June 16 – adidas has beaten Nike to the title of the World Cup’s top kit supplier. The German brand are outfitting 14 of the competing nations, ahead of Nike’s 12 and Puma’s 11.
Collectively, the industry’s “big three” have dressed 37 of the 48 teams in the competition, giving them a portfolio consisting of more than three-quarters of the World Cup market.
The brand with the three stripes boasts debatably the strongest portfolio of national teams, supplying reigning world champions Argentina alongside European champions Spain, home nation Germany, host nation Mexico, and other big hitters in Belgium, Japan and Colombia.
Yet this will also be the final World Cup in which Germany wears the three stripes before a historic switch to Nike takes effect from 2027.
The decision by the German Football Association (DFB) to end a partnership spanning more than 70 years sent shockwaves through the sportswear industry when it was announced in 2024 – though Nike’s offer, worth roughly double Adidas’ existing agreement, was too good to turn down.
Still equipped with world champion status and football’s greatest ever player, Argentina are still Adidas’ crown jewel. The company extended its partnership with the Argentine Football Association in 2024, ensuring Lionel Messi and his eventual successors will continue wearing Adidas kits through to 2028.
Nike may trail its rival in terms of total representation, but the American giant retains some of the tournament’s biggest commercial assets. England, Brazil, France and the Netherlands headline a roster that also includes hosts U.S. and Canada, alongside Croatia, Uruguay and South Korea.
Add Germany into that roster from 2027 and their position feels a lot stronger – even after having lost Portugal (and by proxy Cristiano Ronaldo) to Puma last year, though Ronaldo himself will still wear custom Nike boots.
Puma themselves are right on the heels of Nike, completing the podium with 11 nations, led by Portugal and a strong presence across Africa including Morocco, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal and Ivory Coast. The brand has almost doubled its roster in that four-year span, up from six.
Compared with the 2022 World Cup, smaller suppliers have taken more of a hold: in Qatar, six nations wore kits supplied by brands outside Adidas, Nike and Puma. Four years later, that number has risen to 11, accounting for almost a quarter of the tournament field.
The reflex is to point to the inflated number of teams competing – 48 compared to Qatar’s 32 – but this trend applies both in relative (23% vs 18%) and overall (11 teams vs 6 teams) numbers.
That diversification may not threaten the dominance of Adidas, Nike and Puma anytime soon, but it does mean the kit landscape at this World Cup is broader than ever before.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at [email protected]