Argentina – Football Kit Geek

Adidas – World Cup ’26, International Kits

Nov 6, 2025Posted in Kit News, World Cup Kit LogTagged Adidas, Argentina, art, Belgium, books, food, Football, Football Kits, Germany, Kit Geek, Kits, photography, Scotland, Soccer, Spain, travel, Wales, world cup8 Comments

In terms of qualifying the “Road to World Cup 2026” is well underway, however the real start of World Cup Fever kicked off this week with Adidas launching this International Kits for the next two year cycle, so lets take a closer look at some of these kits and just for fun I have rated them!

Germany – Let’s kick off with one of the most anticipated kits, with this being the final Adidas Kit for it’s Home Nation for the foreseeable future (never say never). For me it does not disappoint and is one of the best kits of this launch, a look taking inspiration from 1990 and 1994 World Cup’s, this is going to be a hit for fans and football shirt collectors, and the long sleeve version is simply wonderful… and check the socks out, they will not disappoint!

Kit Geek Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Argentina – World Cup holders Argentina have a thick stripe to this shirt, the thicker Adidas Stripes (as you can see on all shirts) being black take a little some focus away from the overall look of the shirt, especially as the stripes are blue in the shorts, overall it’s OK but for me should have been better.

Kit Geek Rating ⭐⭐⭐

Spain – This is my favourite of the Adidas kits launched, a Spain shirt with a twist. The use of dark blue raglan sleeves here works really well, the Adidas stripes in the traditional Spanish colours are fantastic and are the only Country that have this take to the “3 Stripes”, the pinstripe in the body of the shirt is just subtle enough that lifts the overall look…

Kit Geek Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Italy – Italy have not qualified for the World Cup since Adidas has supplied their kits, so this (as long as they do qualify this time around) will be the first time The “Azzurri” have donned the 3 Stripes at this stage. Again another kit that is passable but the gold detailing does not work for me, especially with the opportunity to use the three stripes in the Italian Flag colours.

Kit Geek Rating ⭐⭐

Belgium – Belgium shirts often use different shades of red, this time is a vibrant red, paired with black and yellow detailing in collars, cuffs give a nice overall look to this kit, black shorts and socks as well and this is one of the nicest overall looks from this launch.

Kit Geek Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mexico – Returning to Green as Primary colour (as standard within World Cup Cycles), this shirt is another looking back to the 90s, with this “Aztec” pattern in the body of the shirt. Nice use of red / white within the collars and cuffs gives a nice balance to what is ticks all the boxes of what you would expect form a Mexico Shirt, but overall my least favourite of the shirts we are looking at here.

Kit Geek Rating ⭐

Japan – Adidas and Japan is often a partnership that delivers, although this shirt is fairly simple in it’s design compared to some recent years, it works in it elegance, some nice design elements, I would have like to have seen the cuffs with red / white trim (as the collar) but overall a solid kit.

Kit Geek Rating ⭐⭐⭐

Colombia – A fairly standard looking kit for Colombia, the use of red Adidas stripes and then just the blue trim within the collar and cuffs works very well in my eyes. Interesting pattern within the shirt which are “butterfly motifs inspired by magical realism”, this adds some depth to overall look.

Kit Geek Rating ⭐⭐⭐

Wales – With many kits looking to the 90s, its refreshing in some ways to see a kit that looks to the 80’s, with this Wales kit. Again using green as one of the accent colours works well and lifts the kit from standard template to something with a bespoke feel. The central chest band design element is great and this one of the few shirts that has National Crest and Adidas Logo centrally placed.

Kit Geek Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sweden – I like this one, and is inspired by the 70’s (apparently). The pattern in the shirt is inspired by the “popular flower stitching found on jeans and traditional Swedish folk dresses from the era”. What works for me is the use of blue across the shoulders, not going full raglan but this use of colour and then with the white Adidas stripes works well in my eyes.

Kit Geek Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Peru – The Peru kit is one that is difficult to much with given it’s iconic sash, this is a solid effort with some detailing with sash itself that is nice but the choice of design in the overall sash, making it blocky may take some getting used too, maybe they were inspired by my kit illustrations which use this look with sash shirts (of course not!).

