Tag: Scotland

World Cup ’26: Kit Review, Match 1

Posted in General, World Cup Kit LogTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

The World Cup is well and truly underway, we have now seen each of the 48 Nations take to the field, so time to have a look at the kits worn so far by each of the teams.

The use of “Home” and “Away” kit labels are do not feel right when it comes to International Tournaments, I will refer to them as “Primary” and “Secondary” choice kits.

Overview of Kits

A few stats….

For the total of 48 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 – 34

Primary variations – 8 (South Africa, USA, Curaco, Netherlands, Uruguay, Senegal, Norway, Argentina)

Secondary – 14

Secondary variations – 4 (Scotland, Ecuador, Egypt, Colombia) 

One of the first things to call out are the use of patches by the teams, there are several different patches used by the nations, players and for each game.

Teams will wear patches in black or white on their right arm, it appears nations will these patches on Primary and Secondary Kits with alternative used on each, for example…. a nation will wear the white patch on their Primary Kit and Black Patch on their Secondary Kit.

Past winners will have Gold Patches, these six nations again will rotate, gold and white / gold patches with Primary and Secondary Kits.

The Left Arm will have unique patches for each game in tournament, with messages in different colours for each of the game as we move through the tournament.

There are other patches, which appear to be “stickers” on player shirts.

Players making their debut at the World Cup, will wear this patch.

There are also personal awards being worn as patches, Thibaut Courtois wore a “golden glove” patch on his for winning the award in the 2018 Competition.

Lionel Messi wore two patches on his shirt, a “Legacy” patch to celebrate becoming the first male player to play in 6 different World Cups and a bagde (under his captain’s armband) for this player of tournament wins (2014 / 2022).

Match 1 Fixtures

In the opening game between Mexico and South Africa, the South Africian team wore alternative yellow shorts with their Primary Kit, these are bespoke pair of shorts, as their secondary shorts are white (and Adidas Trefoil branded).

Adidas CEO, Björn Gulden “celebrated” the start of the World Cup by wearing a “half and half” shirt of the two teams in the opening fixture. This is very much considered to be a one off to kick the World Cup off!

The much anticipated return of the Adidas Trefoil to the International Stage is happening in this tournament and the first team to wear their change kit containing the logo was Scotland, in their victory against Haiti in Foxborough, MA. They wore the Kit with alternative “salmon” socks.

Ecuador wore a mash up of the change and 3rd Kits, wearing their Change shirt (navy) with their 3rd shorts and socks (white).

Norway wore their Primary Kit with alternative red shorts and socks, this is the 3rd different colour shorts worn with the kit in it’s short life (white as default look and Navy have been worn).

Argentina ended the 2022 World Cup wearing alternative white shorts and socks with their Primary Kit (wearing it in Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and the Final), a look they kicked off this tournament in, which was a surprise as the much leaked kit document had the holders in their default look with Navy Shorts and socks and opponents Algeria in white shorts / socks.

Colombia against Uzbekistan saw both Nations in change kits, with Colombia wearing alternative fluorescent socks with their Change Kit.

That’s it for the first round of fixtures, we will be back next week with the second games in each of the groups. Let me know your thoughts and comments over at my socials.

X – @kit_geek or Bluesky – Kit Geek

Adidas – World Cup ’26, International Kits

Posted in Kit News, World Cup Kit LogTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 8 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

England v Scotland, not looking like England v Scotland

Posted in Kit HistoryTagged , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

On Tuesday 12th September Scotland will host England at Hampden Park in the 150th Anniversary Heritage Match to mark the first meeting between the two sides in 1872. This is part of the year of events from the Scottish FA to celebrate the history of the association.

The original match is recognised by FIFA as football’s first-ever international match, at The West of Scotland Cricket Club in Glasgow, in front of a crowd of 4000 People.

The kits of the first match set the tone of majority of the 115 meetings between the two nations with Scotland in dark blue shirts. (however, not the origin of the blue Scotland shirt) and England wore white shirts. England wore caps, while the Scots wore red cowls.

When you think of England v Scotland in terms of kits the traditional look is often considered as the following…

Scotland – Navy Blue Shirts / White Shorts / Red Socks (occasionly Navy Socks with red turnovers)

England – White Shirts / Navy Blue Shorts / White Socks

However….

As part of the qualification of the 2018 World Cup, Scotland and England were drawn together in Group F and the Kit Designs of that time from Nike (England) and Adidas (Scotland) were the following…

Scotland’s Primary Kit was paired with white sleeves and navy socks, with England’s Primary Kit having “Sky Blue” sleeves and Red socks… and created what was considered to be a sleeve clash between the two kits

So when the two teams met in their group games, secondary kits were used by the Away Country to give a new look for both games of this most historic of International fixtures…

On 11th November 2016, the match at Wembley (3-0 to England) gave us Scotland in their Pink Secondary Kit, with Black Shorts and Socks…

The return fixture at Hampden Park on June 10th 2017 (finishing 2-2), saw England in their secondary kit paired with Red Home socks to give an all red look for The Three Lions.

Both fixtures proved controversial in terms of kits, traditionalists on both sides expressed their disappointment on the choice of kits of the countries, however given the kit guidelines of the time there was no option for the primary kits to be used in this campaign.

An “honourable” mention to when the two countries met in Group D of Euro 2020 at Wembley on 18th June 2021, in the goal-less draw the teams wore just a single colour each, with England in All White and Scotland in All Navy, this due to the default Scotland look being all Navy at this Tournament, but those complaining at what happened in 2016/17 should take comfort in the fact that both nations wear in their Primary Shirt Colours.

For the match on Tuesday 12th September 2023, Scotland will wear their special 150th Anniversary Kit which was first worn in the Euro 2024 qualifying match against Cyprus on 25th March 2023, this will be the second and final appearence of this quite wonderful kit.

England, although wearing their current default Primary Kit from Nike for the actual match, they will be wear a one-off Pre-Match Shirt containing the National Crest worn in 1872…. many fans commenting that should this kit be worn in the actual game… I will let you decide your opionion on that one!

There we have it, England v Scotland, not looking like England v Scotland, let me know your thoughts in the comments below and of course all shares of this post are appreciated.