The most iconic World Cup shirts - and what makes them the best

There are those who say that life can be told in World Cups. Editions that arrive every four years and end up marking entire stages of life, from enchanted childhood to adolescence, and so on. There are memories of favorite teams, football idols and the iconic shirts they wore.
It is these shirts that we are going to talk about here. Uniforms that carry stories. Pieces that cross generations. But what makes a shirt remain so vivid in the memory of football?
Matthew Wolff gained global recognition with Nigeria's shirts in the 2018 World Cup, which quickly became a rage, and also with the uniforms of World Cup champion France.
The American designer has already designed uniforms for the French team Paris Saint-Germain, teams from Major League Soccer and the National Women's Soccer League, as well as Vermont Green, the club he helped create in the United Soccer League. In other words, he knows this universe up close.
"Most of my favorite football shirts come from childhood, the 1990s and early 2000s", says Wolff. "It's that phase where the players look like superheroes and the uniforms have that magical aura."
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"Mexico in 1998, the USA in 1994, Germany in 1990 and 1994, Japan in 1998, the 2002 Nike collection and even the sleeveless shirt from Cameroon that year. These uniforms are marked in my memory because, when I was a boy, they looked like huge, grandiose. [...] A shirt also becomes iconic because of the history lived on the field. And time ends up changing the way we see and value a football uniform."
Japan and Mexico at the 1998 World Cup, in split imageCredit, Getty Images
Photo caption,Japan and Mexico wore some of the most striking uniforms at the 1998 World Cup, held in France
Wolff, in France However, he thinks that nowadays it is much more difficult for a shirt to achieve "iconic" status.
"The scenario has changed, and the global market has become saturated", he says.
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"There are too many teams and too many releases, both from clubs and national teams, which makes it really difficult for a shirt to stand out. [...] On the one hand, it's interesting to see the culture and visual identity of different countries appear in the design of uniforms. But this also gives rise to discussions about consumerism, about the extent to which there is an authentic cultural expression or just more a product following the fast pace of the industry."
The 10 most iconic shirts in World Cup history
With that in mind, it's time to look back. And every memory of football shirts tends to be filled with nostalgia, those hazy childhood memories seen through a golden filter.
It would be easy to delve into the explosion of prints and loose shapes of the 1990s and early 2000s, or the uniforms of the late 1980s that ended up coming back into fashion as casual pieces. heat, we defined some rules: only one shirt per World Cup and one per country.
10. Cameroon (home uniform), 2002
Cameroon players celebrate by wearing a sleeveless shirt at the 2002 Africa Cup of NationsCredit, Getty Images
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This choice is controversial: the shirt was not even used in a World Cup. Perhaps that is precisely why it has become so striking.
The Cameroon team debuted the sleeveless model at the African Cup of Nations, but FIFA did not allow the uniform to be maintained for the 2002 World Cup.
"Everyone in Africa wanted that shirt", recalled former midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba in an interview with BBC Sport Africa.
The impact went beyond football. That same summer, tennis player Serena Williams appeared at Roland Garros with a look inspired by the banned uniform - although the organizers rejected the request to include her lucky number, 26, on the back.
When the World Cup began, in Japan and South Korea, Puma had already been forced to modify the model and add sleeves.
But this would not be the last time that Cameroon's uniforms would provoke friction with FIFA. Two years later, the entity also vetoed a one-piece model created by the team, in which the shirt and shorts formed a single piece.
Photo of the Cameroon team at the 2002 World CupCredit, Getty Images
9. England (reserve or away uniform), 1966
Bobby Moore lifts the World Cup trophy in 1966Credit, Getty Images
A shirt that is impossible to confuse - and one that will certainly appear at barbecues and outdoor tables in pubs across England this summer.
The red Three Lions shirt of the English national team has become iconic for what it represents: the country's only world title, won at home at Wembley Stadium, with the historic hat-trick (when a player scores three goals in the same match) by Geoff Hurst and the goal that to this day generates debate about whether or not it crossed the line.
