Words by Kieonté Clarke
As the early rounds of the tournament come to an end, we pick out our top 10 favourite kits at Euro 2020.
After a year of pandemic-induced delays, the Euros have finally kicked off, and as we emerge from the tournament’s early rounds, we’ve seen more than our fair share of beautiful – and not-so-beautiful – kits. But here at The Urban Journal, we like to focus on the positives, so we’ve gone ahead and picked our ten favourite sartorial efforts from this year’s international wardrobes.
10. France Home
France never usually go wrong with their kits, and that trend continues at Euro 2020. It was difficult to choose between their home and away efforts for this position, but the home kit just manages to edge our preference.
The shirt is inspired by their iconic 1998 home kit, which saw them win that year’s World Cup with a team just as talented as this year’s. Although it does take clear inspiration from that shirt given the red stripe across the chest, Nike still managed to make France’s home kit their own by opting for a dark blue with lighter blue stripes that make it look so damn clean.
9. England Home
We might be a bit biased putting England’s home kit in here considering how many great white kits you could say are arguably just as pretty, but we are London-based, after all.
England home kits are typically white, which you might think would be easy to make a great kit – but we have been starved of a quality effort for a while. This year, though, England’s shirt offers a fresh design and looks even better in person than in promotional material. The attention detail on the accents of this shirt – like the zigzag side-lines and patterns on the collar – sets it apart from the others in the tournament.
8. Hungary Away
Although we won’t be seeing any more of this Hungary team in the Euros now that they’ve been eliminated from the group stage, they managed to do themselves proud on the pitch by pulling off some shock results and looked good doing so in their beautiful away kit. It marries the green, white and red of the Hungary flag to stand out from the many white kits in the tournament.
7. Netherlands Home
The orange Netherlands home kit has always been iconic, setting the nation apart from other national teams almost as much their amazing players and football philosophy.
Their kit for this year’s tournament is a nice twist on the traditional plain orange home kits, with the lines on the shirt creating an abstract figure of the Dutch lion’s face at the front.
6. Sweden Away
Sweden aren’t usually looked at as a country known for producing super stylish kits, but this year’s away kit is breaking that mould.
By using the colours of the Swedish flag, Adidas have created a unique kit that still feels very traditional. The dark blue jersey is accompanied by thin yellow pinstripes which work well together and make this shirt stand out from the crowd.
5. England Away
For the first time in a long time, we can say that England have two great looking kits in a tournament – and this year’s away kit is one of the best.
Nike decided to move away from the traditional red away kit and replace it with this royal blue number. Not only does the colour look great, but the subtle graphic design on the shirt makes it that little bit different.
4. Netherlands Away
It’s always hard to not have a Netherlands kit rank among a top 10 kits-in-a-tournament list – and our selection for Euro 2020, we have two.
Their away kit isn’t as loud as their home kit, but it’s much more casual and versatile. The black base of the away kit, coupled with the orange accents on the collar and side of the shirt, work well together, and give the shirt a splash of colour.
3. Italy Home
After the early stages of this tournament, Italy have not only shown that they can play beautiful attacking football, but that they can produce beautiful kits as well.
Their home kit for this year’s tournament is a fresh twist on the traditional blue home kit by incorporating a renaissance-inspired graphic design, which calls back to the country’s achievements during that era. The gold Puma logo and stars above the Italy badge give the kit a real regal feel, too.
2. Croatia Away
Croatia kits are known for their signature red and white checker design – and they almost always look great. It was hard to pick between their home and away kits this year, but we think that their away kit just about edges it.
The black and grey design of this shirt can go with almost any outfit in your wardrobe, while the red zigzag down the side adds a little bit of welcome colour. It narrowly misses out on the top spot, but this one’s a beauty.
1. Germany Away
Of all the many great kits in this tournament, one must stick out as the best – and for us, that’s Germany’s away kit. It was probably the most anticipated kit of the tournament, and for good reason.
This year, Die Mannschaft follows the stylish trend of completely black football kits which almost always manage to make an impressive statement. The German colours on the sleeve make it unique compared to the many other all-black kits out there right now, hence our approval of this one above all others in the tournament.
Check out our profile of the England national team.