{"id":493449,"date":"2026-03-24T23:36:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T23:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/493449\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T23:36:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T23:36:24","slug":"new-england-world-cup-kit-the-best-of-the-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/493449\/","title":{"rendered":"New England World Cup kit the best of the century"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s March in a major tournament year and that can mean only two things. One, an international break with more withdrawals than a Catholic orgy, and a new England home kit<\/a> to add to the very important rankings.<\/p>\n

Last time we went through all the England tournament home kits of the 21st century and put them in the correct order of niceness was, of course, March 2024. We justified the time spent on this whimsy then by asking rhetorically \u2018what else are we supposed to do with our time in an international break where no Premier League manager is about to get sacked?\u2019<\/p>\n

Very different time, was 2024. Very good England home kit, though, you\u2019ll remember. And not only because it enraged all of the very worst people<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So where does the new World Cup 2026 effort land among England\u2019s 12 tournament kits of the 21st century? There is quite literally only one way to find that out.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

12) Euro 2016<\/p>\n

\"Wayne<\/p>\n

Blue sleeves, Nike? Blue? That\u2019s insane<\/p>\n

The sleeves are blue. Why are the sleeves blue? WHY ARE THE SLEEVES BLUE, NIKE? HMM? England\u2019s home shirt should not have blue sleeves.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a shame, because this was a genuinely decent Nike template and it could have been a huge success if they\u2019d just knocked that \u2018ice blue\u2019 on the head. The darker blue that makes up the rest of the trim is arguably a bit too royal and not sufficiently navy, but it\u2019s not a disgrace. The lightness of the blue on those sleeves is a massive giveaway that Nike knew what they were doing was wrong. Had they the courage of their convictions, this would have had much darker sleeves.<\/p>\n

It would have been a worse shirt, but at least there\u2019d have been an honesty to it. \u201cWe think blue sleeves are good, so we\u2019ve given you properly blue sleeves.\u201d Not this \u2018ice blue\u2019 nonsense. Fitting really that the ice blue got knocked out by Iceland, when you think about it.<\/p>\n

The problem of the sleeves was also exaggerated by players wearing white baselayers under the blue sleeves, which looked a right state. It\u2019s no wonder England made such a mess of the tournament, frankly.<\/p>\n

Anyway, what really annoys us not that this shirt is rubbish \u2013 sometimes shirts just are rubbish and that\u2019s fine. Well, not fine, but it happens. What annoys us is how close this was to being good. There were options. The accompanying away kit in which the body and sleeves were two different shades of red showed one way; if Nike were absolutely adamant the sleeves couldn\u2019t be exactly the same as the rest of the shirt they could have gone with an off-white that might have saved it?<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t even get us started on the red socks to accompany a kit that forgot it could have red on it altogether. A catastrophic kit for a catastrophic tournament.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Euro 2016: The incredibly vital statistics<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

11) Euro 2012<\/p>\n

\"Ashley<\/p>\n

Ashley Young in action against Italy at Euro 2012<\/p>\n

A shirt that can only be explained by some absolute prick at Umbro going \u201cWhat if the 2010 shirt, which managed to be both unacceptably plain and have too much red, was in fact even plainer but somehow even redder?\u201d and instead of getting punched in the face they got promoted.<\/p>\n

The all-red badge still makes us feel violently sick all these years later. Just an absolute pig\u2019s arse of a thing, this. The worst of all worlds. Offensive for both its abject laziness and for the wrongheadedness of what tinkering they did bother with. Umbro will always be associated with some absolutely wonderful England kits, and it\u2019s a genuine source of lasting national shame that the final two they produced for major men\u2019s tournaments were completely sh*t.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

10) World Cup 2010<\/p>\n

\"Jamie<\/p>\n

Jamie Carragher is booked for wearing a boring shirt<\/p>\n

Umbro were basically checking out by this point. This represented a low point of the lazy white-polo-shirt-with-an-England-badge-that\u2019ll-be-60-quid-please era, and it was made worse by the Umbro badge being in red rather than blue. Red is a very correct accent colour on an England shirt, but it should almost always be the third colour behind navy blue. It can absolutely, in the right circumstances, be used for the namesets, but again, we really do need to see some navy somewhere before we\u2019re going to allow that. These here were not the right circumstances.<\/p>\n

The very similar shirt Umbro released for the Women\u2019s World Cup the following year was no less lazy, but did have the Umbro badge in blue and looked far better for this minor but vital tweak.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

9) World Cup 2022<\/p>\n

\"Harry<\/p>\n

Harry Kane in action at the 2022 World Cup<\/p>\n

There is a strong case that sky blue belongs only on an England goalkeeper or third shirt, but there is precedent from Euro 96 and we\u2019re happy to allow it. But only if used judiciously and carefully. Had that light blue been restricted to the sleeve cuffs, all would be well. Even the little flashes at the hem were okay.<\/p>\n

But those shoulders are an absolute nightmare. Far too much blue and also far too many blues. All of the blues are here.<\/p>\n

