
Good morning, Uni Watchers. It’s Friday — we made it!
As most of you are no doubt aware, the 2024 Paris Olympic Games technically start today, with the Opening Ceremonies taking place on the Seine, but some of the disciplines have already begun, due to time constraints.
I’m pleased to introduce Peter Gaston, reader and fellow Hamilton College alumnus, who will be previewing the 2024 Olympics Women’s Football (Soccer) Kits. This is a tremendously thorough preview, and it will be run in two parts, so I’m just going to turn it over to Peter now. Extra photos will be found in galleries following each nation’s preview. Enjoy!
by Peter Gaston
Fear not, fans of international football: the Summer of Stars continues this week with the Paris Olympics. It’s the women’s bracket that’s got the all the stars, though: while nations competing on the men’s side are fielding “B-teams” with major club pre-seasons getting underway around the world, the women’s field will feature top international talents vying for gold.
Aesthetically, Nike and Adidas will dominate the sidelines, outfitting 10 of the 12 women’s teams, with several squads sharing templates debuted by male counterparts in the recently concluded Copa America and European Championship. But that’s not to say there aren’t some absolutely fresh looks (as well as a few duds) gracing the pitch in Europe’s fashion capital.
Sadly, Olympic rules force these teams to pare down some of the usual embellishments on their uniforms, and we’re already missing the giant golden Gallic rooster from France’s current set of unis. Generally, that means national crests are subbed for more staid national logos, wordmarks, or flags. Le sigh.
HOME:
AWAY:

Australia’s women’s soccer team is known as the Matildas, or rather the CommBank Matildas. That’s right: they have a name sponsor. Normally a cause for ire on this website, this sponsorship is actually worth applauding, and is emblematic of the rapidly changing market for women’s sports worldwide. CommBank dropped their deal with Australia’s popular and successful cricket team to back the Matildas, and all indications are that they’re very happy with their decision and it’s making an impact for women’s soccer all over Australia. Of course, what does it say about gender inequality in sports that the women’s team, ranked 12th in the world, needs a name sponsorship to do all of these things? Of course, all of this is rendered moot in the Olympics, and all mentions of CommBank have magically vanished just days before the Games. They’ll be back in due time, for sure.
Okay, back to the kits, which are a brand new set from Asics, who are outfitting many of Australia’s on-field teams and staff in Paris. The look features a blend of artwork by two indigenous artists, Paul Fleming and David Bosun, as well as a hint of Japanese artwork to represent Asics’ own heritage. The effect is a bit messy, like seeing someone who’s chosen a few different styles of tattoos that don’t necessarily complement one another. The designs are relegated to the shoulders and side panels, and the rest of the home kit comes to life in classic Australian green and gold, which, despite the country’s red, white, and blue flag, were officially adopted as the country’s national colors back in 1984, inspired by natural resources and the golden wattle, their national flower.
The away set is an inverted version of the home shirt, with the indigenous designs appearing in green and gold atop a white base. It’s yet to appear in the competition.
GRADE: C+
HOME:

AWAY: none yet, but should look like the regular blue but with the Olympic version of the logo.
Inside the collar of the Brazil kit, there’s a logo featuring part of the country’s flag and the words “Para Todos,” or “For All,” and that’s the theme of many Nike kits for the Olympics: they’re shared by the women’s and men’s teams. So, Team Brazil will dress much like the men’s squad and will feature two major design changes from last year’s set: the movement of the team crest to the center of the jersey for the first time in 20 years and an all-new name-and-number font.
The home kit is rendered in the classic Brazilian combo of yellow-over-blue with green accents, the green being a near-neon, Seattle Seahawk-ian hue that adorns the collars, sleeve trim, name, and numbers. Numbers on the shorts, however, appear in yellow. (The team did debut in Paris wearing its alternate white shorts with the yellow jerseys.) A sublimated pattern of various Brazilian iconography gives the top some texture, as does a wavy pattern on the sleeves, which seems borrowed from the…
…away kit, also delivered in a classic Brazil away set of blue shirt over white shorts, with that watery, oceanic pattern providing a backdrop to the national crest and a set of yellow names and numbers, and the shorts numbers appearing in navy. Teal takes the place of neon green for the sleeves and collar, and the pattern repeats at the top of the socks. Love.
It’s the collar on both sets that’s puzzling in its width: it’s not quite wide enough to be spread or popped like a traditional kit collar, but it still folds over a tiny bit. Is that even useful?
