Roshan Nayak

Adidas Plays It Too Safe with Hungary’s 125th Anniversary Kit

Adidas, Football Kits, Hungary National Football Team

At the beginning of this week, Adidas, in collaboration with Hungary, unveiled their 125th anniversary home kit. The kit was unveiled with the usual Hungarian colours with the shirt’s base as red with white stripes on the shoulders and white as the short’s base with red stripes. It includes a special jubilee logo to mark the 125th anniversary of the Federation.

Although unconfirmed, but it is anticipated that the kit will be worn by the Hungarian National Football Team if they qualify for the 2026 World Cup as Adidas had unveiled this kit alongside the kits of other International Federations for the 2026 World Cup. It also remains to be seen whether the Hungarian players will be wearing this home kit when they play against Ireland at the Puskas Arena later next week.

As soon as these kits went viral on social media, the fans, obviously, reacted to all of them. But this specific kit of Hungary stood out, albeit for the wrong reasons.

In what was supposed to be the 125th anniversary of the Hungarian Football Federation, the kit should have simply been more, let alone for these designs. After all, they (Hungary) were celebrating their 125 years of football in the country.

And after all, we are talking about Hungary. A country where names like, Puskás, Kocsis, Bozsik, Hidegkuti, and the rest of Hungary’s Golden Team from the early 1950s are not only stories, they are the names for how football was played back in those days. Hungary’s sequences and results from 1950 to 1956 transformed the way people thought about tactics all around Europe and beyond. That legacy isn’t just good for nothing, it’s what makes the country’s jersey more than just the fabric. Hungarian fans have a lot of memories of the Puskás period.

Puskas was largely regarded as Europe’s most powerful and prolific first-division forward. He scored 806 goals in 793 games, including 86 national team goals in 90 games, which was a world record at that time.

In fact, there is also an award known as the “Puskas Award” given by FIFA to the player who has scored the most aesthetically pleasing, or in simple words, the “most beautiful” goal of the calendar year. It was first established in 2009 and the first ever winner to receive that award was none other than, Cristiano Ronaldo. Other notable names to receive this award include; Neymar (in 2011), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (in 2013), James Rodriguez (in 2014), Mohamed Salah (in 2018), etc.

Maybe, Adidas should have done something more around Hungary’s most renowned player of all time and the kit-makers at Adidas should have embroidered the jersey keeping in mind about his legacy and how highly respected and cherished he was for the Hungarians. That then, of course, would’ve made the Hungarian fans more leaned towards the jersey and it would’ve also been a perfect moment to celebrate these 125 long years of Hungarian football history.

Adidas did release the kit, but it looked like not much thought had gone into making the kit. The designs looked simple, the detailing is very basic and there is not anything much to look into the kit.

It looked more like a normal modern Adidas jersey, the ones which we refer to as “concept jerseys”, and as a result, they received a lot of backlash, which one could say, was deserved.

Hungary’s kits have, for long, been very similar. Early international kits were unbranded, straightforward, and made by hand. For the most of the 20th century, the Hungarian kit ideology was red shirts, white shorts, and green highlights inspired by their flag. Even today, it is almost the same but the only difference is that it is now being made by the best, reputable kit-makers of the world.

But on this occasion, I think it would be fair to say that Adidas did disappoint the “football kits buffs” around the world. They do tend to make aesthetically pleasing kits for club football teams and they haven’t also had much complaints in recent years about the International kits either, but this should have been something worthy of.


Hungary’s present-day team haven’t lived much up to the expectations of that legacy of the 1950’s but, under Italian coach Marco Rossi, the side has been building together a competitive identity and has regularly punched above expectations in European competitions.

Rossi’s contract has been extended till 2030. He put pen to paper in May earlier this year. He had also, apparently, received his Hungarian citizenship in 2023, according to reports.

The current roster features modern talents that keep Hungary in conversations — amongst them is the Liverpool’s midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, who has evolved as a genuine elite midfielder and a leader. Other notable names amongst the current set include Milos Kerkez, Willi Orban, Atilla Szalai, Peter Gulacsi, etc.

Hungary are in the middle of a crucial 2026 World Cup qualifying cycle. They are looking to qualify for the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico for the first time since 1986, in almost 40 years. They currently sit on 2nd place with 5 points in their World Cup qualifying group (Group F) and are drawn against Armenia, Ireland and Portugal.

It is not really an awful jersey, technically. The colours are correct, the fit is good, and the designs are simple. But, it’s about what it represents — a brand’s lack of effort towards something that is historically significant. International kits are, at their core, most sellable products. They reflect national pride. They serve as reminders of past events when the occasion is one that of Hungary, currently.

If this moment doesn’t convince the big manufacturers, like Adidas, to reconsider how they handle heritage kits, maybe nothing will.

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