Open Extended Reactions The United States and Nike have teamed up for yet another set of kits for the men's national team, but this is a special crop of jerseys because these will be worn for the 2026 World Cup on home soil. There's no tournament quite like a home-hosted World Cup, bringing more eyes and excitement than any other. Even the U.S., which also hosted in 1994, has never hosted an event of this scale and with this many people set to watch. So how do these kits look? And where do they rank among the others the U.S. has worn since they qualified for their first modern World Cup in 1990? With an eye toward general aesthetic quality, uniqueness and, most of all, how much they properly represent the country, here is how the 18 kits the men have worn (or will wear) in the World Cup stack up. - USMNT 2026 World Cup kit reveal: A stars and stripes affair - Adidas salutes USMNT 1994 World Cup run with denim jersey - Carlisle: USMNT Big Board 5.0 1. 1994 World Cup away kit The away kit that Eric Wynalda & Co. wore in the 1994 World Cup remains the most iconic the U.S. men have ever worn in the tournament. Christian Liewig/TempSport/Corbis via Getty Images This kit is so good that Adidas is rereleasing it 32 years later even though it is no longer a U.S. Soccer sponsor and thus cannot use the crest. It's even adding an entire lifestyle collection to it and it's flying off of shelves. People love it. The denim-inspired print with waving stars is the most iconic look the Americans have ever worn, World Cup or not, because it is so uniquely, well, American. You won't confuse this kit for any other country and it works well enough on the pitch, thanks to the contrasting red shorts, that it doesn't look out of place as an actual uniform either. This checks every box and remains the most memorable kit for a team that has never established an identifiable brand. 2. 2006 World Cup home kit The U.S. crashed out in the group stage of the 2006 World Cup, but that year's home kit made for an identifiable, classic look. Stu Forster/Getty Images Fresh off of its run to the 2002 quarterfinals, and with an unprecedented media push, the U.S. entered 2006 with more attention and hype than ever before, and it had a kit to match such expectations. The red-and-blue offset stripe perfectly frames the crest, which still stands out thanks to the gold outline. The number font fits the rest of the kit and the blue shorts complement everything perfectly. If U.S. Soccer ever wanted to settle on a design and make it a permanent home kit, this would fit the bill for a white shirt that they've too often failed to make a dent with. It's simple, but has an identifiable aesthetic and expertly utilizes the red, white and blue of the flag. 3. 2006 World Cup away kit The 2006 World Cup was a disappointment for the USMNT, but their away kits made for an incredibly strong roster of uniforms. contrast/Behrendt/ullstein bild via Getty Images The U.S. went to Germany with the best kit it's ever had thanks to an away uniform just about as good as its home look. Inspired by the Americans' 1995 kit, the navy shirt with a red and white stripe that centers the number is beautiful. Like the home kit, the magic is in taking fairly traditional kit design elements and making them feel fresh, as well as turning the normally forgettable all white, or all navy, and ensuring the whole thing really pops. The word "classy" is overused for kits, but it applies here. 4. 2010 World Cup away kit The white sash over the navy of the U.S.'s 2010 away kit made for the design's best World Cup appearance. Andy Mead/YCJ/Icon SMI/Icon Sport Media via Getty Images Nike and U.S. Soccer had their sash era and, while most of them fell flat, this one really shines. The white sash pops against the navy shirt and still leaves room for the crest and number. The white shorts and navy socks kept the whole kit looking uniform from top to bottom, alternating well all the way down, and the bit of red trim around the collar and sash are a necessary contrast. The only critique of this one is that it could have used a bit more red on the shorts and socks. 5. 1994 World Cup home kit If not for the red shorts, the home kit from 1994 might've been the best uniform the U.S. men have worn at a World Cup. David Cannon / Getty Images You could make the argument that this shirt is as good as its 1994 companion. The waving stripes evoke the flag as well as the stripes on the away shirt and the set is as American as any the U.S. has ever won because of it. That counts for a lot. The only issue with this look is that they only wore it for one World Cup game, in the round of 16 when Brazil's blue shorts forced the Americans to pair red shorts with this shirt. That was a red overload and knocked down the quality of the whole thing. It's a shame they never got to wear this shirt with the blue shorts as intended. It might be the top kit on this whole list. 6. 