Once upon a time, fashion and football were on opposing teams. Footballers who took risks with their style were ridiculed, and high fashion brands actively avoided being associated with the beautiful game due to the risk of bringing the house into disrepute – lest we forget, Burberry’s trademark Nova Check was once banned from pubs around the United Kingdom because it had become too closely associated with hooliganism. Skip to 2026, and the Spanish national team are touching down at this year’s World Cup tournament in head-to-toe Loewe, while the Uruguay players are strutting around in suits by Gabriela Hearst.

Then there are the kits. In the four years since the last World Cup, “fashion” football jerseys have become an industry in their own right. The stakes are higher for the World Cup 2026 kits – everyone’s a critic, and rolling out a same-but-different model as previous years will no longer suffice. The best kits utilise the country’s history and symbolism, or draw upon a particularly beloved style from years gone by. Flag colours simply won’t cut the mustard. From the inside pages of a passport to collaborations with local designers, read on for our 13 favourite World Cup 2026 kits.

13. SWITZERLAND AWAY, PUMA

You don’t need elite ball knowledge to know that football teams’ second and third kits are famously more fun. Designers are less anchored to traditional colour schemes, giving them a chance to play around with fresh concepts. This is certainly the case with Switzerland’s Away kit for the World Cup 2026, which is designed to resemble the inside pages of a Swiss national’s passport. To make things even better, the shirt is UV-reactive, so it glows in the dark like an actual passport. Think of it as the Switzerland Men’s team’s Manus x Machina moment.

12. SWEDEN AWAY, ADIDAS

A lot of kits are drawing on the 90s right now, but Sweden has dared to throw it back as far as the 70s, with a circular pattern that looks part carpet, part curtain (complimentary). The 1970s were huge for Sweden: the country witnessed the rise of ABBA, the legalisation of free abortion and the reclassification of homosexuality so that it was no longer considered an illness. Woohoo!

11. ALGERIA AWAY, ADIDAS

A collarless kit is an oddly bold choice in football right now, when vintage and retro kits (often featuring colourblock, prominent collars) are all the rage. But there’s something about Algeria’s two-tone green shirt that is enhanced by a lack of collar, the neckline instead spliced with a small red triangle. What’s more, the body of the shirt features barely visible vertical stripes, which enhance a relatively pared-back kit. The devil’s in the details for this one.

10. SENEGAL HOME, PUMA

Senegal’s home jersey, as seen on the backs of top players Sadio Mané and Idrissa Gueye, pays homage to the hand-painted “car rapides” (fast buses) that define the streets of Dakar. The colourful buses, typically decorated in geometric patterns and religious iconography, have become a beloved symbol of Senegalese identity. Running day and night, they are one of the cheapest methods of transport around the city. They’re also currently at risk of being phased out, adding an extra level of meaning to the country’s kit.

9. CURAÇAO AWAY, ADIDAS

The pleasing pastel yellow of Curaçao’s away kit is a direct reference to the waterfront buildings of the Dutch-Caribbean country’s capital, Willemstad. The properties can be found in the Punda and Otrobanda districts, which are registered UNESCO heritage sites. The three stripes on the sleeve also represent the multicoloured buildings, while the deep blue stripe on the collar and cuffs references the country’s flag colours and the southern Caribbean sea that surrounds Willemstad.

8. FRANCE HOME, NIKE

You can always trust Les Bleus to pull up looking chic, on and off the pitch. In case you didn’t know, the French national team’s arrival at international training camp Clairefontaine has become a de facto catwalk, with players sporting full Chanel looks or carrying oversized Birkins in place of kitbags. And the France 2026 World Cup jersey is as good as you can expect from a country’s first kit. The body of the shirt is dominated by an understated zigzag print that forms the letters “FFF”, for Fédération Française de Football. It’s complemented by red and gold detailing on the Swoosh, neckline, and logo, plus a white contrast collar – the same kind they sported back in 1998 when they won their first World Cup. Bon chance!

7. MOROCCO AWAY, PUMA

The white and gold pattern of Morocco’s World Cup 2026 away kit is reminiscent of the zellij patterns often seen on Moroccan tiles. Rooted in Islamic geometric art, the tessellations are supposed to represent divine order. There’s also some low-key red and green detailing, drawing on the colours of Morocco’s flag.

6. ARGENTINA AWAY, ADIDAS

Reigning World Cup champions Argentina arrived at the competition with one of the hardest shirts in the game. The black and blue shirt swirling pattern is inspired by Fileteado – a kind of Argentinian street art and calligraphy seen on the streets of Buenos Aires. It’s also one of the favourites of Sam Handy, General Manager of Adidas Football, who told Versus: “This is going to be a cultural artefact that people hand down through generations. Who knows, they might win it.”

5. NORWAY HOME, NIKE

Okay, I know we said flag colours wouldn’t cut the mustard, but it turns out stamping your entire flag across a football shirt actually looks amazing – at least if you’re Norway, that is. Erling Haaland, Martin Ødegaard et al have been running about in this colour-block creation, which simply features the country’s bright red and navy flag and little else. If ain’t broke...

4. MEXICO HOME, ADIDAS

All the chatter about America’s influence in the run-up to this year’s World Cup made it easy to forget about co-hosts Canada and Mexico. That was until Mexico bagged the first win of the tournament, all the while wearing a brilliant jersey. The forest green and scarlet shirt features a shadow pattern of the Aztec Piedra del Sol calendar, famous for its intricate cosmological and astronomical carvings. Instead of the traditional central sun, the shirt is stamped with a swooping eagle, part of the coat of arms of Mexico. It’s also a reference to the country’s beloved 1998 kit, which was the first jersey in the country’s World Cup history to pay homage to the country’s pre-Hispanic indigenous culture.

3. JAPAN AWAY, ADIDAS

One of the most minimalist kits of the season is Japan’s quietly multicoloured away kit, which was designed by Adidas in collaboration with Yohji Yamamoto (so it was always going to be good). The kit includes 12 different coloured vertical stripes on a beige base. It’s supposed to represent each of the team’s eleven players, plus an extra stripe for the fans. Cute.

2. SOUTH KOREA AWAY, NIKE

The 2026 South Korea away shirt utilises an underused colour in football kits – purple. Both the home and away kits are impressive, and they’re best understood as a pair. The red home kit features a tiger stripe pattern, drawing on the local legend of the white tiger, a symbol of strength, protection and courage. The away kit, by comparison, features a more gentle floral motif, which is a very unexpected source of inspiration in the football world. Florals for football? Genuinely kind of groundbreaking. Baby steps, guys, baby steps.

1. GHANA HOME, PUMA

Ghana’s 2026 home jersey features the flag’s central black star with a multicoloured pattern stretching out from its points, forming a cobweb pattern, possibly one of the coolest football strips we’ve ever seen. The web is a reference to Ananse, a spider character in Akan folklore who symbolises wisdom, knowledge, and trickery. Ghana have been prevented from wearing the jersey in the tournament’s group stages due to colour clashes, meaning it will make its proper pitch debut if they qualify for the knockouts.