Kit Geek Rating ⭐⭐⭐

Scotland – Adidas and Scotland is another one of the relationships that just feels right and I have really liked the kits produced in the 15 years they have been in partnership. This one is another great shirt, with a really nice subtle “Saltire” within the shirt’s body. My only complaint with the kit is the that this look is all Navy Blue, I preference is seeing Scotland in white shorts and red socks.

Kit Geek Rating ⭐⭐⭐

Algeria – The Algeria shirt is another kit that uses colours of it’s flag within the collar and cuffs, this use of green and red really lifts the shirt in my eyes. An interesting pattern with the shirt and certainly helps raise the overall look away from a standard looking template.

Kit Geek Rating ⭐⭐⭐

Costa Rica – There is plenty going on here, a vibrant looking shirt with pink detailing being inspired by “Guaria Morada orchid”, the country’s national flower. I think this shirt will prove very popular with Kit Lovers next summer, and one we will see a lot of.

Kit Geek Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Northern Ireland – This is an interesting design, there is blend of green tones with a pattern inspired by the “transatlantic ships traditionally built in Belfast’s shipyards”. The look creates a halved shirt, something a little different in International Football Shirts, so I am all for those choices. Matched with green shorts and white socks, so as regular readers will know I love a contrasting sock look!

Kit Geek Rating ⭐⭐⭐

There we have it, the build up to the World Cup has started, Any thoughts and comments about these Adidas Kits please let me know over at my Socials…

X – @kit_geek or Bluesky – Kit Geek

And if you are interested in buying one of these shirts please check out the link below – https://kitbag.evyy.net/KitGeek

Rugby World Cup 2023: Kit Overview

Nov 3, 2023Nov 3, 2023Posted in General, Kit History, UncategorizedTagged Argentina, England, France, New Zealand, Rugby, Rugby Union, Rugby World Cup, South AfricaLeave a comment

The 2023 Rugby World Cup held in France ended with South Africa taking a record 4th Title with an 12-11 Victory against New Zealand.

The tournament was held between 8th September and 28th October 2023, with 20 teams playing in total of 48 games during 7 week Tournament.

I shared some regular updates on the Kits used during the competition, but wanted to consildate this in one place for your perusal.

Overall Kit Stats:

20 Teams
37 Kits worn in the Tournament
2 Teams in 3 Kits
13 Teams in 2 Kits
5 Teams in just the 1 Kit

Pool Stage, there were four Pools containg Five Nations, with the Top Two Nations moving to the Knock-Out Stages.

Pool Fixtures Overview

Knock-Out Rounds

Knock-Out Rounds, this consisted of Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, 3rd / 4th Place Playoff and of course the final, so a total of eight fixtures in the final stages of the Tournament.

Quarter-Finals

Semi-Finals / 3rd & 4th Place / Final

Looking at the Nations in more detail, I will look at each Pool and the Kits worn by the Nations here!

Pool A

Pool A provided four Nations with Blue as their Primary Colour and New Zealand in their traditional “All Black” look, so there was plenty of Alternative Kits on show from this group, with a total of 9 Kits seen in the Pool Stage here.

Uruguay and Italy both used their Alternative Kit in 3 of their 4 Pool Matches, with Namibia using their two kits twice each and Tournament Hosts France only using their Alternative Kit once, in the opening game of the Competition against New Zealand.

New Zealand who reached the final ended playing all seven of their games in their Primary All Black Kit

Pool B

Pool B provided the most Kits used in the Pool Stage, with a total of 10 Kits used by the Nations here.

South Africa were one of two teams to use three kits through the tournament, and the only Nation to use three different shirts, with their Alternative Shirt deemed to contain too much green when they played Ireland, this also meant they wore three different kits in their opening three games.

Ireland, Romania and Tonga all wore two kits in total, with their Primary used three times and their alternative kit worn just the once.

Scotland the other team in the group only appeared in their Primary kit, unusual as even in the 6 Nations Tournament they are one of three teams who play in Blue but with Pool A taking a large portion of the teams in Blue meant it was only the Primary Kit this time around for the Scots.

Pool C

Pool C was another Pool with 9 Kits used, however only 8 were used in the Pool Stage with Fiji being the only Nation to use a kit in the Knock-out Stages that was not previously used in the Pool Stage, with their Alternative Kit used in the Quarter-Final game against England.