GRADE: B+
HOME:
AWAY: not seen yet.
Canada’s women have ditched the black-accented kits of the past few years for a cleaner (and relatively boring) look of solely red and white for 2024, but they will continue to have names and numbers spelled out in Power Lines, a proprietary font developed with Nike earlier this decade that’s “inspired by the maple leaf, built from the dynamic angles and lines of Canada’s most recognised and beloved symbol.” This seems about as timeless as that Tampa Bay Bucs alarm clock font of the 2010s.
The home kit boasts a very Canadian red as its dominant hue, with a centralized stack of Nike logo, Canadian flag, and player number. A Nike release calls this version of its logo, which has a red swoosh on a white oval background, “street-style,” but we’ve not seen that characterization anywhere before (other than other Nike football kits, like Uruguay’s, for example). Does “street-style” mean one can only tell it’s Nike if you’re seeing it from street-level, i.e. up close? Seems like a strange branding decision from a company that’s not ashamed to swoosh it up. Cherry red sleeves drip into cherry side stripes that connect with an aligned cherry stripe on the red shorts, alongside a contrasting white stripe, player number, and “street-style” swoosh.
The white away jersey we expect to see on the pitch mixes up the layout, dividing the “street-style” swoosh and Canadian flag to either side of the chest while the player number remains in the center. Pinstripes form the major design element, 13 of them, in fact, meant to “represent the 10 Provinces and three Territories of the country coming together as one.” The stripes here are nice, but the French ones are somehow far more chic. The red shorts are a holdover from the home kit, although we’d expect a white set to make the mix, as well, as the men’s team did wear white-over-white in the Copa America.
GRADE: C+
HOME:
AWAY: yet to appear in tournament
Our first Adidas entry into the mix comes from a federation whose men’s team just made a deep run into the finals of Copa America, so this kit has been highly visible of late. What’s unfortunate is that a nation with one of the best color palettes ends up with a primary kit that plays with fire but doesn’t look fire.
Per Adidas, the “wings of a phoenix” appear on the side panels of the home kit as a way to introduce “fresh symbols to traditional federation wear.” But the fiery swaths unnecessarily dilute Colombia’s iconic yellow-over-blue-with-red-accents look for no apparent reason, as the phoenix has neither a connection to the country’s iconography, nor can be considered “fresh” as it’s, you know, a symbol from ancient mythology. This kit can also be paired with white shorts.
The away kit, while squarely a BFBS job, actually works better, with monochromatic neon orange accents popping against the sleek (and possibly sweaty – more on that below) black fabric.
But here, as on the home kit, side stripes that stretch on an angle from the bottom of a player’s rib cage down onto the shorts and around to the player’s backside have an unintended effect of creating a Speedo-like silhouette from the rear.
About sweating, these new Adidas kits appeared to be sopping throughout the Euros and Copa America; hopefully that will not plague teams in Paris.
GRADE: C-
HOME:
The hosts with the most. As seen in the Euros, there’s no classier version of Nike’s 2024 look than the one donned by France. Les Bleues are one of the tournament favorites, and they’ll look magnifique in an understated and elegant set that defies Nike’s recent reputation for putting wild looks onto the pitch.
The home kit (which can also be paired with white shorts) has a subtle, textural pattern, and the v-neck collar and shorts are neatly trimmed in French red-white-and-blue. One gripe: while the letters and numbers are rendered in an extremely legible, 3-D block font, we miss the font from France’s 2023 World Cup kit, a French bistro-style typeface that was both easy to read and beautiful. Sadly, the oversized national logo that was used in the Euros — a richly detailed, golden version of the Gallic rooster, the country’s national symbol, situated proudly on the left chest above gold lettering that spells “F F F” for “Fédération Française de Football” — has to be omitted for the Olympics, due to branding guidelines. Instead, it’s been replaced by a simple white silhouette of the Olympic flame and the word FRANCE, also spelled out in white.
The team’s current away strip, which has not yet appeared, goes stripey, with pinstripes moving across the kit from blue to white to red, like the French flag, while maintaining the golden rooster and block-y font from the homes. The top, which swaps in a round collar and sleeve trim in all-blue, can also be paired with blue shorts.
An instant classic that could only be improved with the retention of the Francophone typeface.
GRADE: A- (we miss the rooster!)
