Qatar – Football Kit Geek

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

The World Cup is well and truly underway, we have now seen each of the 32 Nations take to the field, so time to have a look at the kits worn so far by each of the teams.

I am still not 100% sure whether the “Home” and “Away” kit labels are completely correct when it comes to International Tournaments, I will refer to them as “Primary” and “Secondary” choice kits.

Groups A and B

A few stats….

For the total of 32 kit appearances, we have seen “Primary” Kits (and variations) used 87.5% and “Secondary” kits (and variations) used 12.5% of the time, with only four Nations in their secondary kit!

Primary – 22

Primary variations – 6 (Ecuador, USA, Wales, Argentina, Spain, Cameroon)

Secondary – 3

Secondary variations – 1 (Saudi Arabia)

Groups C and D

A part from the Day 1 and Day 2 (which totalled 4 games), we are seeing 4 games a day, so the tournament is motoring along now and it is great to see the kits finally on display.

Adidas wearing coming into the tournament with some of the best kits on show and they have not disappointed in action, with Japan being a particular highlight. One downside from the Adidas Kit point of view was seeing Spain in all red, rather than the default navy shorts and socks, from what I understand this was driven by FIFA and both Spainish Federation and Adidas preferring to use navy in this game.

One thing that seems to have reduced from recent World Cups, is single colour kits… so far there has been only 5 games which we have seen both teams in a single colour for their full kit (I am including Senegal in this who do have a multi-coloured chest chevron), I hope this is something that continues through the rest of the tournament.

Groups E and F

Canada appearing in their first World Cup since 1986 have been dealt a bit a raw deal with their Kit Situation, based on the contract they currently have with Nike means they are the only team at this World Cup that are not in a “New” Kit but one they have had in place since 2021. I am sure this will change in the next Tournament where the Canadians are Co-Hosts.

Groups G and H

Switzerland v Cameroon gave us the unusual site of red v green, often not allowed due to impacts of colourblind supporters / viewers, the contrast in this particular match up was given by just yellow Cameroon socks, normally its the shorts that are changed to give the contrast between the kits.

Overall kit highlights for me…

Argentina v Saudi Arabia Kit Match up, the best so far for me.. Argentina in alternative black socks, Saudi Arabia in Away shirt / Home shorts and socks mash up, what’s not to like here!

The subtle detail in the Wales Shirt… yes it is a template shirt but that does not make it bad thing, the detail works really well and give the shirt a lttle more depth!

Japan’s Primary Kit, a favourite amougst the Kit Community and it’s clear to see why.. the detail in the shirt works well and the use of red trim and yellow numbers also gives the kit a different feel…. could the pattern also be on the back of the shirt, maybe… but we can’t have it all!

Nike have received some critisim for the kits they have produced for the World Cup but the France Primary Kit is one of the best on their roster. I tweeted about how nice it would have been for the boots to be gold here as well, creating a fully complementary kit look with the gold details.

Well, why not… what an image to capture the moment and the kit…!!

Round 1 of games is now complete, what are your favourite kits on show and will we see more variations of kits through out round 2 of games? Let me know in the comments below of over at @Kit_Geek on Twitter