off a filter). That photo was shot with an EF 400 f2.8 which like the other Canon "great white" telephoto primes has a very large front element so if a filter is used, it is a drop in near the camera end of the lens assembly and it was shot without a filter.
In general, the more data you start with the better you can crop and do other editing functions. I always shoot RAW files and that is particularly important for sports where you often need to crop even with long lenses and exposure adjustment is also often needed. You can do far more with a RAW file than a jpg because so much information is discarded forever when the camera saves the image as a JPG file.
The M50 supports C-RAW and that might be something to investigate as it provides greater buffer depth while preserving much of the capabilities of a true RAW file. You will find shooting either in RAW or C-RAW is what you want for sports photos.
With soccer, you shouldn't run into buffer depth issues very often; about the only situation in soccer where I do burst shots are goal shots and sometimes when players attempt to head the ball but catching "headers" is best done with timing. Practice overcoming the capture lag with your camera and it will become less difficult to rely upon short tightly controlled bursts that won't tax buffer depth. Most of my successful attempts at catching players heading the ball are with shooting a single frame at the right point. High speed bursts rarely catch that perfect moment of the compressed ball and the player grimacing 🙂
When I first started seriously shooting sports, I was using a Canon 1D Mark II which had very little buffer depth so it trained me to rely upon timing instead of "spray and pray" shooting. Most soccer games the overwhelming majority of my image captures are single shots although the camera stays in high speed drive mode.
This photo was the best save this past Saturday by a keeper who made several very good saves, this was the first image from a three image burst and was the best of the group but taken with the wrong camera. I was shooting some close in action when one of the players got off a long chip pass that turned into an immediate goal shot by the receiving player. This was shot with the 1DX Mark II and EF 70-200 f2.8 lens but from where I was positioned at that point I would have normally used the 1DX Mark III with its 400 prime but it happened so fast I didn't trust myself to raise the other camera up in time.
Location is critical in sports and I was out of position and dealing with a very sore arm which was the only side-effect of my second COVID shot so I am blaming the side-effect for not switching cameras when I should have done so 🙂
Rodger
"The M50 has its strengths,..."
Absolutely! Everybody is different with different expectations. It is all about what you expect your gear to produce and what you are happy with. If what you are getting is what you like and are satisfied with I am, and I suspect Rodger is to, all in for you.
However, I am still going to push you in the more user controlled modes over Sport mode. 
Go shoot some pictures and show some samples of your work, too.
