Our friends over at They Think Kits All Over released their Top 50 Shirts of 2025 Podcast Episode earlier this week, where they ask their followers to send across their Top 5 (in order) which they then collate and create a list of the Top 50 shirts… with many other people sharing their Top Shirt Lists, I thought I would share mine which I submitted to the TTKAO gang!
So queue the countdown music, here are my favourite 5 Shirts of the year!
Number 5 – Hamburg SV Home
My countdown starts with HSV’s 2025 / 26 Home Shirt, as we see with most seasons now there is a look back to past, and this template has also been used by Club America in Mexico but this version in Hamburg’s Tri-Colour combination was my favourite and a great example of retro done right as based on 1994 / 95 3rd Kit.
Number 4 – Swansea City 3rd
Gulf colours are one of the most iconic colour schemes in sport, so when Swansea City built on the success of their commemorative fourth kit from the 2023 / 24 season, when the Gulf logo featured on the front of the Swansea City shirt celebrating the 30th anniversary of their Autoglass Trophy win, the third kit went fully in on the Gulf colours of racing blue and orange.
Number 3 – SSC Napoli 3rd
Brown Kits often be seen in “worst” shirt lists, you the one I mean… so this Napoli choice is a brave one in terms of colour but paired with the light blue detailing and logos just works wonderfully well. We discussed this kit in Episode 35 of The Football Kit Podcast and I called it out then as my favourite Kit from Serie A this season.
Number 2 – Germany 125th Anniversary Shirt
There were so many wonderful Anniversary Shirts from Adidas this season, this list easily could have been made up of the 5 shirts from that “Family”, however I decided I would only include one shirt and that one was the Germany 125th Anniversary Shirt. One of the most elegantly beautiful shirts of this century, and does exactly what you want an Anniversary shirt to do… a special call out the blue goalkeeper version as well (which I purchased, in long sleeve of course).
Number 1 – Port Vale Home
So my Number 1 was Port Vale’s Home Shirt, another Anniversary shirt, this time celebrating 150 Years of the club, with its retro club crest, no sponsor, it just looks amazing and when you take the whole Kit into consideration for me it is Kit Perfection. This Puma template is one the best templates of the season as well, with several clubs have great shirts with it but this one is the stand out in my eyes and my favourite shirt of 2025.
Well that’s it, My Top 5 Shirts of 2025 but I am just one single voice and would love to know what you think and what made your Top 5’s!
Again a huge call out and thanks to They Think Kits All Over Pod for their hard work in creating and sharing their list, also if you enjoy these kind list please also check out Friend of Kit Geek and The Football Kit Podcast @ChatShirt who created a wonderful Top 100 List that is worth spending the time reading – you can find it here
Any thoughts and comments, and what were your favourite shirts of 2025.
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…
Euro 2024 is about to start, this is the 17th Euros Finals since they started in 1960 and will be hosted by Germany between 14th June and 14th July 2024.
The European Championship Finals have gone through several different formats since its inception, from just 4 teams for the initial tournaments up to 24 teams since 2016
1960 – 1976, 4 Teams
1980 – 1992, 8 Teams
1996 – 2012, 16 Teams
2016 – Onwards, 24 Teams
Here we have a look at the history of England’s Kits through out the competitions in preparation of this year’s tournament, I did something similar for World Cups originally in 2018 on this site – here and in more detail in Volume 5 of Kit Magazine for the 2022 World Cup.
England have qualifed for 10 out of 17 tournments and played a total of 38 games through their finals appearences.
Kit Overview of Euros
4 Team Tournament: 1968
8 Team Tournaments: 1980, 1988, 1992
16 Team Tournament: 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012
24 Team Tournament: 2016, 2021
Tournaments in Detail
1968 – This was only tournament where there was four teams that England Qualified for and was hosted in Italy, as then World Cup Holders, the tournament consisted of two semi-finals and then 3rd/4th Playoff game and Final.. England losing in their Semi-Final against Yugoslavia and then beating The Soviet Union in the 3rd/4th Place game. The kit worn in both games was the same as the kit worn in 1966, the classic England look of that time!
