KitsLore

Stories behind the shirts ⚽👕
Uncovering the history, origins & lore of football kits
New threads weekly | DM for collabs

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

Every football shirt has a story. Some were accidents. Some were acts of rivalry. Some were borrowed from a dead aristocrat's wardrobe.
I tell them all — one club at a time.
Welcome to @KitsLore 🧵⚽

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@FOXSoccer @USMNT USMNT World Cup memories aren’t just goals and games, they’re denim kits, Waldo hoops, late-night nerves, and believing every four years that this might be the run. 🇺🇸

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

In 2016 Nike sent their designers to Lagos.
Not to a boardroom. Not to a design studio. To the streets, the music, the art, the markets.
Two years later the Nigeria 2018 World Cup kit dropped. The pattern on the sleeves — those jagged black and white chevrons — evokes Adire, a traditional Yoruba tie-dye technique whose name means "tie and dye."
On the day it went on sale in London, the Nike store on Oxford Street sold out in under an hour. Online it was gone in three minutes.
A shirt designed in Lagos. Sold out in London. Worn across the world.

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@brfootball Not saying I beat B/R to it, but…

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

At the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, France forgot to bring their Blue shirts.

The reason was almost absurdly simple.

FIFA had first instructed France to wear white. Then, before the tournament, another letter arrived reversing the decision: France were now supposed to wear blue.

The second message didn’t reach the team. The President of the French Federation forgot to pass the second letter on.

So when France turned up, they did not have the kit they were meant to wear. With Italy also in their traditional blue but instructed to wear white on the day, something had to change.

The solution was improvised: France played in a borrowed green-and-white strip, reportedly from a local Argentine club.

And so, for one strange afternoon in Mar del Plata, Les Bleus were not blue at all. The only time in history Les Bleus have worn green at the World Cup.

A forgotten letter. A missing kit. A World Cup match played in the wrong colours.

It remains one of football’s oddest footnotes: the day France accidentally wore green.

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@FIFAcom @FIFAWorldCup Which kit do you think will immortalized in history after this World Cup?

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

The most creative and aesthetically pleasing team photo in this WC definitely has to be Norway.

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@Footballtweet Watching these clips hits even harder knowing the 2026 jersey pays tribute to the champions of 1978, 1986 and 2022. Three eras. Three titles. Three shades of blue. ⭐⭐⭐

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@AlbicelesteTalk Messi ready to don the iconic stripes of Argentina and this year Adidas took those stripes a step further. Three different shades of blue, each one inspired by a World Cup-winning shirt — 1978, 1986 and 2022. A true tribute to every star above the crest.

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@Argentina The stripes are the best detail: Argentina’s 2026 kit uses three different shades of blue, each one inspired by a World Cup-winning shirt — 1978, 1986 and 2022. A simple design, but basically a tribute to every star above the crest.

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@InvictosSomos And for this World Cup he’ll be wearing a shirt that tells Argentina’s whole World Cup story 🇦🇷✨

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

Argentina's 2026 kit has three different shades of blue in the stripes.
Each one is a deliberate tribute to a different World Cup winning shirt — 1978, 1986 and 2022.
The three gold stars on the crest each carry a year. The back of the collar reads "1893" — the founding year of the Argentine Football Association.

For what is likely Messi's final World Cup, Adidas built the entire history of Argentine football into a single shirt.
Every stripe tells a story.

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@CrewsMat10 Messi starting. New kit loaded with history. Perfect combo 🇦🇷🐐

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

Argentina's 2026 kit has three different shades of blue in the stripes.
Each one is a deliberate tribute to a different World Cup winning shirt — 1978, 1986 and 2022.
The three gold stars on the crest each carry a year. The back of the collar reads "1893" — the founding year of the Argentine Football Association.

For what is likely Messi's final World Cup, Adidas built the entire history of Argentine football into a single shirt.
Every stripe tells a story.

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@ultimate_kombo Before Messi steps out tonight, look at the story stitched into Argentina’s new kit 🇦🇷🔥

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

Argentina's 2026 kit has three different shades of blue in the stripes.
Each one is a deliberate tribute to a different World Cup winning shirt — 1978, 1986 and 2022.
The three gold stars on the crest each carry a year. The back of the collar reads "1893" — the founding year of the Argentine Football Association.

For what is likely Messi's final World Cup, Adidas built the entire history of Argentine football into a single shirt.
Every stripe tells a story.

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@ActuFoot_ Trailer delivered. Kits delivered. Now the match has to deliver 🇩🇿🇦🇷🔥

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@AllFutbolMX @Estadao A true tribute to a legend of the game and what better place to do it?
https://t.co/MgzK4Rn2k8

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

Which of these 2 pictures do you think is more iconic?
Fun fact: They were both taken in same stadium

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@futebol_info A perfect way to honor the legend in the stadium he became a legend
https://t.co/MgzK4Rn2k8

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

Which of these 2 pictures do you think is more iconic?
Fun fact: They were both taken in same stadium

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@DataFutebol @Estadao What a true way to honor a remarkable team in the remarkable stadium that they won it all
https://t.co/MgzK4Rn2k8

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

Which of these 2 pictures do you think is more iconic?
Fun fact: They were both taken in same stadium

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@goal Kits hit different when they carry history. Germany’s bold geometry, Argentina’s sacred stripes, Brazil’s yellow legacy, England’s clean white tradition. these aren’t just shirts, they’re football memory stitched into fabric.

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

Amazing concept. Every shirt in that photo has a story. The grassroots clubs that built these players, the colours they grew up in before the red of Norway found them. That's what makes this image so good. Behind every national team shirt is a hundred smaller ones that came first.

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

Which of these 2 pictures do you think is more iconic?
Fun fact: They were both taken in same stadium

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@LARGOESPN Unfortunately both shirts won’t be making an appearance in the group stages as they clash with other jerseys that the opposing teams will play in

[KitsLore @KitsLore]

@Footy_Headlines Every shirt in that photo has a story. The grassroots clubs that built these players, the colours they grew up in before the red of Norway found them.
That's what makes this image so good. Behind every national team shirt is a hundred smaller ones that came first.