2014 World Cup away kit John Brooks delivered a late winner in the U.S.'s late winner over Ghana in the Americans' 2014 World Cup opener. Alex Livesey - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images Affectionately coined "the Bomb Pop" kit, after the beloved popsicle it resembled, this screamed American summer. That is exactly what U.S. World Cup kits should do -- as long as the World Cup takes place in the summer. The lighter shade of blue may have been a little much for some, but it works in a kit as intentionally bombastic as this, and it only takes up a small part of the shirt at the top. The red-dominant look is unusual for the U.S., which usually likes to lean on white or navy, but it works and makes it really stand out in the lineage of U.S. kits. It helps that in the one World Cup game the Americans donned the Bomp Pops, John Brooks scored a late winner for one of the great moments in USMNT history. 7. 1998 World Cup away kit Claudio Reyna & Co. wore this unique red kit during the U.S.'s underwhelming group-stage exit from the 1998 World Cup. Michael Steele/EMPICS via Getty Images Another red kit! And it ranks this high in large part because it is the rare red U.S. kit. The federation has long eschewed red kits, but it has a bit of punch that a team that too often wears drab outfits could use. This isn't the most inventive kit, using just a thin, horizontal stripe and collar to give it some character, with a crest that's too small, but it works well enough because the red really stands out. 8. 2002 World Cup home kit Landon Donovan and the upstart Americans shone in the 2002 World Cup wearing the Nike template that they helped make famous. Tony Marshall/EMPICS via Getty Images This was not a great era for Nike, as it saddled all of its teams with the same kit templates, but the U.S. came out ahead of most countries with this outfit. It was able to work both red and blue into the side panels, as well as the red beneath the collar, with stripes on the socks that at least made it feel American and separated it from the other teams in the same template. Wearing it for two of the greatest wins in American soccer history -- against Portugal and Mexico -- sure helps, too. 9. 2026 World Cup home kit Diego Luna models the kit that the USMNT will wear at this summer's World Cup on home soil. Nike What's old is new again as Nike and U.S. Soccer have tapped back into waving stripes for the home World Cup, just like they did 32 years ago. Unfortunately, this version doesn't look nearly as good as it did in 1994, with the bizarre shading on the stripes looking like a glitch. Toss in the requirement that the name and number be on a solid color, forcing a symmetrical, hard-line box on the back of a kit whose design is very much not symmetrical or using hard lines, and this comes up short, which is a bummer because it could have been a banger. The answer for this kit, and every U.S. home kit, is to wear the Waldos with the horizontal stripes that mimic the flag. This has shades of that kit, but it ended up closer to 1994, and trying to split that baby didn't work. 10. 1990 World Cup home kit The U.S. returned to the World Cup in 1990 for the first time in 40 years, wearing a somewhat underwhelming kit from Adidas. George Tiedemann/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images When the U.S. qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 40 years, it was a bit of an afterthought. Not just for global soccer, and certainly in American sports, but for Adidas too. So the USMNT went to Italy with a simple white shirt and some blue marks that Adidas had in a template, as well as a federation crest that has changed three times since then. And still, it's not a bad shirt. The old, overly involved crest actually works as the focal point, and the shoulder stripes coming all the way down to the chest give it some character. And if that's a little underwhelming, maybe the especially short shorts the U.S. players wore with these shirts do it for you. 11. 1998 World Cup home kit The U.S.'s home kit for the 1998 World Cup is the same as the away, but the white doesn't pop in the same way the red does. SNS Group via Getty Images The 1998 kits used the exact same design, and while the away kit had some juice because it was a rare red kit, the white version is a bit forgettable. The one stripe is the primary design element, but the blue collar does give it a little something and the red outline on the blue numbers is a nice touch. It's not a kit to remember, but it does have its merits. 12. 2022 World Cup away kit The USMNT's tie-dye-look away kids at the 2022 World Cup were largely forgettable. Alex Livesey - Danehouse/Getty Images Center crests are really difficult to pull off without making the shirt look too cluttered. Nike solved that to some degree by putting their swoosh on the sleeves, so there's only the crest and number in the center of this one. As far as center crests go, this is pretty good. The rest of the kit isn't particularly remarkable, with blue and black working in a tie-dye-like fashion so at least it stands out from past efforts, but that's about all there is to say about this look. Seeing as several of the actual U.S. players reacted to the 2022 kits with middle thumbs and derision, it's hard to argue for this jersey. 