The latest shirt designs for countries competing in the FIFA World Cup finals appear to be firmly focused on throwing it back to bygone periods, ahead of a winter competition that is set to be unlike any prior editions of the tournament.
Shirt designers are clearly expecting that fan demand for classic jerseys will convert into demand for strips from this year’s finals, which begin in November.
All of the new designs have been created by Puma, who describe their approach as “bold, modern interpretations on nostalgic vibes and football nostalgia,” emphasizing the influence of the past.
Let’s take a look at the shirts that players like Sadio Mane, Granit Xhaka, and Luis Suarez will be wearing when they compete in football’s biggest tournament.
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New team uniforms have been confirmed for the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Ghana
The Black Stars have qualified for every World Cup except 2018 since their debut in Germany in 2006.
Their new shirt is white with red, yellow, and green trim around the sleeves, and is characterized as “old-school Ghana chic.”
The Ghana Football Association logo is to the left of the Black Star, and the shirt has an open collar.
Even the ball in the FA’s emblem has an old-school vibe to it, like the beloved Telstar World Cup balls made between 1970 and 1998.
Leicester City defender Daniel Amartey and Crystal Palace attacker Jordan Ayew are two Premier League players who are set to be among the most well-known members of Ghana’s side donning the shirt.
Morocco
Morocco hasn’t won a game at the World Cup since 1998, and their new home uniform pays homage to the team who won their first World Cup in 12 years in France in 1998.
The Puma emblem is in the center of the shirt, bordered by two dark green blocks, which are also used at the bottom of the sleeves.
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation logo is to the left of centre on a shirt reflecting the colours of the country’s flag.
Captain Romain Saiss, who plays for Premier League side Wolves, will be among the players likely to be modelling the new number.
Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi is the obvious superstar in a Morocco squad led by former PSG boss Vahid Halilhodzic.
Senegal
Puma are back in the 21st century for this shirt, recalling the 2002 finals in Japan and South Korea, when Senegal stunned the world.
As the world and European champions at the time, France were expected to see off Senegal in the opening match, but Papa Bouba Diop, whose death at the end of 2020 was mourned by the football world, scored the only goal of the game to start the finals off with a seismic upset.
Senegal’s new shirt features red, yellow and green around the base of the sleeves and its hooped neck.
This will be Senegal’s new 2022 home kit for the World Cup.
#WorldCup pic.twitter.com/gtyXvdcPhJ — Abraham Adamson (@AdamsonAbraham) May 30, 2022
The lion of the Senegalese Football Federation is on the left of the shirt, with the green star in the middle and Puma’s logo to the right against a backdrop of the national colours.
Bouba Diop went on to score twice against Uruguay for a Senegal side who beat Sweden in the round of 16, only being knocked out by a 94th-minute Turkey winner in the quarterfinals.
The current crop of Senegal stars are Africa Cup of Nations champions and have the likes of Liverpool hotshot Sadio Mane in their ranks. We’ll be seeing this shirt in the latter stages of the finals if they can progress from a group containing Qatar, Ecuador and the Netherlands.
Switzerland
The 14th-ranked team in the world have a tricky-looking finals group involving Brazil, Cameroon and Serbia, and they’ll be trying to advance to the knockout phase at a third successive tournament in a shirt Puma says is another example of “bringing back and rejuvenating old classics”.
White stripes descend in a gradient effect to the collarbone in the only major design element of a look the manufacturers acknowledge as a “straightforward home shirt”.
The new Switzerland shirt reminds me of their 1996 shirt with the white fade on the shoulders… But otherwise it’s pretty bland. pic.twitter.com/GO55xqJIup — Pedro Almeida (@ThePedronator) May 30, 2022
Puma’s logo is in the centre, with the Swiss Football Association logo to its right and the cross of the national flag on the left.
Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka, who captains Switzerland, is among the players we can expect to see wearing the shirt in Qatar.
Swiss players representing their country at the 2022 Women’s EURO have been among the first to model the new shirt.
MORE: FIFA World Cup: Which teams have qualified to Qatar 2022? Full list of all 32 nations
Uruguay
Luis Suarez has been among the first players seen in the new Uruguay shirt, which features a collar with a button on the most retro design of them all so far.
Uruguay arguably have more reason to look back than most nations in football: they finished as unbeaten World Cup winners in 1930 and 1950 and are recognised to have won the tournament four times because they were world champions in 1924 and 1928.
The gold, blue and white crest of the Uruguayan Football Association is centred to the left, with Puma’s logo to the right and a white trim on the collar and sleeves.
The team’s nickname, ‘La Celeste’, is also woven into a shirt that will be worn by Suarez and his teammates when their country takes part in a fourth successive finals.
Rival Puma purveyors Ghana are in Uruguay’s entertaining-looking group alongside Portugal and South Korea.
