World Cup Kit Rankings

World Cup Kit Rankings

James Caughlin

One of the big off field highlights for every World Cup is the participating nations launching their new kits for the matches.

Despite many different things about this World Cup, like it taking place in November and in a place few would have ever expected a tournament like this to be held, new kits have been revealed and are on sale now.

As we do for many new seasons, we’ve gone through the 31 new “home” kits plus one holdover (more on that later) and picked out our favourites.

Neds’ kit department went all out this year with the Fashions on the Pitch event which was well attended by notable football icons (although one wasn’t allowed in).

Check out our kit rankings from worst to first below!

32: PORTUGAL

For some reason, Portugal decided to go with this weird half and half design using their traditional green and red combination.

It’s a real disservice to Cristiano Ronaldo in what is probably going to be his last World Cup going out looking like a low-budget Christmas tree.

31: MOROCCO

Another green and red abomination, we have seen plenty of good with this colour pairing but this is not one for that list.

Puma’s efforts this World Cup are pretty poor overall and this might be the worst of the bunch.

30: GERMANY

Normally you could pencil the Germans in for a Semi Final appearance and a top five spot in the kit rankings but this is not one of their best efforts.

Get rid of the massive black stripe and all is fixed, but when the mistake is so prominent, you have to mark it down.

29: ENGLAND

Can we change “it’s coming home” to “send it home… please!”

The blue gradient on the shoulders looks like the printer at Nike ran out of ink and once again, overcomplicates what should be a classically simplistic design.

Take note of their resplendent red away kit, roll that out in white and they’d be at or very near the top.

28: CANADA

If this jersey looks familiar, it’s because Canada is rolling with the one they qualified in because of a slightly different contract with Nike.

They’ll get a new one in 2023 and to be fair, it’s not a horrific jersey, just very bland that kind of looks like the international teams on the FIFA video game they don’t have the licence for.

27: GHANA

Just like Canada, we’ve got a bit of a basic kit here and there’s not a lot to love or hate about it.

Another mark against Puma here.

26: COSTA RICA

Mark it down, at least once during a Costa Rica match you are going to wonder why every player is wearing a blue armband.

The shirt is mostly fine but those sleeves need some work.

25: SENEGAL

It’s pretty much the Ghana kit with a different national emblem and a chevron on the front.

Good enough for a few extra points but not too many.

24: UNITED STATES

The Nike kits this year have been hit and miss and the colour combination of the USA makes this one a real miss.

You can get a bit creative with the USA and their red, white and blue colours but this feels like a white kit they felt obligated to throw some red and blue on for good measure.

23: POLAND

Ranking Poland in the 20’s might seem a bit harsh as this has the makings of a solid kit, but there’s just better ones out there.

22: ECUADOR

A solid if unspectacular Ecuador entry into the kit library from Marathon, the yellow pops and they’ll certainly stand out on the pitch.

21: IRAN

Similar to the Polish kit, Iran has gone for a clean, white kit with some minor details to break it up.

You hope after their numerous matches with Qatar, they’ll know how to avoid this white one turning see through.

20: SERBIA

Red with gold trim, clean and simple and one of Puma’s better efforts in 2022.

19: CROATIA

Croatia have kind of stuck with their iconic checkerboard design for their 2022 home kit.

There’s a few bare patches there which really should be filled in and if they were, they’d be much higher up on the rankings.

18: CAMEROON

Opinions on this kit vary depending on the day of the week and today is one of those ones where you think it is good different and bad different all in one go.

The lion head design sets it apart from plenty of other kits and the colours will standout too.

https://twitter.com/RandaAndrew/status/1588887456057036800?s=20&t=HeU5F-yqg2LuX_MYpMYi7g

17: SOUTH KOREA

On its own the jersey is an impressive effort from South Korea, proving that you can make some positive changes to a familiar design.

The colour pops a bit more, the shoulders offer a bit of detail but when paired with the shorts of the same style, it becomes a bit much.

Don’t be surprised if there’s a few construction workers looking to pick these up on the cheap for some spare high-vis wear in a year or so.

16: QATAR

The hosts have gone for a relatively timeless design for their inaugural World Cup campaign (getting awarded hosting rights is much easier than going through Asian qualifying).

It is somewhat fitting the official colour of this is “desert maroon” considering, but the best part of it all is the centralised logos.

15: DENMARK

Context plays a huge role in these rankings, because if Denmark released this one without an explanation, most would have assumed there was some sort of mistake.

It is an intentionally bland kit to make a statement about the issues surrounding the tournament and for that you have to give the Danes plenty of credit.

Not to mention the subtle details on the shirt are quite nice as well.

14: URUGUAY

Puma’s second best effort is Uruguay’s home shirt with the only nitpick coming from the one random button at the top.

Plus it also kind of looks like Luis Suarez might have taken a bite out of the collar.

13: FRANCE

We had to group France and Brazil together, because they have followed the same Nike design and there’s not a lot to separate them.

France’s classic navy look with gold accents will look very nice on the pitch but, not quite as nice as Brazil.

12: BRAZIL

Same as the two above, Brazil just gets football kits, although the one random button makes another appearance which does make it lose some points.

But don’t be surprised if we’re seeing this kit in seven matches as the Brazilians are expected to make a deep run.

11: SAUDI ARABIA

This one is helped out by its subtle details breaking up the plain white look.

Something just appears to be missing from the sleeves though.

10: SWITZERLAND

Smooth like Swiss chocolate, the red with white trim looks good and will stand out amongst the number of red kits at this tournament.

Let’s just hope we never had to see their horrific away shirt.

9: TUNISIA

It’s the detail that does it for us here, red with the print graphic across the entire shirt, you have to love it.

Big marks for Kappa here.

8: AUSTRALIA

Some say that there’s only so much you can do with green and gold, but Nike have gone out on a bit of a limb with the Aussie kit and we say they’re on to something.

It’s a different style to previous cup efforts with a subtle nod to the infamous “spew kit” of the early 1990’s and we can’t wait to see it on the pitch.

7: NETHERLANDS

The Dutch kit for the Euros was solid and they’ve gone for something a bit bold in Qatar but it works.

Nobody will miss that bright orange design and it is one of the better ones at the tournament.

Perhaps the only nitpick to apply to it, is that with that pattern, a velvet version would also probably sell quite well and not require a whole lot of chance.

6: ARGENTINA

Like any band that has been around for more than a decade, just play the hits and Argentina has met their brief here.

They’ve conquered South America, now can they conquer the world?

5: SPAIN

Clean, simple and elegant, it just works for Spain and the amazing thing is, their away kit is even better!

4: WALES

Wales are off to the World Cup for a good time, if not a long time and making their first appearance in almost 40 years, they’re coming in with a bang.

Adidas have nailed their brief and the lightning bolt design is one of the best we will see.

3: BELGIUM

Playing into the Red Devils nickname, the Belgian kit is top notch and while some may dislike the flame graphic on the sleeve… they’re wrong.

It is excellent, now if only the players on the pitch can live up to the hype…

2: MEXICO

The zig-zag design by Adidas produces another winner with Mexico bringing us a notable improvement on their 2018 effort.

It would have been first on the list if not for…

1: JAPAN

You can always count on Japan to deliver the goods for a major tournament and despite missing out on hosting rights for this one, they are at least winning the kit vote.

This origami inspired shirt will hold them in solid stead in any runway show.