Club teams and national teams from around the world release two, three and sometimes more football kits a year. Some clothing brands even add to the market by selling football-kit-inspired merchandise. So to make a shirt that stands out, that becomes iconic, means standing out from thousands of other creations and designs. This article is part of our Kitted Out series, an exploration of the impact of soccer kits on culture and fashion. In 2018, ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Russia, designer Matthew Wolff and Nike made a Nigeria home strip that went on to drive significant demand and became a modern trailblazer in the football kit market.
“It was probably the first football shirt to have this drop moment that transcended football,” Doug Bierton, CEO of Classic Football Shirts, tells The Athletic. “It wasn’t just Nigeria fans or even just football shirt enthusiasts who wanted it - it was something where everybody who became aware of it wanted one and a secondary market for that shirt was almost instantly created.”
“It was the first football shirt that went straight over its RRP (recommended retail price) on launch.
When the kit was released on June 1, 2018, lines wrapped around the block at Nike’s London store, and it received three million pre-orders, according to the BBC, meaning it was sold out within minutes. The green and white home shirt was accompanied by other gear, including track jackets, bucket hats and shorts, which also rapidly sold out.
While it ended up appealing to the masses, being an international kit that people could get behind, for Wolff and Peter Hoppins, Nike senior design director from 2016 to 2020, the focus had to be on pleasing the Nigerian fans, players, and federation.
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Design and Inspiration
Nike’s official media release described the kit as “a tribute to Nigeria’s 1994 debut on the world stage, the 2018 home kit features the traditional green torso, with the Super Eagles-inspired black-and-white sleeves. To modernise the jersey, the feather pattern has been abstracted and the colours updated, for a bold look on pitch”.
For Bierton, it was “innovative and ahead of its time” as one of the first modern-era designs to directly reference the 90s, bringing that era’s vibe in a forward-thinking way and evoking fan nostalgia. It was also nominated for the 2019 Beazley Designs of the Year award.
In previous years up to 2018, a darker green was used for Nigeria’s home kit, but this was switched to the brighter, lighter green, along with white and black.
Hoppins told The Athletic’s Brooks Peck in 2018: “We said: ‘OK, keep it traditional on one of the kits (the 2018 Nigeria away kit was a largely plain dark green design) and on the other one, just go all out."
“I’ve been looking back at some of the original designs and they were definitely not as full-on as where we landed. We just kept on pushing it.
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Other countries would not stray far from tradition, but Nike and Nigeria were able to innovate and create a strip that defined the summer of 2018 and beyond.
“A lot of the clubs and federations are pretty old-school,” Hoppins said. “They’re run by… older… gentlemen, so it can be tough to explain why you want to do a bright green-and-white kit with feathers on it. We brought the players in with the president of the federation so they could almost, like, convince him that this was the thing to do.
This kit put an exclamation point on the increased demand for football shirts in the late 2010s that has helped boost the second-hand market in particular, as football fans and casuals alike wore shirts that reflected their personality and identity - and, bottom line, to look cool.
Even still, it is rare for shirts to sell out and be higher than their RRP the following week. Brierton says the most sought-after kits can sell out in the period after Christmas to the end of the season, and then increase in value. For example, Ajax’s 2021-22 ‘Three Little Birds’ third shirt. Through Classic Football Shirts, the Nigeria 2018 home kit typically sells for at least double its RRP (£64.95, $88.35) in excellent condition.
But not every shirt can be a cult classic, nor should every shirt try to be one.
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“The way it’s going, maybe it is a bit overdone and every brand, every team trying to have a Nigeria moment is not sustainable. It has to be organic,” Brierton says.
“There’s a limited space for very bright, lime green, bold design. You would think: ‘Oh, that’s a small subsection of people who have got the balls to wear that type of shirt’.
At the 2018 World Cup, the Super Eagles fell in the group stage despite having the most desirable kit around.
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“The game against Iceland,” says Ebohon as he recalls his best memories of his team in their famous strip. “(Ahmed) Musa scored two goals. It was a great win because Iceland went very far in the 2016 Euros and knocked out England.
“When the World Cup came, people were saying ‘giant-killers’ Iceland, with Argentina and Croatia (were in Nigeria’s group), so it got me scared a bit. When we beat them, I said: ‘They are not giant killers’ - it was just England being bad.
“I would say the Argentina game, Musa also scored but (Lionel) Messi being Messi broke our hearts in the end.”
(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson/The Athletic; Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
Adidas and the FIFA World Cup 2026
With the biggest FIFA World Cup in history fast approaching, adidas has taken centre stage by revealing its largest-ever collection of national team home kits, a sweeping celebration of identity, innovation and design. Ahead of the 2026 showpiece event, the brand has crafted 22 bespoke jerseys for its partner federations, each telling a story rooted in heritage while pointing toward a bold new era for the game.
From the traditional sky-blue stripes of Argentina to the reimagined geometry of Germany’s kit and the horizon-inspired tones of Japan’s, every shirt channels the essence of its nation in a fresh, contemporary form. The collection speaks to the evolving language of football design - one that blends nostalgia with modernity, paying homage to past triumphs while embracing the global energy of a new generation of players and fans.
More than just style statements, these jerseys are built with adidas’ most advanced performance technology to date. Designed to withstand the varied climates across Canada, Mexico and the USA, each shirt incorporates next-generation CLIMACOOL+ materials and body-mapped ventilation zones to keep players cool and composed on football’s biggest stage. Subtle details - from lenticular crests to hidden inscriptions - reward closer inspection, creating a sense of discovery that extends beyond the 90 minutes.
For adidas, the 2026 collection is not simply a nod to national pride; it’s an invitation to connect. "A national kit is a symbol of togetherness and pride," says Sam Handy, GM of adidas Football.
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