1980 – The next time England qualifed for the Euros was in 1980 again held in Italy, and this was the first tournament that saw of an expansion of teams qualifed doubling to 8 Teams, with group stages added for the first time. England were in Group B, played all their group games in their classic Admiral Primary Kit most famously used in World Cup 82. With a win, draw and loss in the group it meant that England did not go past the group stage, so it was just the three appearences of the Primary Kit, it is also worth noting that the kit did not contain any Admiral Branding as it was not permitted in tournaments at this time.
1988 – England followed a positive World Cup Campaign in 1986 by qualifying for 1988 Tournament in West Germany and England now in Umbro and will be in the Euros until 2016. It was not the most memorable competition on the pitch with three defeats in the three group games meaning they were rock bottom of their group, this probably reflects on the memories of the kit worn, they used their Primarty Kit in all three games and was one of the best Umbro Kits for The Three Lions and had Change and 3rd Kits in the same template.
1992 – The final 8 Team Tournament was also the first time that England qualifed for The Euros in consecutive tournaments, hosted by Sweden it was another campaign that England failed to go past the group stage however the team did manage to draw two games only losing against hosts Sweden which prevented their progression from the Group. It was another tournament that the Primary Kit was the only kit used, and was the same kit that was seen in World Cup ’90, this was the last time an England Kit was used in two major tournaments.
1996 – Euro 96 was the first of the next expansion of the tournament, with 16 Teams qualifying with 4 Groups of 4 teams and the introduction of Quarter-Finals for the first time. England were the Host Nation and coming off the back of failing to qualify for World Cup ’94 there was high expectation of the team to succeed on home soil.
England finished top of their Group and qualifed for the knock out stages for the first time in the Euros. The Primary Kit from Umbro was one that introduced a turquoise blue accent to the kit for the first time and was worn in each of the group games and the penalty win against Spain in the Quarter-Finals.
The Semi-Final was the first time that England used a change kit in Euros History and the first time a change had been used by the team in any major tournament since World Cup ’82. It was one of the most well known kits in England Football History, the Indigo / Grey change kit was one has always drawn a lot of attention and been written about so much over the years… however this was its only tournament appearance.
2000 – Euro 2000 was the first Euros to be Co-Hosted, with Belgium and The Netherlands welcoming 14 other countries to their shores. England took to the new millennium in a classic look that called back to the 60’s in it’s design and remains one of the most under-rated kits worn by The Three Lions. The Primary Kit was worn in their opening group game against Portugal and their final group game against Romania, both ending in 3-2 defeats, which meant they did not progress to the knock out rounds.
Their change was also used against Germany, who were also in their change kit for the game, this was the first time that England played in their traditional Red change colour in Euros Finals. The shirt itself is an interesting design being made of an almost wollen material, one that seems a world away for the structure of shirts made today.
2004 – The following Euros was held in Portugal and was in the middle of the “Golden Generation” of England team, with high expectations of the team and their Manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. In the Group they wore their Primary Kit twice and Change Kit once, qualifying from their group for the 2nd time they also wore their Primary Kit in their Penalty defeat against Hosts Portugal.
The Umbro Kit contained a lot more red then seen before, with red shoulder / sleeve taping on the shirt, this was the first England Kit that added a “Star” for their World Cup Victory in 1966, however it was placed on the sleeve of the shirt, not above the crest as normally place. It was also marketed as a reversable shirt, with the reverse being a leisure shirt alternative.
The Change Kit worn against Croatia was again the traditional red shirt but was paired with silver shorts and silver detailing, it also contained “playful” takes on the St.George’s Cross on the shoulders, with a design with paid tribute to the fans with flags drapped on their shoulders.
2012 – England failed to qualify for the 2008 tournament, so their next appearence was in 2012 in the competition hosted by Poland and Ukraine. This was also the final tournament that the team would be wearing Umbro as their Kit manufacturer and it was a new take on their Primary Kit for this tournament.
The kit being all white for the first time in it’s default look, in fact with the National Crest, logo and nameset all in red, there was no navy in the kit at all, also paired with a complementary goalkeeper kit in all red! This Kit was worn in the opening and closing group fixtures as well as the penalty defeat against Italy in the Quarter-Finals.