13. 2022 World Cup home kit Christian Pulisic and the U.S. wore these bizarre home kits taking inspiration from other sports at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Brad Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images The U.S. endured four years of jeers after missing the 2018 World Cup, causing people to wonder if it would ever be a real soccer country. So naturally when it made it back to the biggest stage in the sport, it was saddled with a kit that took its inspiration from other sports. No, that's not a joke. The sleeve stripes, center crest and patterning all came from American football, basketball and hockey, presumably to line up with the sporting calendar because the World Cup was being hosted in the winter for the first time. It's not a terrible design, with the red and blue popping well enough and the socks are sharp, but it doesn't feel like a coherent kit because why would there be stripes on the sleeves like that in soccer? Of course, there wouldn't be. That's for other sports. 14. 2026 World Cup away kit Tyler Adams models the away kit that the U.S. will wear at this summer's World Cup. Nike This kit will play well enough on the streets, where it being such a dark blue that it's near enough to black will earn it some fans, but the kit feels incomplete. The lack of trim, the shaded stars and removing the color from the crest all makes it look more like a training kit than one for games, let alone a World Cup jersey. It just looks unfinished. It also highlights how much of a miss U.S. Soccer's redesigned crest is. The absence of color on the kit requires the crest to carry a lot and brand this as distinctly American soccer, but a clip art logo better suited to a Walmart Fourth of July shirt doesn't do that. 15. 2010 World Cup home kit The sash of the U.S.'s 2010 home shirt might has well have been invisible, making this a disappointing take on the design. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images U.S. Soccer's sash era wasn't a bad idea. After all, it gave us the excellent 2010 away kit and a sharp red kit in 2011. The problem is when they weren't willing to commit to the sash, but threw it on there anyway, like they did with 2012's Waldos and blue shirt with white sleeves. The worst of those was this kit, which looks like another typical white shirt, but there is a very light gray sash across the front. It takes up space and limits the ability to add any other design elements, while barely showing up itself. This would have looked so much better if the sash was actually blue, or even red (apologies to Peru), but Landon Donovan wore it to beat Algeria at the death so it gets a little boost. 16. 2002 World Cup away kit Nike's template for the 2002 World Cup left the U.S. with few identifying design elements on its away top. CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP via Getty Images Whereas the 2002 home kit used the template Nike handed them and made it work with the red and blue side panels, the away kit used no red. It was just a navy shirt with some white marks and the only hint that it was a U.S. shirt was on the crest. If you grabbed a dozen of these and took off the crest, you and your friends would fit in at any Sunday league. At least Hugh Dallas couldn't blame being distracted by the U.S. kit when he missed the clear handball that would have given the Americans the chance to equalize against Germany in the quarterfinal that they played so well in. 17. 1990 World Cup away kit Carin Jennings-Gabarra of the U.S. women's national team models the 1990 away kit as the men never wore it at their first World Cup in 40 years. George Tiedemann/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images While there is some charm in the design of the Americans' 1990 kits and it works well enough for the home shirt, it doesn't really translate to the away. The shade of blue is off and the crest doesn't pop quite the same. It's where you can really tell the U.S. hadn't been to a World Cup since 1950 and everyone was somewhat shocked that it managed to qualify 40 years later, forcing everyone to slap together kits for the trip to Italy. 18. 2014 World Cup home kit The U.S.'s home kit at the 2014 World Cup did not live up to the beauty of Jermaine Jones' long-distance goal against Portugal. Stuart Franklin - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images Why bother spending over $120 on a U.S. kit when you can go down to Old Navy and buy a white polo then sew the crest onto the chest and call it a day? This is probably the most uninspired kit the U.S has ever worn and it's astonishing that several levels of people at multiple organizations greenlit this kit. No tiny red trim, or barely perceptible hoops can save this kit. Did Nike and U.S. Soccer forget they had a World Cup coming up and run out of time? At least you could wear it to the office and nobody would accuse you of looking inappropriate in sportswear.