The image that immediately comes to mind is that of Bobby Moore lifting the Jules Rimet cup on the shoulders of his teammates.
The 1982 and 1990 models, shown below, were also in contention for a place on this list. But, if there is only room for one English shirt on this list, it would hardly be another.
England shirts from the 1986 and 1990 World CupsCredit, Getty Images
8. France (home uniform), 1982
Jean Tigana and Gérard Janvion, from FranceCredit, Getty Images
"It was the most beautiful game of my life. No film or play could reproduce so many emotions and contradictions. It had everything. It was extraordinary", said French captain Michel Platini when recalling France's defeat to West Germany in the semi-final of the 1982 World Cup.
The match went down in history for several reasons: the goalkeeper's brutal tackle Harald Schumacher on Patrick Battiston, the 3-3 draw after extra time and the first penalty shootout in World Cup history.
In the sweltering heat of Seville (Spain), France looked effortlessly elegant, and that blue shirt helped transform the kit into an eternal classic.
7. Netherlands (home uniform), 1974
Johan CruyffCredit,Getty Images
Rebellious, obstinate and naturally charismatic. Johan Cruyff became the great symbol of the "Total Football" revolution in the Netherlands.
By the time he reached the 1974 World Cup, Cruyff had already won three European Cups with Ajax and won the Ballon d'Or twice. But it was at that World Cup that he had the most famous moment of his career.
The "Cruyff spin" was born in the match in which the Netherlands faced Sweden, in Dortmund (Germany). In that game, he entered the field wearing a different shirt than his teammates, which displayed the traditional three Adidas stripes on the sleeves.
Cruyff was sponsored by Puma and already refused to wear the competitor's boots. After a dispute between brands, players and directors of the Dutch federation, it was decided that his shirt would only have two stripes.
"The federation signed a contract with Adidas without consulting the players", wrote Cruyff in his autobiography. "They thought they didn't need to ask because it was their shirt. But I said, 'I'm the one inside it.'"
6. Croatia (home uniform), 1998
Photo of the Croatia team at the 1998 World CupCredit,Getty Images
Davor Suker, 1998 World Cup in France, wearing the famous red and white checks spread across his shoulders. Imposing. The design reproduced Croatia's national coat of arms and made the team immediately recognized on the field.
Croatia had already impressed in the 1996 Euro Cup, and also wore a beautiful uniform in that tournament, but the 1998 World Cup carried a special meaning for the country: it was the first World Cup played since independence, declared seven years earlier.
Suker, alongside names like Robert Jarni, Zvonimir Boban and Robert Prosinecki, led Croatia to the semi-final. Against hosts France, the Real Madrid striker opened the scoring before Lilian Thuram's comeback.
Then, wearing an equally striking blue kit, Croatia defeated the Netherlands to finish the World Cup in third place.
Davor Suker celebratesCredit, Getty Images
5. Nigeria (home kit), 2018
Ahmed Musa celebrates for NigeriaCredit, Getty Images
Nigeria's 2018 World Cup shirt became a rare phenomenon: it became instantly iconic not because of the team's performance on the field, but because of the impact it had on pop culture and the world of fashion.
Three million people reserved the kit before it was even released, and queues formed outside the main Nike store in London on the day of its debut. sales.
"We looked for references in the history of Nigeria's uniforms", says designer Matthew Wolff. "The 2002 shirt served as inspiration, I wanted to bring back that striking green. And we also looked a lot at the 1994 and 1995 uniform."
"The idea was not to invent something completely new, but to work on elements that already existed in the country's football identity."
According to Wolff, the timing also helped. "Nigeria was experiencing a moment of enormous cultural projection in fashion, music, art, poetry and cinema. The uniform appeared exactly in the middle of it all."
And he adds: "The credit goes to the entire Nike team that participated in the project. A shirt does not become a phenomenon because of a single designer. This happens when a lot of people do careful and well thought out work."
4. Brazil (home uniform), 1970
Brazilian team at the 1970 World CupCredit, Getty Images
Perhaps no team is as linked to a color as Brazil is to yellow.