The Change kit worn against Sweden was another move away from the traditional red, with an All Navy Kit as part of the Tailored by Umbro range, although the default look was with Sky Blue Shorts it was the all navy when it came to an alternative look needed, this was the first time that England wore an alternative look in Euros Finals in their 24th game.
2016 – It was time for change again in Euro 2016, the teams qualifying increased to 24 with 6 Groups of 4 teams and the introduction of Last 16 Knock-out round, meaning teams getting to the final would play a total of 7 games, the same as World Cups. it was also change on the Kit front for England, with Nike now being the kit supplier for their 2nd Major Tournament after the World Cup 2014.
The Primary kit being one of the more controversial kits of The Three Lions’ Kit History, the Nike Vapor Template was a kit look that was paired with contrasting socks, in England’s case it was red socks… with Sky Blue sleeves, this was big change that not all fans were happy with!
For me, I love this kit, I love this template, it’s adventurous and challenges the standard designs!
The Primary Kit was worn in two of the group games and the shock defeat in the Last 16 game against Iceland, their Change Kit was worn against Slovakia which is the same template as the Primary in red and blue.
2020 – Due to the Covid Pandemic the 2020 tournament was postponed one year, so took place in 2021 and was held across Europe with 11 Countries / Cities hosting games, celebrating 60 years of the Tournament. England hosting games across the Group Stages and Knock-out rounds including both Semi-Finals and Final all at Wembley Stadium.
England, again with Nike went for a more classic look for their Kit, with Navy Blue shorts paired with a classic looking shirt and rounded collar, also a return of a central Crest for the first time since 2004.
England however did use alternative white shorts in all of their Group Games and contunied the All White look into their Knock-Out Last 16 game against Germany, it was not until the Quarter-Final match against Ukraine that they wore Navy Shorts, which would be for the first time in the Euros Since their Quarter-Final defeat against France in 2004, 17 years earlier. The same look was used in their Semi-Final victory against Denmark.
In the Final against Italy, it was a return to All White again, meaning they wore their Primary Kit through-out the tournament’s 7 Games, the first time a change kit was not worn by England in The Euros Finals since 1992.
Again, a final look at all the Kits worn in the 10 Tournaments and 38 Games of England at The Euros over the past 56 Years
Italia 90… the birth of modern football and Adidas Designs start breaking the mould….
The World Cup parade returned to Europe in 1990 with Italy hosting for second time after the 1934 tournament. The 14th World Cup was held between 8th June and 8th July within 12 host cities. the format was the same as previous World Cup in Mexico, see my Kit Log for that edition here – Mexico 1986
So we see 24 teams, taking part in six groups of four teams, followed by knock out rounds giving us again a total of 52 games to look at.
In terms of kits, the 90’s hit us in a big way at this World Cup and in particular Adidas who introduced some very views on the traditional international kits that we seen in previous tournaments, we also saw 19 teams wear both their first and second choice kits through the tournament.
At this point although not in a World Cup I do feel I have to make special mention to Euro 88 and those kits worn by The Netherlands and USSR, take a quick moment to reflect on those shirts…….. and now back into Italia 90!
Adidas, who supplied 15 of 24 teams kits really caught the eye with some outstanding kits and several different templates and styles gracing the pitch. Some more classic templates, think Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium and then some real “modern” designs for USSR, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Colombia, not forgetting of course the eventual Winners West Germany who wore a kit that was then unique and instantly iconic, a kit that often comes into contention when discussing greatest kits of all time.
Another iconic shirt from the tournament was England, who only wore their home kit through out the tournament but thanks to efforts of Paul “Gazza” Gascoigne taking the team to Semi-Finals made this kit a real fans favourite. Umbro reproduced the shirt in 2010 including Gazza’s No.19 on the back (and yes, I do have this version of the shirt).
In that Semi-Final West Germany wore their away kit for only time in the tournament and again it was a classic kit, similar in design to previously mentioned Euro 88 shirts of The Netherlands and USSR and something if reports are to believed will be the basis of the German away kit at Russia 2018.
For me special mentions need to be made to Scotland, with a stunning pair of kits from Umbro, that away kit….. and also the Colombia kits from Adidas, again as mentioned with Germany, these kits are basis of the shirt that will be worn this summer in Russia.
Football Kit Geek - @Kit_Geek 