With the 2026 World Cup less than 100 days away the USMNT released their home and away kits in collaboration with Nike on 16th March.
The jerseys are inspired by the American flags stars and stripes design. The home jersey features the red stripes against a white background while the away kit has a dark background with a star based pattern.
The reception for both the jerseys has been poles apart. The home jersey has been extremely well received and has had fans claiming it as one of the best jerseys they’ve had in recent times.Along with that, fans have already coined the jersey as “ The Wavy Waldo”. A homage to how the stripes make it look similar to the outfit of the popular book character “Where’s Waldo?”
The reactions to the away jersey have been mixed however with fans claiming that the design is bland and could have done with more contrast. There have also been fans that have mentioned the shirt overall works better as a pre match shirt.
After the release of the kits, it was announced that this year’s kits were mainly designed through inputs from the first team players. This was done as reports from 2022 had suggested that a lot of the players were unhappy with the kits released for the 2022 world cup.
The 2022 world cup jerseys featured a plain white design with Nike swooshes on the sleeves for the home and a blue and black tie and dye design for the away jersey.
The jerseys were mentioned to be inspired by the United States’ diversity and the central positioning with block letters was a combination of a basketball and hockey jersey. Some players at that time had refused to even do the photoshoot due to dissatisfaction with the jerseys.
The Wavy pattern on the home jersey was designed as inspired by both the Waldo energy and the waving American flag. The jersey was also meant as a tribute to the 2012-13 kits worn by the US in the world cup qualifiers.
Nike Senior director Stuart McArthrur mentioned that the players wanted the away jersey to have a cool and energetic feel to it. The eventual obsidian of the jersey was chosen as a middle ground between black and navy blue.
It is to be noted that these are some of the highest prices being charged by football federations for the jerseys and has caused the fans to call the prices into question. This price is nothing new as $100 has become the new norm for many teams when releasing new jerseys.
The major criticism comes as the US still continues to try to introduce the sport at a more ground level and bring it not just to the top level elites but to the community, something that the sport is known for.
For younger fans or fans who do not have the luxury to pay such prices it risks driving them away from the official source and more towards cheaper alternatives and replicas.
Despite the backlash, it is to be noted that most of these jerseys are already selling outs showing that despite fan discontent there are any who are still willing to purchase them – for now.
The new kits will be debuted in Atlanta at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on March 28 as the US takes on Belgium in a friendly.