Even in old, grainy images, the canary yellow shirts from 1970 are still vibrant and striking. They were perfect for a team that enchanted the world under the Mexican sun.
Pelé, Carlos Alberto, Rivellino, Jairzinho. The images of that team reappear at each World Cup and help to immortalize the victory over Italy at the Azteca stadium, in Mexico.
At the center of this memory is precisely the simplicity of the Brazilian shirt, a uniform that ended up becoming a permanent symbol of football.
3. United States (reserve or away uniform), 1994
United States reserve shirt in the 1994 World CupCredit, Getty Images
"Outside the United States, many people looked at that World Cup with suspicion. There were those who asked how a country with no football tradition could organize a World Cup", recalls Alan Rothenberg, former president of the American federation, about the choice of the USA to host the 1994 World Cup.
That's why, when Adidas presented the uniforms for the 1994 World Cup, Alexi Lalas and his teammates thought it could only be a joke.
What the players, many of them linked directly to the American federation, and not to professional clubs, most wanted to avoid was becoming a reason for joke.
But, when Adidas revealed the tournament's uniforms, defender Alexi Lalas and his teammates thought it could only be a prank.
The giant stars spread over a background that imitated faded jeans were typical of the USA, but they seemed too exaggerated for football. The team feared becoming a laughingstock. The USA's campaign in that World Cup also helped: the team was only eliminated in the round of 16, against Brazil, who would end up champion of the tournament.
Perhaps the presence of this shirt in the top three was influenced by the fact that the World Cup returned to the USA this summer. 1986
Diego Maradon celebrates against EnglandCredit,Getty Images
Argentina's victory over England in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup went down in history for two of the most famous goals of all time: Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" and the mesmerizing sprint in which he crossed the field from midfield to score.
But the story of the shirt worn by the Argentines in that game is almost as memorable as the match.
FIFA ruled that Argentina would have to wear their dark blue away kit to avoid confusion with England's white shirt. But, in a previous victory over Uruguay, players complained that the model was too heavy and stuffy for Mexico's sweltering heat.
As supplier Le Coq Sportif had no other option available, the story goes that coach Carlos Bilardo sent members of the coaching staff to the Tepito neighborhood in Mexico City, famous for its football. trade in counterfeit products, to look for new shirts.
It is said that Maradona gave the final word on the chosen models and released a sentence that ended up going down in history:
"That shirt is beautiful, Carlos. With it we will beat the English."
In the 24 hours before the match, team employees spent the night sewing numbers and the Argentine shield on the shirts.
Thirty-six years later, English midfielder Steve Hodge put up for auction the shirt he exchanged with Maradona in that game. It was sold for 7.1 million pounds (about R$48 million).
Argentina team in the 1986 World CupCredit, Getty Images
West Germany (home kit), 1990
Germany team line-up 1990Credit, Getty Images
At the top of the list is a classic of sports design: West Germany's 1990 World Cup shirt, coveted by collectors and often cited as the precursor to a new generation of football kits.
"You have to look at it within the context of the time. Until then, shirts tended to be very simple," explained John Blair, author of the book A Culture of Kits, to the BBC World Service's Sporting Witness program. It had debuted at the 1988 Euro Cup, when West Germany, the tournament's hosts, fell in the semi-final.
Designer Ina Franzmann was already working on a new model when coach Franz Beckenbauer intervened and asked that the original shirt be kept.
Franzmann, who also designed tennis clothes for Adidas and didn't even follow football closely, was tasked with creating "a small revolution" for the German national team.
"It was the Horst Dassler himself, son of the founder Adolf Dassler, who suggested adding more color to the uniform. So it made sense to use Germany's colors", she said.
Dassler died in 1987 and did not get to see West Germany win the World Cup or attract attention in Italy in 1990. For Franzmann, that moment was important, but true recognition would only come decades later.
"The shirt became a masterpiece years later", she said. "I'm very proud of the interest it arouses today. Everyone wants to know the story behind it."

Source: G1