Every FIFA Women’s World Cup Uniform, Ranked

On July 20, the FIFA Women’s World Cup is set to kick off in Australia and New Zealand. The ninth edition of the tournament promises to be its most competitive ever, with reigning Olympic gold medalist Canada and plucky Euro 2022 winner England among the contenders to knock the four-time champion U.S.A. off its throne. 

But the battle for global footballing supremacy has already begun in the aisles of sporting goods stores the world over. The vast majority of the new kits that you’ll see on the pitch this summer have already been released, and—as longtime GQ readers already know—the designs of female sports uniforms are often way wilder and more experimental than their male counterparts. In the case of the WWC, that willingness to push the envelope has yielded a handful of instant classics we can’t wait to rock…and a few serious eyesores that feel unfit for the beautiful game. 

To help you determine which squads are worthy of your support—at least from an aesthetic standpoint—we’ve ranked the kits from all 26 countries who have dropped ‘em thus far. To simplify the process a little, we aggregated the scores from both the home and away strips rather than rating them individually—so don’t get mad at us when an iconic home shirt (apologies in advance to Argentina’s sky-blue stripes) gets dragged further down the list by a swing-and-a-miss backup. 

1. Jamaica

Up the Reggae Girlz! From the colors (that rich chocolate brown!) to the retro details (those pinstripes!), everything about Jamaica’s utterly gorgeous kits feels vibey and considered. Which makes sense, given they were designed by menswear megastar—and recent GQ Creativity Awards honoree—Grace Wales Bonner, whose smash-hit collaborative Adidas line has long been influenced by ‘80s Jamaican dancehall. 

2. France

As you’ll see, Nike largely kept its World Cup offerings pretty clean and simple. In a few cases, this was a less-is-less sort of dynamic. But when it works, it works, and France is the most successful example. The subtly textured, pale blue away jersey, in particular, possesses all the quiet elegance of an Agnès Varda film. 

3. Japan

The Samurai Blue’s geometric home shirts—also worn by Japan’s men in Qatar last year—remain one of the most striking unis in all of international football. But it’s the alluring women’s-team-only away shirt, a painterly nod to Mount Fuji sunsets, that secures the 2011 champions a spot near the top of the table. 

4. Nigeria

 Nike turned Nigeria’s wild-style kits for the 2018 Men’s World Cup into a global street-style moment, with virtually all of the neon-tinged gear—from tracksuits to game shorts—selling out instantaneously, like a hyped-up sneaker drop. The 2023 editions don’t quite hit those epic highs, but they’re plenty tasty and truly unlike anything else on the list. 

5. Brazil

Brazil’s legendary home kit needs no introduction. And while the tropical leaf print on the secondary jersey’s sleeves perhaps skew a touch too Parrot Head for our taste (and represent a definite downgrade from the fierce leopard print of its immediate predecessor) it’s still a supremely strong design worthy of the Seleção. 

6. Canada

After the Canadian men suffered the indignity of being the only team in Qatar without new uniforms, the women’s side has been blessed with a couple of fresh bangers: a bold, ‘90s-esque maple leaf pattern on the home reds, and an ultra-minimalist knockout for the away whites. 

7. Denmark

At last, our first non-Adidas, non-Nike entrant! The vastly underrated Danish sportswear brand Hummel cooked up these slick numbers for its national team, both embossed with an understated whiz-bang pop-art graphic across the torso. 

8. China

Another benefactor of Nike’s pared-back design philosophy. China’s red-and-yellow palette pops hard on these latest kits. The home jersey features a graphic print inspired by xiangyun, the traditional Chinese clouds that symbolize good fortune. A great option for anyone (like yours truly) who’s forever on the hunt for a cool red shirt to wear on Lunar New Year.

9. New Zealand

New Zealand sneaks into the top ten here more for the idea of its home uniform—shrouded in the silver fern motif worn by many Kiwi national teams, including the famed All Blacks rugby squad—than the execution, which is reminiscent of someone’s leftover stencil project from eighth-grade art class. Kudos for trying something, though! 

10. Korea

There’s nothing wrong with Korea’s uniforms, per se—they’re crisp and legible with a couple of very nice color schemes. It’s just that compared to the memorably funky sets the Korean men sported in Qatar, they look rather boring. 

11. Colombia

The Galaxy Foamposites as a soccer kit: Not bad!  

12. England

England has a long history of fantastic kits—many of them made by Umbro, the great British football outfitter that is thus far sadly unrepresented at this tournament. These Nike joints are just OK, which is why they’ve landed near the midway point of the list. 

13. Argentina

If uniforms were being graded individually, Argentina’s storied home stripes would rank near the tippy-top. Sadly, they’ve been dragged down to mediocrity here by La Albiceleste’s away jerseys, which are purportedly inspired by the country’s “diverse natural landscapes” but look more like a rejected Windows 98 screensaver. 

14. Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s gold-striped away jersey is fetching, and their red home strip is serviceable enough. Something about that “CR” crest feels very FIFA Create A Club, though—a little too cartoony and generic—knocking their overall wearability down a few pegs.  

15. Norway

Nike gave Norway virtually the same uniforms as Korea, only without the pink side stripes that make the Korean away numbers memorable. The sporting gear equivalent of the shrugging emoji. 

16. Australia

So nearly a solid set of kits from Australia here, but ruined by the swirling effect on the home shirt, which seems more a dull afterthought than a genuine design feature. 

17. Spain

The digitized florals framing the away jersey are a cool idea, but in practice they wind up feeling too much like something your woo-woo aunt in Sedona would wear to vortex yoga. 

18. Netherlands

As with the Dutch men’s home kit in Qatar, the Oranje’s orange remains the wrong orange. The graphics on the away shirt, meanwhile, look cool from a distance but read like deformed iterations of the Twitter logo up close.  

19. Germany

Another country with a proud history of standout football kits underwhelms for Australia & New Zealand 2023. Do better for your home nation, Adidas! 

20. Sweden

Nobody in the room put their hand up to say that the enormous blue splotches on Sweden’s away shirts are too easily mistaken for sweat stains?  

21. USA

The reigning champions deserve so, so much better than this. The paint splatter on the home whites feels unimaginative, while Nike’s digitized tree-bark-esque print—used to such great effect elsewhere, like on France’s kits—is a poor fit for the royal blue and red of the away unis. 

22. Portugal

Terrazzo tiling looks dated in your kitchen—and even worse on a soccer kit. 

23. Italy

Marble looks great in your kitchen—and horrendous on a soccer kit.

24. Panama

Reebok was responsible for designing just one set of uniforms for the World Cup this year, and all that extra creative attention resulted in…a soccer-ball-like hexagon pattern on Panama’s home reds. Yikes.  

25. Vietnam 

Love a collared jersey in theory, but Vietnam’s take just really isn’t working, especially in conjunction with that wispy, distracting print. 

26. Ireland 

Ireland wound up in the last spot mainly due to a technicality: They only have one kit released thus far…and it’s pretty mid.