World Cup of Kits (Group E)

 Probably the best group in the tournament. There are three really solid teams here all sponsored by Adidas. This is another group that I'm super excited to watch from a kit standpoint.

Group E: Spain, Germany, Costa Rica, Japan

Spain: 

Spain comes back after an abysmal real-life performance in 2018 with a really solid kit. ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it,’ and the Spanish red kit certainly ain’t broke.

The away reds have always been class and this rendition makes no mistake. The blue stripes and the yellow badge come together to make something special. Paired with the navy pants I feel like I’m back in 2010 watching the final at 10 years old falling in love with sports (even though I was fully rooting for the Dutch). 

The light blue kit is not quite at the same standard as the red, and we’ve seen this a couple times now where Adidas has completely perfected the classic national kit and then the other is just kind of there. I’m not saying I hate it, but that wave pattern isn’t doing a ton for me even though the color scheme does a lot to level it up. Unfortunately for the Spanyards, this is another group of death and Spain is left on goal differential by not beating (you guessed it) Costa Rica by enough points. (They win 3-0 while Germany win 4-0)

Results: W against Costa Rica, Tie against Germany, L against Japan. 4 Points, fail to advance in 3rd place.

Germany: 

Now this is how a company puts on for its home country. What Nike failed to do for the US, Adidas came through and then some for Germany! The color combination, the patterns, the Gold numbers all come together to make something truly world class. 

Earlier I flirted with the idea that only the World Cup winner should be allowed to feature gold on their kit, I am glad that is not a rule this year for this kit specifically. It works so well when paired with the dark red.

I think the bar on the white kit is something unique to Germany and fits really well. It allows for that dark Adidas stripe on white action without making the shirt be completely white and boring. The red shirt is also just pleasing with the gold stripes and the zigzag pattern.

These kits miss the top spot by a miniscule margin (losing to Japan on an extra time stunner 2-1). But finish over Spain to advance as the best second place team in the tournament.

Results: L to Japan, TIE against Spain. W against Costa Rica. Advance with 4 points in second in the group.

Costa Rica:

A kit with no life and no flair for a country with an excess of both. Pretty disappointing for the only New Balance kit in the tournament. New Balance LITERALLY had one job to do for this World Cup and they did it as mediocrely as anyone ever could.

I don’t think these are eye sores and I think they would be fine for a friendly or a regular game, but for the World Cup?? I could have made the white kit by downloading a stock image of a jersey, adding two blue bars, slapping the New Balance logo and the Costa Rica crest on it and calling it a day. Then I collect my money from what have to be very disappointed fans.

And what do I do for the away kit? I just use the paint bucket tool from early 2000s word art and make it red! Then I laugh because what are the passionate Costa Rica fans going to do: not buy jerseys for the biggest sporting event in the country for 4 years?

I feel like the companies who make these kits owe at least some semblance of effort in their designs and this is just lacking. And to top it all off, they are in arguably the best group in the Kit Cup and are swiftly bounced after three embarrassing defeats.

Results: L against Spain, L against Japan, L against Germany

Japan: 

OH. MY. GOD. Could I LOVE these kits any more? (Yes those are Friends references. Yes I understand it's not a great show. Yes I will continue to enjoy it.) Moving on, these kits are THEM, great color scheme, a great graphic, and a great logo come together to make these a real contender in this competition. 

Japan may not have the brand recognition or the classic design of some of its Adidas-sponsored counterparts, but boy are they coming out swinging. The Royal blue has never looked so good with the Origami crane design and the red stripe going down the side. The white Adidas stripes on the shirt matched with the blue stripes on a white background on the shorts just work. So. Well.

The white kit is almost just as impressive. It seems a little plain from afar but a closer look shows you the same Origami design on the shoulders with subtle shades of both blue and red. THIS is what I mean when I say putting in effort to the design. The subtle nods to Japanese culture mixed with actually using the team's colors to accentuate said nods are exactly what every fanbase deserves. The crest is also just such a great addition, and may have a single star over it in my competition.

Japan clears a BRUTAL group with three very impressive wins back to back.

  

Results: W against Germany, W against Costa Rica, W against Spain. Advance in 1st place with 9 points!

Overall Standings