On Pitch Debuts: 2023 International Kits
Plenty of international kits have gotten their first outing over the last week or two, check them all out here.
2023 International Kit Debuts
International breaks are considered dull affairs by many, and are often met with frustration from fans who are keen for them to pass quickly so the domestic action can start continue. The most recent one has had a little extra something for kit fans at least, as a we got to see a host of new jerseys on the pitch for the first time. There were new brand partnerships, recent releases, special editions and long-awaited debuts of some of the shirts that were officially launched some time ago. Check them all out below.
Jamaica Home
Released in January and already debuted by the women's and under 21 sides, the senior Reggae Boyz team wore the new Wales Bonner-designed home shirt for the first time against Mexico.
Italy Home
Released around the same time as Jamaica's new kits and also given its first run our by the youth sides, Adidas' marble-inspired home shirt got off to a less than optimal start in a 2-1 home loss to England.
Japan Away
Japan wore their white origami-themed number in a 2-1 loss to Colombia recently. One of the best of Adidas' 2022 World Cup releases, Japan's away kit sadly wasn't used at the tournament.
Germany Away
Like Japan, Germany didn't get to use their away kit at the World Cup largely thanks to an embarrassingly early exit for the big boys. It wasn't associated with that particular humiliation, but it didn't fare too well when it finally got it's debut in a 3-2 loss to Belgium.
Scotland 150th Anniversary Kit
Upon its reveal a while back everyone was in agreement that this kit is a stunner. That viewpoint was only reinforced after seeing the shirt in action in a 3-0 victory over Cyprus.
Saudi Arabia Home
Saudi Arabia replaced Nike with Adidas and showed off their new home jersey and its palm tree pattern in a friendly against Bolivia yesterday.
Denmark Home
Hummel take pride in their work with their home country's national side, and their latest home shirt, a collarless reinterpretation of the famous Euro 92 winning kit, looked fantastic in a 3-1 win over Finland. However, they were on the wrong end of a surprise win in the jersey's second outing against Kazakhstan, a reverse of their 1992 fortunes.
Ireland Home
A nation let out a collective groan when Ireland's Castore deal was announced, and the shirt's launch didn't do an awful lot to convert the non-believers. For its friendly debut, the Boys in Green beat Latvia 3-2 before putting in a solid shift against a very strong France side and going extremely close to grabbing a last minute equaliser in their opening Euro qualifier at the weekend.
France Away
France went all the way to the World Cup final but stuck with their home shirt the whole time. Their stylish away kit eventually got off to a winning start in an emphatic 4-0 victory over the Netherlands and the less comprehensive 1-0 win over Ireland.
Belgium
Another unused World Cup jersey, Belgium's Tomorrowland shirt with it's colourful accents finally got a run out recently, and to make up for lost time they wore it twice, against Sweden and Germany. Both teams wore their away kits in the latter game, essentially wearing each other's home colours.
Has your opinion on any of these kits changed now that you've seen them on the pitch? Let us know in the comments.
