Adidas has had a long relationship with football. Their three-striped boots have been worn by great players down the ages in World Cups and Champions League finals. Their football kits have also been a staple of the game for 50 years. Over the years, most fans have worn at least one kit made by Adidas.
So, it is no easy task selecting the Adidas kits that stood out the most over the years. And stood out for being cool, too. It’s not something a kit would be considered to be prior to them being made from more synthetic nylon, when more attention was paid to design. This kicked in from the late 1970s. While many will debate the final choices, ranked here are the 10 coolest Adidas kits in football history.
Rating factors
Legacy – a shirt may or may not look cool, but has become so simply by the quality of the team that wore it.
Style – the right combination of colour and design can make a kit look great.
Magic moments – special moments in which the kit was worn can enhance a kit's coolness.
Arsenal 'bruised banana' Adidas - 1991 to 1993, Brazil Yellow, 1970 World Cup (Maybe with Pele holding World Cup if possible), Cameroon sleeveless Puma from 2002 African Cup of Nations and World Cup Related
10 Most Iconic Kits in Football History [Ranked]
The 10 most iconic kits in football history have been named and ranked in order.
10 Luton Town
1982/83
Luton Town have rocked a variety of kits over the years, with home shirts oscillating between orange and white. This 1983 effort is the very essence of retro Adidas. With the snug neckline and high, short sleeved sleeves, it’s an ideal top to show off the guns, or indeed a tan.
It was also a time, the 1980s, when Luton Town were a handful in England’s topflight. This kit was worn a few years before Luton had astroturf replacing grass at their ground. Yet Kenilworth Road is still seen as one of the most unique stadiums in British football history.
9 Liverpool
1989 to 1990
ian-rush-liverpool
Back when Liverpool wore this flickering red-flame jersey, they won the league title. That was in 1990. Around then, if you told Liverpool fans they would have to wait 30 years to win the English title again, they would have thought you were mad.
This was kit worn before Anfield’s Kop had had seats fitted. Those terraces cheered legends like Ian Rush, John Barnes and Ray Houghton as they overcame the disappointment of losing the title to Arsenal on the last game of the season in 1989. It was also the last kit before Kenny Dalglish left as club manager in 1991.
8 Ajax
2002/2003
Zlatan
Ajax didn’t start wearing Adidas kits until the twenty-first century, but their red and white kit has always been a classic. In the 1970s, Ajax won the European Cup three times in a row. Johan Cruyff was the star of the team, and that kit was one of the most iconic kits in football history.
The 2002/03 shirt was a throwback to that kit in some ways, with his clean, narrow red strip. Not to mention the unusual vertical layering of the sponsor. It was also a shirt worn by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored five Ajax goals in the Champions League that season.
7 Arsenal Away
1991 to 1993
Ian Wright
Arsenal have been known for having a yellow away kit going back to when they wore the colour in the 1971 FA Cup final win over Liverpool. That season they won the double. This kit was yellow, but with a twist. It featured black chevrons across the yellow shirt, with the red club badge and JVC sponsor fighting for attention in the splurge of colour.
This was when George Graham was manager of the Gunners. It was also a period of time that Ian Wright was prolific for the Gunners. He scored all four Arsenal goals in the jersey in a 4-0 win away to Southampton. In recent years, it has become something of a classic, even if it wasn’t thought of as such at the time.
6 Argentina Away
1990 World Cup
Maradona
Argentina went from La Coq Sportif, which they wore to win the World Cup in 1986, to Adidas in 1990. This was another successful campaign for the Argentines, as they once again reached the final. However, this time, they lost 1-0 to West Germany in the final.
Argentina wore their away kit in the final. So, instead of wearing sky blue and white stripes, they donned this dark royal blue shirt. For football fans, seeing Diego Maradona in this colour was reminiscent of the jersey he wore in 1986 when he scored the goal of the century against England. It was this changed shirt that was almost Maradona’s superhero outfit. Although that was really every shirt Maradona won. A great-looking kit, either with white or black shorts, especially with Maradona pulling the strings in midfield.
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5 France
Euro '84
The victorious French team at Euro 1984, with Michel Platini and Alain Giresse.
This was the kit in which Michel Platini inspired France to win Euro ’84. Platini was one of the best players of the 1980s, and his performances in the European Championships cemented that. He scored an incredible nine goals, including one in the final against Spain.
With the three thin white hoops beneath a thicker red hoop above and a collar gave it a tennis shirt vibe. Typically, Platini would wear the shirt untucked, sometimes making it appear that he was not wearing shorts. Looking at the shirt makes you instantly recall the artistry of Platini and the great tournament France had in that Euros.
4 Boca Juniors
1982
Diego Maradona spent three seasons with Boca Juniors. However, the first was 13 years before the second and third began. He was with the Argentine giants for a season in 1981/82 before his move to Barcelona. Maradona was sensational for Boca in that recognisable kit of dark royal blue and mustard yellow. Not to mention those snug shorts.
Of course, the design of Boca’s kit hasn’t deviated a great deal from the yellow hoop on a blue jersey. But the addition of the three stripes, and with Maradona in the kit, it was a winning formula, making it an incredibly cool kit.
3 Marseille
1993
Marcel Desailly
In the early 1990s, Adidas changed their Trefoil three-leaf logo with a rebranded logo of three stripes of different lengths. One kit template they introduced had that logo on the shoulder of the jersey. Liverpool had it, as did Bayern Munich. Yet it looked quite as good as when Marseille wore it en route to winning the 1993 Champions League.
Something about the clean white jersey being offset by three stripes of aqua blue made it look fresh and vibrant. Even more so when they won that Champions League final 1-0 against AC Milan in Munich. A wonderful kit, arguably the best of that era.
2 West Germany
Euro '88 and World Cup '90
West Germany 1990
Although England fans of a certain age are nostalgic about Italia ’90, it was in fact, packed full of fairly turgid football. West Germany won the tournament. Having reached their third final in a row, and their fifth in seven World Cups, they won their first world title since 1974. They did so in a splendid kit, which they debuted in Euro ’88.
Prior to that, German kits had simply been black shorts and white shirts. The addition of the national flag being stretched across the jersey sounded terrible, but it looked majestic. The 1990 World Cup saw Lothar Matthaus and Jurgen Klinsmann at their peak.
1 Netherlands
Euro '88
Netherlands Euro 88
The kit worn by the Netherlands in Euro ’88 is an instant reminder of Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten. Both were brilliant players. Both scored in the final of that tournament, which saw the Dutch win their first major international honour. With its shaded orange shades, it’s one of the all-time iconic kits.
This was a slightly different effort for the Dutch. Unlike in years gone by and years to come, they didn’t wear black or white shorts with the orange jersey. Not in the final, anyway. In that 2-0 win over the Soviet Union, they wore orange shorts.
It sounds bad, but it looked great. Although the Dutch team of that tournament could have worn Coventry City’s brown away kit from the 1970s and looked fantastic. But in the light tangerine, with the old Adidas Trefoil logo, they were peerless.
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