Along with Fiji, Georgia, Portugal and Wales all used two kits, with Georgia and Portugal going with Primary and Alternative kits in two games each and Wales just the once in their game againt Portugal.

Australia were one of the five Nations to use just their Primary Kit after failing to progress from the Pool Stage.

Pool D

The final Pool, Pool D was one of the most interesting in terms of kits used.

In total their were 9 Kits used by the Nations here, however it was the only Pool that had two Nations that used just the one Kit, with Chile and Japan playing their four Pool games in their Primary Kits.

Argentina and Samoa would use both Primary and Alternative Kits in their Pool matches, with Argentina also using their alternative kit in a later game (we will come on to that below).

England however were the second team in the Tournament to use three different Kit Looks, this one being a little more subtle than the South Africans, as the Alternative red socks were used with the Primary shirts / shorts to create the only Kit Mash up of the competition, this look was used twice, once in the Pool game against Samoa and then in their second meeting against Argentina in the 3rd / 4th Placed Play-Off.

Kit Highlights

As mentioned there were two teams that used three different kits in the tournament:

South Africa Kits – Primary worn 5 times, Alternative worn 1 time and White Alternative shirt worn 1

England Kits – Primary Kit worn 3 times, Alternative Kit worn 2 times and Primary / Alternative socks worn 2 times

Argentina v England – The two nations met twice in the Tournament, in their opening game in Pool D and then in the 3rd / 4th Place Playoff game, so their final game of the tournament, each game game was played in different kits….

There we have it, the 2023 Rugby World Cup in Kits and congratulations to South Africa on their Record Victory.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or over at @Kit_Geek

World Cup ’22, Overall Kit Review

Dec 18, 2022Posted in UncategorizedTagged Argentina, FIFA, Final, Football, Football Kits, France, Kit Geek, Kit Log, Kits, Messi, Qatar, Soccer, world cupLeave a comment

Well that’s it, the 2022 World Cup is over, and after 64 Games Argentina have been crowned World Cup Winners for the third time after remarkable final against France, a game that will live forever as one of, if not the greatest World Cup Final ever!

It is time for me to take a look at the Kits worn through-out the tournament and those worn in the knock out stages.

I have separate posts about the group stages…

1st Round of Group games can be found here

2nd Round of Group games can be found here

Overall Group Stage review can be found here

A few stats….

There have been a total of 66 kits used throughout the tournament in the 64 games.

We have seen “Primary” Kits (and variations) used 68% and “Secondary” kits (and variations) used 30% of the time and 3rd kit 2% (just used the once)!

Argentina are the only team to wear 4 kit variations, with 3 different primary kit looks and their secondary kit worn once.

6 Nations wore 3 different kit variations in the tournament with 4 of those teams (Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Costa Rica, Canada) in 3 different kits in their only appearances. Morocco and Brazil, using their 3rd variation within the knock out stages.

19 Teams have worn two kits and 6 Teams in the same kit for their 2022 World Cup games.

Knock Out Rounds Overview….

Primary – 10

Primary variations – 8

Secondary – 4

Secondary variations – 1

We have seen 7 new kit variations used in the final round of fixtures.

Knock Out Round Fixtures

Last 16

Quarter-Finals

Semi-Finals

3rd / 4th & Final

Looking at the teams journeys in a little more detail by group…

GROUP A – 8 Kits in total

The Netherlands reached the Quarter-Finals and only used their Primary kit, Senegal the other team to reach the knock out stages wore their Secondary Kit for the first time in their defeat to England.

GROUP B – 8 Kits

No new kits on show in the knock out games from teams in Group B, England ended the tournament without using their secondary kit, just the two variations of Primary Kit, this was the case for the second Major Tournament in a row.

GROUP C – 10 Kits

Argentina in 4 kits, used their Primary with white shorts and socks in three of their four games in the knock out phase of the competition, Poland were one of those teams that only used one kit in all their appearances.

GROUP D – 7 Kits

France were another team that did not use their secondary kit (one of the most popular kits before the start of the tournament), using two variations of their Primary kit, the all blue look was used twice including the Final.

