The U.S. team at this summer’s World Cup will wear the uniforms it helped design — a process that began with dissatisfaction with a photo shoot leading up to the last World Cup.
“The team doesn’t like it [uniforms] we want to wear [in Qatar]”Just because we feel like it doesn’t necessarily represent us and the country that we want to be,” midfielder Tyler Adams, the 2022 U.S. World Cup captain, said recently. “When you get the opportunity to represent your country at the World Cup… you want to love the kit.”
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They didn’t like the kit, which is the term for uniforms in football.
Adams said they won’t take photos unless they get a say in designing the 2026 uniforms. Nike and U.S. Soccer agreed.
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As part of a multi-year collaboration, the team came up with two designs: wavy red stripes with blue trim on a white shirt (dubbed the “Stripes Kit”) and an “obsidian” (black) shirt with shiny stars and red trim (the “Star Kit”). Both feature original fonts and USSF’s “The Best of US” spirit stitched under the back collar.
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The marketing campaign begins on Monday, with players set to wear each kit during Atalanta’s friendly matches against Belgium on March 28 and Portugal on March 31 – the final training camp before Mauricio Pochettino confirms his World Cup squad on May 26.
What do the players want from the new jersey?
“For me, it was simple: I wanted something timeless,” Adams said. “I want to have this jersey that 30 years from now you can look back and say, ‘That’s still the best.'” … It’s very simple: You have to have some sort of Stars and Stripes. They represent us perfectly. “
Forward Folarin Balogun agrees.
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“I hope when you give your jersey to friends and family, they wear it, they’re excited, they feel like it’s really unique,” he said. “Since we are one of the host countries, there is a lot of focus on making sure it stands out from the other countries.”
This year, all 27 teams under the USSF umbrella, including women’s and youth teams, will wear the same uniforms for the first time, the federation said. The women’s senior team are expected to provide input on special designs ahead of the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.
(Courtesy of U.S. Soccer)
The men’s reaction to the 2026 kits was very different to the reaction to the 2022 reveal, when the players had no say in a plain white kit with some red and blue and a dark blue kit with black specks.
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“We are as angry as you are,” winger Tim Weah wrote on social media at the time, agreeing with fans’ criticism.
“Trying to tell them,” midfielder Weston McKennie posted, adding a crying emoji.
In a recent interview with reporters, Adams said that, in general, he “doesn’t necessarily care too much about the jersey. The jersey is the jersey … but from top to bottom, we all agreed that we could at least have something that represents something better.”
He added: “There is definitely a feeling [Nike was] very very uncomfortable [2022] situation, especially when there are 20-25 players on a team saying they all hate the jerseys they are about to wear. But things quickly changed. They genuinely welcomed criticism and involved us directly in the design process of our next project. “
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The partnership begins in 2024, with Nike holding listening sessions and design workshops to understand what the jersey means to the players and what they want on the jersey.
The second phase is where the company welcomes player feedback on various designs, patterns, styles and colors. In the training camp in November 2025, the final vision was presented to the players.
“Weston used to come up with some crazy designs but no one agreed, it was just something [defeated] “That’s the whole purpose of having these conversations,” Adams said with a laugh. “Guys, let’s come up with a design that makes sense. At one point, they showed us the colors and someone said, ‘Oh, I love that green.’ “I was like, ‘Get out of the room! Like, what are we doing here? But it’s good. Everything is in the right place.”
From a design standpoint, players said they chose everything from the red in the stripes to the shorts and socks combo. There have been some adjustments along the way.
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“Honestly, I feel like we have a better say in this than Nike,” Adams said.
(Courtesy of U.S. Soccer)
According to the USSF, players also provided input on fabric weight, seam placement, fit and flexibility – a key factor in games played in hot conditions.
World Cup veteran Matt Turner has given his advice on the goalkeeper kit, which is part of Nike’s colorful ‘Hollywood Goalkeeper’ collection, worn by several national teams.
“You need to have gear that you enjoy wearing,” Adams said. “You get a feeling that you’re looking good and playing well. It sounds cliché, but I believe that.”
When there’s a famous goal or victory at the World Cup, the jersey becomes part of history – seen on generations across the globe.
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“At the same time, if a kit is ugly, it’s ugly,” Balogun said. “This will always get a negative reaction.”
The striped jerseys are reminiscent of a jersey that has been popular in the U.S. for the past decade, informally known as the “Where’s Waldo” jersey: horizontal stripes of red and white, like the shirts worn by the main characters in popular children’s books. “We wanted some iterations,” Adams said.
The wider aim is to create a uniform that is recognized globally, such as the Netherlands (bright orange), Brazil (canary yellow plus blue), Portugal (red and green) and Croatia (checkerboard).
“You want a consistent jersey,” Adams said. “When you talk to the Dutch national team players, that orange jersey is the top jersey in the Dutch national team system. For us, we have some crazy shapes on our jersey or something. What does that have to do with America? We just want to be the Stars and Stripes.”
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Both Adams and Balogun said they prefer stars to stripes in 2026.
“I think this is going to be an all-time classic jersey,” Adams said. “To me, there’s something about stars that you don’t often see [and] Make it pop. “
Balogun added: “I just love how stealthy it is. It has a lot of hidden details. It’s a really beautiful kit. It’s more of a statement.”
For fans, they don’t come cheap: Authentic game jerseys have a suggested retail price of $180, and replicas are $100.