Other…

Catch-all for other stuff, because not sure how to classify this. Several tweets detailing all the uniform matchups and referee kits. Some, uh, interesting decisions… Atendendo a pedidos, o documento com as combinações de uniformes da fase de grupos.Jogos 1-8 pic.twitter.com/kv1rpGfTse— Leonardo Bertozzi (@lbertozzi) June 1, 2026

One other point on Brazil and wearing their alternate kit. From 1998 to 2014, Brazil played a grand total of 31 World Cup matches. They wore their alternate (non-yellow) kit a grand total of two times. In the 2018, 2022, and, now 2026 they will wear it a grand total of 3 times. I would argue they didn't need to wear them at all in any of those. Same thing with Germany. Below is the number of matches they played in the World Cup and in parentheses is when they wore their non-white kit. 1990: 7 (1) 1994: 5 (0) 1998: 5 (0) 2002: 7 (0) 2006: 7 (0) 2010: 7 (3) 2014: 7 (2) 2018: 3 (1) 2022: 3 (0) 2026: 3 (1) In 1990, they played England who were wearing white. Makes sense. In 2010, they wore black against Argentina, Uruguay, and Ghana who all wore white or light blue. Makes sense. In 2014, they wore black against the US (wore white) and Brazil. I think yellow and white, especially at night is not a clash. I mean Brazil and Germany played a World Cup final in their traditional colors, but Ecuador and Germany can't?

Christina Unkel couldn't get a role for the World Cup?

Netherlands in 1994 and England in 2002, right? The 1994 one was interesting because FIFA then allowed yellow v orange in the 1998 semifinal. In 1994, they made both teams change to get to blue v white (Netherlands had a white away kit that tournament). I was told the argument was orange v yellow wasn’t good for black and white tv and FIFA largely abandoned that standard by 1998. 2002… I think it was the shorts and sock matching issue. If England had first choice kit then they were white/blue/white. Brazil therefore could not go yellow/blue/white. They had to change to white shorts and blue socks. I imagine they didn’t like that look with the yellow shirt? So just opted to make the full change rather than go the hybrid route.Correct. The '94 one was interesting and I think it also might have had to do with the fact the game was in the afternoon and middle of the day. Yellow and orange in sunshine might not be enough of a contrast. Interestingly, they both played in '98 and wore their traditional kits. In '02, I never got why Brazil didn't wear yellow and blue socks and shorts like they did for the Final against Germany. I'm thinking if the England vs. Brazil game was at night they would have wore yellow. I think yellow in the sunshine might not be enough contrast against white. That's only explanation I have.

Gross! Get off my lawn! Old man yelling at clouds!I actually considered all three of these over “ugh.” But figured you’d take one of them so wanted to see which direction you’d go in.

USA vs Germany. It's fun to see a ref give the old advantage signal with such enthusiasm.

I think the quirkiest thing from a referee perspective is that there is a magenta kit that we'll see only once in Saudi Arabia v Uruguay. I don't understand. I also think it's interesting that Morocco's red and France's blue show as long sleeves. The goalkeeper kits are detailed enough to show short sleeve vs. long sleeve match-to-match, so I really wonder if Mexico and France plan to have long sleeves for those games or it is just the design submitted for the file? Yeah, surprised not to see the turquoise kit there. I presume the dark hue of the Qatar kit is not good for a contrast with black. But, honestly, that probably means red (or definitely the magenta) would work. Not sure why you'd go for the yellow with a yellow goalkeeper and a very light Switzerland kit. Will have to wait. All group stage matches are there if you click through. Another one that stood out for me is Iran v New Zealand. Yellow referee kit when green would work better. I actually wonder if the political connotations of green for Iran came into play in the decision-making there. Probably not, but I can't come up with a reason for choosing the lighter color when one team is in white and keepers aren't in green. Yellow seems a similarly uninspiring choice for Uzbekistan v Colombia (because Colombia's blue really wouldn't clash with green or blue and they have neon socks). Then there's the weird stuff like Canada v Qatar where either team could wear red, neither team does, but then the referee doesn't go in red when he could. That stuff baffles me. I get kit suppliers and federations want to get the alternate jerseys out but then why not put the referees in red? Panama v Croatia is a fun one where you get the least worst option if you don't want to match the keepers (which FIFA didn't care about elsewhere?). I think Morocco v Haiti might stand out the most for me, though, as one that could be deceptively problematic. The green referee kit with green Morocco shorts could be weird. I'm not sure why Haiti couldn't wear their alternate kit here and open the door to the black or blue referee kit. Actually, no, Ecuador v Germany might be worse. There's going to be a TON of color on the field in that game and the referee comes close to matching Germany's shorts and socks. No good options but maybe just red and not worry about the Germany keeper? Also Ecuador's shorts and socks match Germany's shirt, right?! That could be a mess. Wouldn't be surprised if that got changed by the time of the match. Also, why no green kit on Uruguay v Spain? It seems the 100% easy default choice. Okay, I'll stop now!I think you've probably already put more thought into kits than any of the decision-makers at FIFA who are coordinating this. I mean there are teams who are wearing their away kit the entire group stage. There are teams who are wearing their home kits the whole time after rather noticeable mark...

Oh geez. So referees no longer need to be distinct from goalkeepers? There are at least 3 direct conflicts.Referees have been allowed to conflict with keepers in high level games for the last several years. There is a conflict 10% of the games I watch. I also heard that Clattenburg will be the top rules analyst on Fox, with Machnik doing the lower profile games.

I also heard that Clattenburg will be the top rules analyst on Fox, with Machnik doing the lower profile games.Cant wait for all the Dr. Joe quotes.

Other than Portugal and the Netherlands all the big nations will wear all their kits in the group stage which tells you the influence the manufacturers had. 90% of these changes are purely due to kit manufacturers wanting the shirts on display. No other logical explanation. It's not a coincidence. Another example of football administrators making the game worse and me being an old man yelling at the clouds. So many of these are unnecessary. Group A: Mexico couldn't wear green against Korea and Korea couldn't wear white? Group B: Canada couldn't wear red against the Qatar white? Group C: Scotland can't wear navy/black against Haiti's white, but Morocco can go white against Scotland's navy/black? Brazil has to wear their alternate against Haiti and Haiti can't wear blue? Yet, Scotland in navy and Brazil in traditional yellow is not a problem? Group D: I get that yellow and white might not always be enough of a contrast in Germany versus Ecuador, but I don't agreed with it. No reason for Germany to wear black. There is enough of a contrast. Group H: Uruguay vs. Spain is by far the most grotesque and unnecessary change. Red versus light blue would work perfectly fine. Group I: Norway can't wear red against Senegal white? France can't wear all navy versus Norway red? Group L: Panama is home against England and their jersey is all red, yet they have to change to their alternate kit and England has to change to their alternate red? So unnecessary.