England shirts can \u2013 nay, must \u2013 have blue detailing but they absolutely must not have blue sleeves or shoulders and it\u2019s genuinely staggering that Nike apparently needed to be told this again after the 2016 debacle.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

8) World Cup 2014<\/p>\n

\"Frank<\/p>\n

Frank Lampard at the 2014 World Cup<\/p>\n

A forgettable World Cup for England in a suitably forgettable first tournament effort from Nike. It was probably wise to go for a subdued, plain opening attempt but if anything, Clive, they might have done that too well. We\u2019d wager with some confidence that this is the least memorable England kit on this entire list. Kits can be memorable for reasons both good and bad, of course, but it\u2019s usually preferable to being forgettable. It\u2019s not like with referees.<\/p>\n

The problem as ever with a nearly entirely plain white England shirt is that no matter how many design hours have gone into every element, the end result just looks lazy. The white-on-white shield for the Three Lions doesn\u2019t quite work, either, and what little blue there is here is insufficiently dark. Apparently it\u2019s not royal blue but is in fact \u2018sport royal\u2019 which we\u2019re sure is very different in important ways we quite simply do not care to understand.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

7) World Cup 2018<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

World Cup despair for Stones, Dier and Dele<\/p>\n

Offensively bland. The Ed Sheeran of England shirts. We can\u2019t even be bothered to talk about it. Thank heavens England didn\u2019t actually win the thing wearing this. It would have been mortifying.<\/p>\n

READ: England\u2019s 2018 World Cup: Rating all the players<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

6) World Cup 2006<\/p>\n

\"England<\/p>\n

England at the 2006 World Cup<\/p>\n

The red cross on the right shoulder instantly transports us back to Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo and miserably inept penalties. None of that is really the shirt\u2019s fault if we\u2019re honest, and we must try to remain objective here.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s okay, this one. Bit of asymmetry is always a gamble on a football shirt but a welcome one and in all our kit rankings we will generally come down harsher on kits that are too plain rather than those that are too busy. We have slightly different feelings about national team home shirts in this regard, with purity given greater weight, but a stylised nod to the country\u2019s literal flag cannot be inherently a bad thing unless you\u2019ve got 15 of them on your house and four on your car or \u2013 heaven forbid \u2013 you get remotely playful with the colour scheme.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also just enough navy knocking about on this one to justify the red. That piping at the hem of the shirt? Absolutely key.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

5) Euro 2004<\/p>\n

\"Frank<\/p>\n

Frank Lampard celebrates a goal against France<\/p>\n

A tournament when all things seemed possible and England had a solid kit. Really, this kit should evoke instant thoughts of a young Wayne Rooney tearing it up but for some reason when we see it our first thought is always of Frank Lampard. Not sure what that says about us, but we\u2019re certain it\u2019s not good. Now we\u2019ve stuck a great big picture of him there too, so you\u2019ll have the same wrongheaded thoughts.<\/p>\n

Lampard in the 11\u00a0 to accommodate Paul Scholes in 8 with Steven Gerrard wearing number 4 really does also feel like it\u2019s a pretty perfect encapsulation of England\u2019s problems squishing all three of those very excellent players into the same team. We\u2019re on a tangent here. Let\u2019s get back on track lest we accidentally reopen that old debate, which nobody wants.<\/p>\n

If we were minded to nit-pick we might question the red:blue ratio here but that\u2019d be quite wrong of us. This shirt is a good reminder that design rules are always there to be broken if you know what you\u2019re doing and understand the risks. Sure, \u2018white, blue, red \u2013 in that order\u2019 is the standard but there\u2019s no denying the red sits well here. The gamble with the red does pay off, but also makes the safety-first blue namesets a judicious bit of decision-making. Balances it out nicely, does that.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

4) Euro 2020<\/p>\n

\"Raheem<\/p>\n

Raheem Sterling celebrates in a good kit<\/p>\n

More than a hint of Euro 88 about the red pinstripe on navy background for the collar. The red on blue details certainly fit our preference for colour priority and the amount of blue on display makes red an obvious and correct nameset choice in this instance.<\/p>\n

But the stacking of England badge on top of Nike badge on top of shirt number looks odder and odder the more we look at it. We can\u2019t remember being this bothered by that at the time, and now we\u2019re judging ourselves quite harshly because now it just looks seriously amiss. A shame, because everything else here is tip-top.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

3) World Cup 2002<\/p>\n

\"England<\/p>\n

The Golden Generation in a Golden (not literally) kit<\/p>\n

A bold and risky triumph, that takes just enough of a gamble to stand out but knows to play safe with the rest of the design having made its point. The asymmetric red stripe behind the badge pays off handsomely, with the solid amounts of lovely navy trim and piping to be found all around the place meaning a more than acceptable balance of the three colours is achieved.<\/p>\n

A simple white and navy v-neck was a perfect collar choice here; anything fussier would\u2019ve been too busy and undoubtedly interfered with that red feature element.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d make a strong argument for the overall kit package at 2002 being England\u2019s best of the 21st\u00a0century by quite a long way, because the red away kit was another absolute triumph, with the England flag subtly incorporated into the collar and cuffs.<\/p>\n

