Author: Gavin Hope

It is that time again for The Heat Press to fire up, as we take a more detailed look at the new England Kits for 2026 / 26 released by Nike on Friday 20th March 2026, all set for the forthcoming World Cup in June.

Nike have been Kit Manufacturer for The Three Lions since 2013 and these kits are seventh set of kits produced by the US Giants over this period with both the Home (Primary) and Away (Secondary) kits released at the same time which is now the standard for Nike’s International Kit Launches in a tournament year.

Home (Primary)

England will wear “All White” has the default look for the first time since 2014, which was the second set of Nike Kits produced for The Three Lions for that World Cup, which saw a brief directive by FIFA for countries to be in single colour blocks.

The Kit continues to have Navy Blue has one the colour details but also sees more red used as an accent colour, including the return of red names and numbers (for me something that is key in a Traditional England Kit look). The most predominant red within the shirt comes in the side panels, with red “flashes” breaking the look of the shirt nicely.

No England kit release is without some kind twist for the “traditionalists” out there, this one is going to be the shorts and the choice of white as the default look, I have no real preference in the look for the Home Kit but as will come clear later in this post, I believe this is the right choice for this kit.

A closer look at the shirt reveals a subtle pattern using the “Three Lions”, reminiscent of that classic 1992 3rd Kit from Umbro. Another detail I really like is the collar, a return to a simple round neck collar but the navy, white, red trim is a nod to one of my favourite England Kits of all time from 1987 to 1989 with it’s “Grandad” collar. Finished off with a nice triangle insert to finish a wonderful overall look to the neckline.

Away (Secondary)

The Away sees a return to red after the previous Away Kit was “Dark Raisin”. Red was last used in 2022 (for the last World Cup), which was an “All Red” Kit. This new change kit delivers something new, navy shorts….

A look that England have worn three times in the past (Turkey, 1985 – New Zealand 1991 – USA 1993, see below) but these looks were all variations of the Away using Home Shorts. This will be the first time that the combination has been used by England as a default Change look.

Taking a closer at the shirt, the subtle “Three Lion” pattern seen in the Home Shirt continues with this shirt, as does the trim in the cuff of the sleeves with that Navy cuff with white / red banding, another nice touch for me that ties the two kits together. The biggest change between the two shirts is the collar, with the Away have more structure, still no collar but more of an angled look rather than a “V-Neck”, a nice design choice in my eyes.

Now, those Navy shorts… I love the choice of going with this look, its new but traditional, its different but familiar, congratulations Nike on this choice, you have made this Kit Geek very happy! This shorts are great and I believe given the design of them, they can be used as alternative for the Home Kit and vice-versa, given us something we have not seen the early 90s, Kits that are truly Interchangeable, including those socks with their matching calf bands.

England last wore Red – Navy – Red in US, playing against the hosts of the US Cup in 1993

One question remains is how much use will this Away Kit get, the previous two change kits have got minimal action on the pitch, with previous (Dark Raisin) worn just three times in 2024 and not at all in 2025, and the Red Away Kit before that only being worn twice, once in 2022 and once in 2023, on top of that one of my favourite Kit Stats being that England have not worn a Change Kit in a Major Tournament since July 14th 2018, nearly 8 years.

In Summary….

I did not mind the last set of England Kits, but for me these are step up and Nike have delivered a really nice set of Interchangeable Kits for their first time, I look forward to seeing these in action in the upcoming fixtures against Uruguay (Friday 27th March) and Japan (Tuesday 31st March), with the expectation that we will see both kits in action for the first time.

There are some wonderful elements to these kits, the cuff design in both shirts is one of my favourite elements of the kits, the collar in the Home Kit, nodding back to one of my favourite England Kits of all time. The return of Red Numbers for the Home Kit, one of my Kit “Must Haves”….

What about the Goalkeeper Kit, I have not even mentioned this but one am expecting to be as popular as the outfield shirts this summer, a design that easily be worn as leisure shirt as much as playing shirt.

In short, I am a big fan of these kits….!

Regular followers will know I track all kinds of kits in my very unique way, here is my illustration of the two kits all set for World Cup Kit Log.

The Kit is exclusive to the England Store from Monday 23rd March 2026 a few days it goes on general sale at other sites and can be purchased from here

Watch the launch video for the new England men’s kits for 2026, featuring Mike Skinner of The Streets

Please make sure you check out my England Posts, I have a full England Kit History Documented from 1960 to present day, you can find that here

What are your thoughts about the new England Kits, like or dislike?? Please let me know over at my Socials…

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