As we all know, Euro 2024 gets underway at the end of this week, but before a ball has even been kicked we’re picking out our champions in the style stakes, ranking our top 10 kit designs from the competition.
Euro 2024 in Germany will see 24 nations competing for the ultimate glory of being crowned European champions. Those 24 teams will be dressed by only six different brands, with Nike leading the way with nine federations, followed by adidas who boast six, PUMA with four, Macron and Joma with two a-piece, and finally hummel with one. With over 50 kits to pick from, we’ve gone about selecting what we feel are the 10 best designs on offer, based, as always, on the scientific method of whether we like them or not.
10. Croatia Away
Starting with one of Nike's federations, and Croatia get a contemporary take on their classic chequered look, presented in tonal blues, with subtle red accents. Possibly a last dance on the international stage for Luka Modric, and at least he'll be dressed for the occasion.
9. Denmark Away
Danish brand hummel rarely let their fellow countrymen down, and they're once again hitting heights with the Denmark home and away shirts. As is often the case, the away is pretty much an inversion of the home shirt, although the addition of a classic collar gives the former the edge for us, earning a place on this list.
8. Czech Republic Home
Of their four federations, the Czech Republic are the sole representatives on this list for PUMA. They gain a place thanks to the use of the sublimated graphic of the nation's crest throughout. Not a lot of adventure for Austria, Serbia and Switzerland, with PUMA veering dangerously into the dreaded template realm, where originality has no space to thrive.
7. Georgia Home
The greatest England home shirt that isn't an England home shirt? Georgia's home shirt sees a nice combination of white and red, riffing on the nation's home flag (if you're not familiar, it's basically the St. George's cross with additional smaller crosses in each quadrant, hence the England link). Macron doing a nice job of incorporating the space for numbering into the design, but as a result it needs said numbers to look complete.
6. Belgium Home
Proper lux, this. Almost looks to posh to play in. That deep burgundy combined with gold and black accents is such a statement look, and then adidas have also thrown in that embossed print pattern on the base as an added flourish. Almost talking ourselves into bumping this up a few positions...
5. England Away
The England away shirt was divisive to say the least upon its release, mostly due to the controversial execution of the St. George's flag on the rear of the neck. But that debacle aside, we feel that this shirt is a proper grower. Rarely do England get anything that strays too far from tradition, but this shirt does just that, introducing those graphic side panels with seven different colours on that "Dark Raisin" base. Never thought we'd get a raisin-coloured England shirt, that's for sure...
4. France Away
It's not often that we admire something that shows off such a big cock so boldly, but the France away shirt balances the enlarged crest with that chic pinstripe look that reflects the colours of the Tricolore flag, subtly shifting through blue to red on that white base.Tidy.
3. Belgium Away
If it was just down to the story behind a design, then this one would win hands down. For those that don't know, the Belgium away shirt is inspired by one of the nation's most famous exports (no, not chocolate), TinTin. The kit draws influence from the young adventurer's iconic outfit, right down to the brown shorts and even the prematch collection. Lot of time for this type of homage, and whilst it easily could've gone horribly wrong, credit goes to adidas for nailing it. If the Red Devils walk out in this kit with a white Wire Fox Terrier called snowy, we're done.
2. Portugal Away
This is likely to be one of the last Nike-produced Portugal kits given that PUMA are taking the reigns from January 2025, but what a way to bow out! The design pays homage to the nation’s traditional architectural artistry, with the blue mosaic tile graphic bringing a subtle change to the usual white of a traditional Portugal second shirt.
1. Germany Home
In fairness, you could shuffle around the order of the top five, and we probably wouldn't complain all that much, but we've given top spot to zi Germans on the basis that it is, quite literally, fire. But we are only giving it first spot in its long-sleeved form. The host nation will look the part in both home and away kits (the away was unlucky not to feature on this list) and add the fact that we only have a finite amount of adidas Germany kits left before Nike take over, and it adds another level to this shirt.
Honourable mentions to Germany away, Scotland home, Serbia away, Albania's triple set, and Spain away.
Shop Euro 2024 replica at prodirectsport.com/soccer
