The World Cup is a time for unbridled patriotism, the type that would otherwise be embarrassing to the many fans who unabashedly paint their faces and wrap their bodies in the technicolor pigments of home for a few weeks every four years. There is no costume too bombastic at the World Cup, and no uniform too bright. There is only pride, and hope, and love.
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And silliness. You know what the United States get right about the patriotism on display at the World Cup? The silliness of it all. And nothing quite represents that spirit like the alternate kit the US wore when they hosted the 1994 World Cup, known as the denim kit.
This bad boys is one of the most famous and infamous World Cup jerseys of all time, noted for how terribly American they really were: the mottled blue background color designed to look like a pair of jeans; the star pattern stretching across the chest; the bright red numbers and shorts to tie the entire thing together and remind anyone watching that this is what an American soccer player really looks like.
Fans dissatisfied with Nike’s most recent attempts to re-create this triumph of kitschy American patriotism needn’t fear, either, as they won’t be consigned to using only the current iterations of USMNT kits in the World Cup campaigns they will play out on their games consoles on FIFA 23. Just in time for their real-life, pivotal Group B match against England in Qatar on Friday, EA SPorts is rolling out a new optional kit for the USMNT in the game, and it’s all denim, all the time, baby.
