Malawi has the largest jersey numbers ever

The Africa Cup of Nations continues to break every custom and rule that we thought should be associated with game kits to take the field in official competitions. Sudan took the field with two different jerseys in the same match, both different from the official one, due to a dispute with the technical sponsor, while Malawi decided to make life much easier for the commentators by sporting the largest numbers ever on a soccer jersey. The Malawi kits are provided by the local brand Moto.

Fans and supporters of the African national team will have noticed during matches that on the back of the jersey, players are identified by extra-large numbers that cover the entire back and beyond of the players. An alienating sight for us spectators, who have been accustomed for years to codified sizes as required by UEFA, while CAF (Confederation of African Football) has no rules on the size of numbers. Moreover, the font used is one of those that are already pre-installed in graphics programs, such as Arial or Times New Roman. 

There is something hopelessly wrong with Malawi's game numbers, as if they came out of a FIFA patch gone wrong and not an international competition. At the same time, they are a testament to how, for better or worse, the Africa Cup of Nations continues to be stupendously timeless. A tournament in which anything is possible, changing shirts at halftime, finishing a game in the 85th minute or taking the field with game numbers visible even from the moon.