Fans of the U.S. men’s national team have waited eight years to see the team take the field on the global stage. And when that time finally arrives this November in Qatar, the USMNT won’t exactly be looking the part at the World Cup.
Over the past few weeks, U.S. soccer fans have seen several leaked photos of the supposed World Cup kits hit social media, and the reaction was almost universally negative. The leaked design featured a centered crest, Nike logo on the sleeves. But really, the uniforms lacked in personality and identity. The design seemed rushed and lazy, which was disappointing for a U.S.-based company designing WORLD CUP jerseys for the U.S. men’s national team.
The jerseys were so bad that fans wanted to hold out hope that it was all a ruse, an act of misdirection to excite fans with the *real* kits. But unfortunately, that’s not how Nike and U.S. Soccer ever operate.
During a jersey unveiling event on Wednesday, media got an early look at the uniforms the USMNT would wear in Qatar — including similar USWNT kits for 2022. And to everyone’s disappointment, the kits did appear to be what had been leaked already on social media.
To make matters worse, the unveiling happened just a couple days after rival Mexico and the rest of the Adidas-sponsored nations showed off a phenomenal collection of World Cup jerseys.
Adidas have already won the World Cup 👏 pic.twitter.com/LX4d5hwHuH
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 30, 2022
At some point, we should hear exactly why Nike and the USSF went in this design direction, especially after player feedback was negative. But there’s no avoiding it now: the USMNT is going to have some of the worst jerseys at the World Cup. Only Puma saved them from the definitive “worst” title.
As expected, fans were not pleased with the news.
This was how Twitter reacted
Listen we're going to hear a lot of overreactions to these kits, so it's important to take a level-headed approach:
Anyone involved in creating or signing off on this kit should be fired and deemed unemployable for the remainder of their lives. #USMNT https://t.co/Gmi0Ta1gkz
— Jon Lee (@TheSoccerJon) August 31, 2022
Nike really let us all down https://t.co/JLHsiNpeCQ
— USMNT: GROUP B 🇺🇸🚀🇶🇦⚽️ (@ShadyCobainNV) August 31, 2022
You’d think that being American company, @Nike would come out with some fire but this is so bad. They couldn’t have invented a worse kit/jersey. https://t.co/8WliRN9Rtv
— Joshua (@JoshSant20) August 31, 2022
Haha. When the jersey design is so bad, they put the apparel in the first row. https://t.co/UoGHVlUl7O
— Markel Santi (@_Susaeta) August 31, 2022
We waited 8 years for this garbage…. Do better @USMNT and @Nike https://t.co/EYRZm2qjqI
— Ryan Huff (@rdhuff178) August 31, 2022
It’s worse than I ever could’ve imagined https://t.co/0RWyc2nado
— Mason (@MasonPlummer_) August 31, 2022
Absolutely hideous, Nike are doing the USMNT dirty 😵💫 https://t.co/imeBfCBmti
— Jonathan (@JonSant21) August 31, 2022
I hate Nike for this…..what is this bland nonsense? https://t.co/LcGuIiOhQ1
— Colby (BEAT ULM)™️🤘🏽 (@kingbolby) August 31, 2022
Man @nikefootball & @USMNT should be ashamed of themselves.
If a USA fan genuinely likes these #WorldCup kits, please explain. Are me and 99.999% of the internet missing something? https://t.co/ToPvpgyyEx
— Chris Davis (@ThatChrisDavis) August 31, 2022
Awful https://t.co/WVuBPzxqRc pic.twitter.com/nPsDlVDZ84
— USMNT 🇺🇸 Thoughts (@USMNT_Thoughts) August 31, 2022
I hate it here. https://t.co/0gdUMaI9xA
— Dan Vaughn (@THEDanVaughn) August 31, 2022
Nike is so creatively bankrupt https://t.co/BcoxMQWSN5
— Justin Horneker (@hornekerjustin) August 31, 2022
Do better, Nike. This is embarrassing.
