The peculiarities of adidas jerseys for the European Championship and the Copa América

In the last few days, following the presentation of the adidas shirts for the EURO 2024 and the Copa América, numerous close-ups of the jerseys have begun to circulate on social media, accompanied by comments appreciating some of the stylistic choices adopted by adidas. Starting from the pattern present on the German National Team jersey, which stands out in the long sleeve version demonstrating how long sleeves can indeed be important to enhance a pattern, moving on to both versions made by the Three Stripes for the Mexican Selection, which boast an all-over pattern both on the front and on the back. There's also Peru, which, taking advantage of the inserts of the new Three Stripes template, has unleashed its creativity: in short, with adidas' latest release, an interesting breath of fresh air has swept through the landscape of game shirts.

Adidas draws inspiration from the Admiral archive for Wales' jersey

In 1976, Wales was sponsored by Admiral. The National Team's home jersey, red in color (exactly like today's shirt), was characterized by two yellow and green arch details, the same ones that adidas decided to take from the brand's archive. That particular detail must have amazed adidas: the brand chose not to replicate other features of the 1976 jersey, opting to position the National Team's crest to the right of the jersey rather than in the center.

Tintin's inspiration behind Belgium's kit

Carefully scrutinizing the away uniform of the Red Devils, not only can one be amazed by the brown shorts - an extremely unusual color on football fields - but also by the color of the jersey, which, juxtaposed with the shorts, cannot but remind us of Tintin. This is the imaginary protagonist of the Belgian comic book series The Adventures of Tintin, created and illustrated by Hergé. Tintin, both in the comic and in the film directed by Steven Spielberg, mainly wears an outfit consisting of brown trousers, a blue sweater, and a white shirt. Belgium's kit presents itself as faithful as possible to that look: indeed, in addition to the blue and brown color blocking, even the collar of the white shirt is taken from the collar of Domenico Tedesco's National Team.

Longsleeve Jerseys: The Germany Case

There are indeed few elements capable of making us feel nostalgic like longsleeve jerseys. With the use of undershirts, these have slowly disappeared. Nowadays there are still some exceptions: Jude Bellingham and Kai Havertz are among the players who prefer the longsleeve version; the J1 League, the top Japanese football league, is one of the football leagues to more frequently use long sleeve shirts. These also have the "power" to become an additional weapon embellishing the designs: just think of the longsleeve version of the new home shirt made for Germany. Departing from the design of the latest jerseys, adidas chose to embellish it with a recognizable pattern on the shoulders, a modern reinterpretation of what was seen on the field at the 1992 European Championship. Germany's longsleeve version demonstrates how the addition of sleeves can positively transform or at least make a football shirt alternative.

The Template Chosen by Adidas

It has been 18 years since the 2006 World Cup, the year in which one of adidas' most celebrated templates was launched. This is the Teamgeist, protagonist of matches that have gone down in history in that tournament, from Alessandro Del Piero's curved shot to Zidane's header in the final against Italy. One of the most memorable features of the Teamgeist concerns the side inserts, present in a similar version also on the new shirts presented by the German company for the European Championship and the Copa América. Almost all the national teams have decided not to embellish this detail particularly, with the exception of Peru, which is preparing to take the field in the upcoming matches with a Teamgeist featuring zebra inserts.

Why Mexico's Jerseys Are So Special

Football shirts can tell romantic stories, emphasize a country's identity, and much more. This is what the Mexican Selection has opted for, releasing two jerseys characterized by two already iconic prints. The home version of Los Aztecos depicts the feathers of the eagle, the animal on the National Mexican Team's crest, while the away jersey reinterprets the serpent, also present on the crest. The eagle feather pattern covers the jersey all-over. As on the German and Belgian shirts, even on Mexico's shirt, the motif does not only cover the front area - as noted by Phil Delves on X.