England\u2019s away kit should always be red, of course, which is just yet another obvious point of principle that we\u2019ve allowed to become eroded because we simply are not anywhere near French enough about taking to the streets in the face of this kind of arrant nonsense.<\/p>\n

You want to make a blue England kit? You go right ahead and we\u2019ll all agree it\u2019s a third kit. But you will never take away our red away kits. Is what we should have insisted, but no, we\u2019re too bloody meek aren\u2019t we?<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s apparently acceptable to alternate between red and blue away kits because absolutely nothing is sacred in this godforsaken age.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

2) Euro 2024<\/p>\n

An instant classic.<\/p>\n

The brand new @nikefootball<\/a> England kits will worn by our #ThreeLions<\/a>, @Lionesses<\/a> and Para Teams in 2024. pic.twitter.com\/n56xcwqY0e<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 England (@England) March 18, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

Long overdue lovely stuff, was this. For the first time, Nike landed in the precise sweet spot between too plain and too busy, producing a shirt that had just the right amount of navy accents and a very acceptable dash of red that nevertheless stops well short of veering towards the Bolton.<\/p>\n

It occurs to us that this might be the definitive guide to a proper good England shirt. It needs to have enough navy to look like it might be a Spurs shirt, enough red to not look like a Spurs shirt, but not so much red that it looks like a Bolton shirt. There you go, Nike. There\u2019s your blueprint for the rest of time. Invoice enclosed etc.<\/p>\n

The collar is a gamble. Not because of the flag \u2013 let\u2019s be honest, the St George cross is long overdue for some zhuzh-ing up, isn\u2019t it? Rather because it looks a bit like they couldn\u2019t decide between a full collar and a v-neck and ended up doing both and neither. Somehow, though, this horse designed by committee has produced a very handsome camel indeed. And unlike far too many recent England shirts it is also unashamedly a football shirt rather than something overtly and irritatingly designed with polo shirt wear-it-with-jeans-to-the-pub thoughts in mind. Some will feel the navy side panels are too much, but f*** those fools, they\u2019re wrong.<\/p>\n

One minor quibble: we wish England would stop being ashamed of their one World Cup star. Stop making it white on white. There are a great many countries who would be enormously proud to have a single World Cup star on their shirts. It\u2019s not like we don\u2019t enjoy banging endlessly on about 1966, so this faux modesty can do one.<\/p>\n

Read next:\u00a0Other nations would never stand for what Nike have done with England kit\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

1) World Cup 2026<\/p>\n

The new England men’s home and away kits.<\/p>\n

Available now \ud83d\ude0d\ud83d\udc47<\/p>\n

\u2014 England (@England) March 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Excellent, this. All the things that were right about the Euro 2024 kit are still right about this, which is again an unapologetic football top and so much better for it.<\/p>\n

And we\u2019re absolutely delighted to report all our Euro 2024 feedback being acted upon by the lads up there at the FA and Nike. Good to know we have your ear, gents. It\u2019s taken them a long old time to get there, but Nike really have hit on some form in the last couple of tournament cycles.<\/p>\n

First big plus: a proud golden World Cup star. Damn straight. We\u2019d all like another one on there \u2013 Thomas Tuchel has spoken specifically about achieving this<\/a> \u2013 but that doesn\u2019t mean we shouldn\u2019t celebrate the one we do have. As we\u2019ve already noted, it was unconvincing false modesty anyway given how much we love banging on about 1966 and all that.<\/p>\n

The rest of the shirt? Almost spot on, in our view. You really couldn\u2019t ask for a better example of the blueprint we stumbled upon two years ago. You\u2019ve enough navy here to hint at Spurs, enough red to take that away, but avoiding the Bolton trap. The biggest test of \u2018is this Bolton?\u2019 actually for us ends up being the navy piping at the shoulder but we think they\u2019ve just about got away with it.<\/p>\n

Lovely balance of the correct three colours at the collar and cuffs, and the red-with-blue-piping side detail could not have been better handled. The little bit of triangular business under the round collar might have annoyed us but we\u2019re happy to report it does not.<\/p>\n

The increased visibility of the red side detailing when viewed from the back might have tempted us to go with a blue nameset but it\u2019s a very minor quibble indeed. And the smaller front-of-shirt number absolutely looks right in navy-trimmed red so we\u2019re fine with it in the round.<\/p>\n

We really have only one concern at this stage. We like the collar very much, but in some of the pictures we\u2019ve seen \u2013 and thus modelled by professional athletes with professional athletes\u2019 bodies \u2013 that collar looks like it might err on the side of the baggy. It has a slightly loose look on the neck of even a Harry Kane that just ever so slightly detracts from the overall vibe. Good chance we\u2019re fretting about nothing here, but it\u2019ll be a shame if it makes official 90-quid replicas look a little bit like \u00a313 fakes from those sites none of us know about.<\/p>\n

We currently, if anything, slightly prefer the more geometrically bold collar choice on the away shirt. Although we do accept that would be a bigger risk on a home shirt and also reserve the right to completely abandon this opinion and insist we never held it at all.<\/p>\n