GROUP E – 9 Kits

Spain were the only team in the competition that did not wear either their default Primary or Secondary kits, following their use of all red in the group stages with alternative white shorts with their Secondary Kit. Japan also in a second look for the tournament in their knock out game against Croatia, with alternative blue shorts used with their Primary Kit.

GROUP F – 9 Kits

Two teams from the group reached the final four of the competition, with Morocco using a Kit Mash up in their Semi Final against France, pairing their Primary Kit with Secondary white socks. Croatia unlike recent tournaments were mainly seen in the Primary kit with their Secondary only used in their Semi-Final appearance.

GROUP G – 9 Kits

Brazil in their quarter final gave us another alternative kit for the competition, using their secondary socks with Primary Kit to give us a Yellow / Blue / Blue look, one often used by the Brazilians as an alternative look.

GROUP H – 6 Kits

No new kits on show from the teams in Group H, with South Korea only using their Primary Kit in the tournament and an appearance of both Primary and Secondary Kits for Portugal.

Overall kit highlights from the Knock Out Rounds…

The Semi-Final between France and Morocco gave us Kit Match Up with two teams in “Tri-Colour”, each element of the kit being made of different colour, thanks to Morocco using their secondary white socks with their Primary Kit.

Argentina the only team to wear four kit variations, with three different Primary looks worn and their secondary kit worn once.

Would it be a World Cup with Brazil using an alternative kit, this one with secondary socks works well with the green details in all elements of the kit given a clean variation of their Primary Kit.

There we have it, the 2022 World Cup is over, what are your favourite kits on show and favourite kit moments of the tournament?

Let me know in the comments below of over at @Kit_Geek on Twitter

Sergio Aguero – My tribute

Dec 15, 2021Posted in Kit HistoryTagged Aguero, Argentina, Barcelona, Football, Football Kits, Football Manager, Kits, Manchester CityLeave a comment

On Wednesday 15th Decemeber 2021 Sergio Aguero announced his retirement from professional football after being diagonsed with a heart condition.

Aguero was a player that I always enjoyed watching through out his career after discovering the “Wonder Kid” being one of those must have players in Football Manager 2004 and 2005 games as a teenager from Independiente.

Although retiring at the tender age of 33, Aguero’s career last 18 years where he played for four teams across three different countries but will always be remember for 10 successful years at Manchester City winning the Premier League five times including his first and last seasons, as well the FA Cup and six League Cups.

A selection of Kits worn by Sergio Aguero

Aguero played 685 club games, scoring a total of 386 goals which included a club record 260 goals at Manchester City, added this to International career with Argentina that spanned 15 years with 101 Caps and 41 goals at full Senior Level and representing the country at three World Cups on three different continents, as well as appearences and goals for his national team at Under 17, Under 20 and Under 23 level. This meant Aguero ends his career with well over 400 goals.

A wonderful career for World Class player…. some of Aguero’s Kit Highlights below.

442 | El día que Aguilar quiso llevar al Kun Agüero a River — Celebrating with Independiente

Atletico Madrid unearth new Aguero as they rest Diego Costa and Fernando Torres for Europa League — In the classic Atletico Madrid colours

Pin on Soccer — Manchester City’s Nike Vapor Template

Sergio Aguero next club: Transfer odds as Manchester City legend set to leave | The Independent — In Paisley in 2020

What are your favourite Aguero Kit Highlights, let me know in the comments below or over at @Kit_Geek on Twitter.

Diego Maradona – My tribute

Nov 25, 2020Nov 29, 2021Posted in General, Kit HistoryTagged Argentina, Barcelona, Diego, FIFA, Maradona, Mexico, Napoli, Serie A, world cupLeave a comment

Wednesday 25th November 2020 the footballing world lost one of it’s most iconic and gifted players to ever take to the field and I wanted to pay my own small tribute to him.

Diego Armando Maradona, as he was in my Panini 1986 World Cup sticker album was footballing royality, he almost single handedly won a World Cup for his country and a spearheaded Napoli to their only two Serie A titles.

His 21 year career saw play for six different clubs in three countries, making 588 apperances and scoring 312 goals, on top of that his 91 caps and 34 goals for his beloved Argentina and appeared in four World Cups.