HOME:
AWAY: TBD
For an almost unbroken chain of 70 years, German football teams have worn Adidas, and while that will indeed be the case for the German women in Paris, the unthinkable happened earlier this year when the country’s football authorities announced a switch to Nike beginning in 2027. So, the world will have three years to brace for the shock of a German kit without three stripes on its shoulders. Thanks to Olympic rules, the Paris kit will offer a sneak peek at a German kit without three stripes on its shoulders.
The home kit for Germany, as usual, is white with red, gold, and black gradient accents on the shoulders, and the number font is appropriately tech-y and block-y, as German kit fonts have utilized for some time. As with Colombia, the shorts of this 2024 Adidas template create an odd effect, whether they’re white or black: the jersey’s side stripe shoots down onto the shorts and around the back to create an diaper-shaped silhouette that flatters no one.
As for the aways, we’re a little foggy on the plans. During the Euros, German men wore a new pink set in the 2024 Adidas template that stirred controversy upon its release, but, as The Athletic recently chronicled, has been a sales and cultural juggernaut. As recently as last month, however, the German women were still sporting their 2023 away kit with a cosmic green and black top, gold accents, and completely different black shorts and fonts. We’ve yet to see any studio photos of the women’s team in the pink away set that matches the men, either, so it’s unclear what they’ll bring to Paris.
GRADE: C+ for the home, INC for the away
Thanks, Peter! Really great stuff. Peter will be back with Part II of this preview soon.
Readers? What do you think of the kits of the six nations reviewed so far?
Peter are you sure those are the exact kits the womens teams are going to wear? The mens kits are all very different due to Olympic rules about only using a single (small) maker mark and not using federation crests. link It may be different for the womens’ teams but it would seem odd.
It is correct for the women too – you can see the difference particularly on the Germany kit link
Your link shows this, but it’s important to note that jerseys may only contain one maker’s mark/brand identifier, which is much more obvious with Adidas than any other kit supplier:
link
this article is completely inaccurate. they copied and pasted. these are not the kits the teams will be wearing during the 2024 Olympics in France.
GTGFTS
26 April 2015
Game postponed due to civil unrest in downtown Baltimore
Rescheduled game held on 29 April
O’s put up 6 in the first and eventually win 8-2.
Attendance for make up game: 0.
Yeah, this isn’t entirely accurate…
Also, I believe the men’s teams have to field U23 (not U20) players, with a maximum of three overage players allowed.
The U23 rule is for Men’s only. Women’s teams tend to be the full national teams.
GTGFTU
9 Sep 2022
Oneil Cruz misses out on a cycle, but the Pittsburgh Crawfords beat St. Louis Stars 8-2.
I liked the Olympic preview. I’m not a fan but nice to be able to see differences in kits.But..sounds like the crowd here is getting restless…will check in later
I think they just expect the editors of the site to fact check before they let just anyone create an article. Not just an article but a 2 parter!
I would have waited further into the tournament to do this, or at least waited until today to start it. We can’t assume that they’ll wear the same thing as they normally do.
Australia, for example, is actually wearing Asics because that’s the outfitter for the Olympic team.
link
Japan (not in this part) is wearing a brand I don’t recognize.
link
A lot of these teams have already appeared in our men’s tournament articles this summer, so we’re largely rehashing that right now.
Especially when you consider that the soccer tournaments started one or two days before the opening ceremonies, and you could have seen all the teams in action and realized that there were significant changes in logos, designs, and even manufacturers.
Japan’s kits are still made by Adidas. Y3 is their collaboration with designer Yohji Yamamoto, which had previously only produced a Real Madrid fourth kit and a few pairs of boots.
During the Olympics, all the national team crests have to be changed. The Olympics do not allow a country’s sport federation to be on their jersey. It’s the same for all sports
I recall the olympic teams not using the federation logos, did they change it so now they do?
No, they cannot use federation logos.
So these are basically all wrong then . . .
I have reached out to Peter and asked that he send updated images, which I will swap in once I receive. Part II will be on hold as well until I receive the updated images.
My apologies for any confusion.
Requesting Part II to be double-checked for the write-up, not just the pictures. Olympic-specific crests, removed stripes on the Adidas kits, and especially new manufacturers are all pretty large omissions.
Hey all. Author here! Thanks for calling out the errors in part 1. Big miss on my part regarding the Australian switch to Asics. I’m a regular reader just like all of you, so I appreciate the opportunity!
Thanks Peter. And thanks for volunteering to put this together. Looking forward to the update.
Instead, it’s been replaced by a simple white silhouette of the Olympic flame and the word FRANCE, also spelled out in white.
Take a closer look and you’ll see that it can also be seen as a rooster’s head.