World Cup of Kits (Group F)

 This was a decent group, not a group of death or anything, but there were definitely a couple of real competitors here. This is our first real NIKE dominated group of the tournament.

Group  F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia

Belgium: 

I’m not sure if I’m in the minority or not, but I absolutely loved the Christmas sweater look Belgium rolled out in 2018. And with this World Cup being played during the holiday season, it would have made even more sense this year. 

It was very soon after these were dropped that someone pointed out that the sleeves on the red kit look like something on a Guy Fieri shirt and once you hear it, you can’t unsee it. However, they have kind of grown on me since that initial disappointment. Adidas has had a bit of a thing for flames this year with the Argentina kits and now these, and they make much more sense for Belgium in my opinion. They’ve always had that red devil mascot associated with their football team so flames make sense. I also like the way their flag colors are represented well here.

I’m also a fan of the white kit. For all the hate the USA is getting for potentially making their logo rainbow colored, I haven’t any of that for Belgium. Maybe they’re just more progressive in Western Europe. (Or maybe it’s just because I don’t live there). But I like the message, especially in a World Cup being held in a place with low tolerance for people of the LBTQ community, and they also execute it well on the kit. This jersey is understated, highlighting the rainbow colors in a subtle way, and it just fits with their logo. 

All together a solid set of kits with nothing that completely blows me away, put is certainly enough to get through an underwhelming group where they finish second.

Results: W against Canada, W against Morocco, slight L against Croatia for the top spot. Finishes in second place with 6 points and moves on to knockouts.

Canada: 

Canada comes into the World Cup wearing the same jerseys they have worn for much of CONCACAF qualifying due to an unorthodox deal with NIKE. Honestly, with all the success they had during qualifying a superstitious person like myself would do the same damn thing.

Unfortunately for Canada, this competition is based purely on the merit of WORLD CUP kits and I would consider this a qualifying kit. That being said, Puma does such a poor job at this World Cup that I’m giving them a draw against Morocco out of spite.

In breaking these down, It’s a simplistic design with the red and white that I am typically a fan of. I do enjoy the red kit. I like the graphic on the sleeves as well as the font for the names and numbers. They away’s just scream “Canada!” to me in a good way.

There is just not a lot going on with the white kits and there are really no redeeming qualities. I guess the Inter collar was before their time, so I guess it’s good they don’t have that, but that’s certainly no enough to put them over two solid European kits or enough to make me get over the fact that these aren’t even World Cup specific.

Results: L against Belgium, L against Croatia, TIE against Morocco. Finish 3rd in the group with one point and do not advance.

Morocco: 

I’ll preface this by saying that these definitely are not the worst rendition Puma has in this tournament. But that does not mean I am a fan. I think Morocco has a cool color scheme and a ton you can do with their star, and Puma misses the mark.

The white kit is OKAY, I’m not a huge fan of that spherical pattern on the chest, and the line coming down the middle with the crest and numbers is fine. I am just so disappointed by the Puma kits that we have yet to see as well as the Senegal green, that I refuse to acknowledge any true merit of the bulky chest pieces.

The reds just seem like a Portugal knock off, which may be unfair considering the fact that they have the same colors, but I think there is a lot you can do to distinguish Morocco, and Puma really didn’t design anything to do that.

This is definitely not a group of death, and I should’ve maybe put Morocco over Canada, I won’t.

Results: L against Croatia, L against Belgium, TIE against Canada. Finish in last with 1 point

Croatia: 

Croatian football and checkers is just a great combo. Coming off of a dream run to the final in real life, Croatia does not disappoint here. The patterns are a little random and the blues have that fading gradient that I am not a massive fan of, but I still think they are a solid combo.

The whit and reds are the money maker, and always have been for Croatia. 2018’s red and white Croatian kit was one of my favorites of the Cup and these 2022 versions certainly have their own merit. It’s more of a random pattern with the red boxes more clustered the closer you get to the sides of the shirt. I feel like they wanted to change something and I honestly think they made a cool difference. I also like the asymmetry of the socks with one being solid white and the other having checkers. It’s something abnormal that sets them apart I think.

I am not a huge fan of the fading shade on the blue kit, but I think the combo of the light and dark blue combined with the checkers along the top of the shirt save it. The colors work, the pattern works, and it looks great with their classic logo.

Croatia barely edges Belgium to top the group and we have our first NIKE victory over Adidas, however slight.

Results: W against Morocco, W against Canada, W against Belgium. Top the group with 9 points.

Overall Results: