How Nike Leaned on USMNT Player Input for 2026 World Cup Kits

Many U.S. players were left underwhelmed with the kits for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The new looks for the USMNT at the 2026 World Cup on home soil. | Courtesy of U.S. Soccer

When the U.S. men’s national team stepped onto the pitch at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, few loved the threads they wore. The kits were red, white and blue—but other than that, they didn’t offer much. 

For a country known for its brash, proud and aggressive personality, the Nike kits didn’t reflect that. While they weren’t entirely templated, they failed to offer a sense of iconism or even patriotism, clear factors that can define World Cup kits for any country. Unhappy with those results, the players pushed back. A change was necessary for 2026.

Christian Pulisic dons one of the largely uninspiring 2022 World Cup kits. | Danielle Parhizkaran-Imagn Images

“The team wasn't too fond of the [uniforms] we were going to be wearing [in Qatar], just because we didn’t feel it represented us necessarily and the country as we’d like,” midfielder and 2022 captain Tyler Adams told Yahoo Sports. “When you have an opportunity to represent your country at a World Cup … you just want to love the kit.”

“We [are] just as angry as y’all !!!” winger Tim Weah wrote to fans on Instagram at the time. 

Four years later, the home and away kits for the 2026 World Cup, which the United States will co-host with Concacaf neighbors Canada and Mexico, offer a much more outgoing look, designed through help from the players themselves.

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The 2026 World Cup Kit Unveiled

On Monday, Nike and U.S. Soccer revealed the new looks. The primary kit features wavy stripes of the U.S. flag and harkens back to the 2010 World Cup kit, when the USMNT, led by Jay DeMerit and Landon Donovan, qualified for the Round of 16.

The darker look for 2026 brings back a slight denim flavor from the 1994 World Cup, the only other men’s edition of the tournament to be played in the U.S., while offering a subdued tone with its monochromatic stars only visible up close. 

“For me, it was simple: I want something timeless,” Adams said. “I want to have that kit you look back at in 30 years, and you're like, ‘That's still the best one.’ … It's pretty straightforward: You have to have stars and stripes of some sort. They represent us perfectly.”

pic.twitter.com/B6piLDeKrN

— Balogun (@balogun) March 16, 2026

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2022 Player Pushback Key to 2026 World Cup Design

Following the reaction to the 2022 kits, Nike invited players to provide insight into the design process for 2026, a stark move from the brand’s traditional kit-planning strategies. The American sportswear company also kept the players involved through nearly every step of the design process, before unveiling it to the team in Austin in October. 

Firstly, the U.S. needed to find its identity. If all goes to plan, the 2026 World Cup kits will become an iconic piece of American sporting history, given the grandeur of the tournament, the team's current form, and the 250th year of independence. 

These are our Stars & Stripes.

Kits for the believers who dare to want more. pic.twitter.com/N8kFsYi8VW

— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) March 16, 2026

“We literally picked everything,” Adams told The Athletic. “I feel like we had more say than Nike had in it, to be honest with you. And, you know, we have some opinionated players on our team.”

Nike asked the players several pointed questions throughout the process, including what it meant to play for their nation and their favorite World Cup kits of the past. It all went into the process, eventually developing the brash looks for the 2026 tournament, with one outgoing kit and one that, according to The Athletic, fit the players’ wants of “something we can wear to the [night]club.”

The USMNT will debut the kits in March friendlies against Portugal and Belgium in Atlanta, while manager Mauricio Pochettino plans to name the 26 men who will sport the looks at this summer’s showcase ahead of the June friendlies—with the early roster aimed at avoiding heartbreak, and in the worst case, any burned new kits.

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