The folks at Canada Soccer were excited to unveil a pair of new Nike kits on Monday. Unfortunately, sports fans across the country were not as enthused.
Both the red home and white away kits feature an alternative design that will be worn by the Canadian men’s and women’s national teams this year. The new look has subtle nods to Canada’s soccer heritage, including a classic Canada wordmark inside the collar.
Canada Soccer and Nike Unveil the New Canada 2024 Match Kits 🇨🇦#CANMNT #CANWNT https://t.co/sYXe9hwjN4
— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) March 18, 2024
With that said, many have taken to social media to voice their displeasure with the blandness of the uniforms.
Some wonder how the designs made it past the approval stage at all.
To think that a group of 12 people sat in a meeting room with a power point presentation from a Nike rep and they picked these two kits. pic.twitter.com/KrWteJvUpN
— Christopher Reynolds (@clrforthewin) March 18, 2024
Ugliest kits in football history??
— Matt (@RandomBlueJays) March 18, 2024
Other X users called the kits a downgrade from the nation’s former plain white look. Ouch.
how did we downgrade from the plain white t shirts 😭😭
— alex (@berualex_) March 18, 2024
This is a downgrade.
— John Wisniewski (@WhiskeyMD247365) March 18, 2024
Another struggled to find any positives with the design, saying they preferred last year’s Women’s National Team kits.
Trying to be as positive and enthusiastic as I can but this is just BAD. Bad approach (why whyyyy not involve the fans), bad designer hire, bad designing, bad business, bad delivery. Just bad all over. I liked the Women’s kit and the black from the last years. This is just ugly!
— Montrealer 🇮🇹🇲🇽🇨🇦 in 🇪🇸 (@InterMontrealer) March 18, 2024
“Fire everyone involved in the decision to release these,” one user chimed in.
Fire everyone involved in the decision to release these
— Ghouldaddy (@Ghoul_Daddy) March 18, 2024
The choice to include 13 pinstripes on the white kit (one for each province and territory) has not gone over well, either.
Pinstripes? Really?
— Eiss🇨🇦 (@Eiss____) March 18, 2024
Looks very baseball ish…
— Melissa (@sashaysashay) March 18, 2024
As a result, jersey sales could suffer.
These are so bad I’m actually mad. Even a half decent one would have guaranteed got my money… but these are both absolutely awful (red especially).
— Captain Obvious (@this_is_obvious) March 18, 2024
Despite the poor reception, the new kits will hit the field next week when Canada’s Men’s National Team takes on Trinidad & Tobago in a CONCACAF Nations League in a March 23 play-in match, vying for a spot in the 2024 Copa América.
The Women’s National Team will wear their new threads during the SheBelieves Cup matches in the United States on April 6 and 9.
Here’s hoping some success on the pitch can turn the attention away from the uniforms.
- You might also like:
- Canada Soccer unveils brand new jerseys made by Nike