The Italian national football team is among the most decorated national teams of all time. Of course, being unable to have qualified for the last two World Cups might’ve hindered their reputation, but there is no doubting the rich history behind the Azzurri.
Italy have won four World Cup titles and multiple European Championships too, being revered for their iconic defensive football. The Italian national team also has a memorable history with German kit manufacturers as well.
Since they started getting sponsored by shirt manufacturing companies, the majority of their time has seen them represented by German brands.
While their short-lived partnership with Italian brand Kappa produced some beautiful kits, the Italian team has been sponsored by the German brand Puma since 2002.
Puma designed their kits for the memorable 20006 World Cup and Euro 2020 campaigns, helping create an identity with their deep blue kits. Italy’s kits in recent years have been with a planned design, not being too fashionable by having a slick look to it as well.
However, earlier this year, Puma announced that they would be ending their near two-decade partnership with the Italian team.
The Italy Football Association (FA) soon struck up a deal with their rivals Adidas, who has become a popular option among major European sides over the last decade or so.
The thing about Adidas’ kit designs is that they can be really hit-and-miss. While some of them can look really innovative and new, some have a really bland and boring feel to them as well – which has earned the brand a lot of criticism over the last few years from fans.
A new version of what might be Adidas’ first design for the Italy kit from 2023 has been leaked and it appears to have a stonewashed pattern. The shirt has the vintage blue colors of the Azzurri, having a dark blue colour dominating it with a slight light blue shade to it as well.
🚨 Italy x Adidas 🚨
Have we just seen the first new Italy shirt by adidas on sale early??! 🇮🇹
The leaked kit has an old-school vibe to it, but it has attained divisive reactions from its supporters.
A lot of fans don’t really like the look of the first Adidas X Italy shirt. Adidas are being accused of not giving enough effort into making their first design for the iconic international team as good as they can.
The stripes on the shoulder level being white has also irked some, with fans wanting to see the national team colors replacing it.
Looks like a Bosnia/Greece/Leicester shirt with deodorant stains on it. They obviously thought it was too obvious going with the tricolore but I’m not sure whether that would have even helped it
It remains to be seen if Adidas make any changes to the kit before releasing it in 2023, but it’s safe to say that fans probably won’t gobble up this design as much as Adidas would’ve hoped for.
