First International Break of 2023 Sees Spate of New National Team Kits Launched

With domestic leagues paused for the first international break of the 2023 soccer calendar, several national teams have unveiled new kits for the new year over the past month or so. Here are some of the unveilings that came across our radar, in no particular order:

🇲🇰 NORTH MACEDONIA 🇲🇰

After fan pushback forced the Football Federation of Macedonia to reverse course on planned new kits for European Championships in 2021, the federation and manufacturer Jako have returned with new kits for the North Macedonia national team. All three kits — red home, white away and black third — feature a pattern of yellow lines forming sunbeams radiating out from the middle of the chest where numbers are printed, carrying forward the sunbeam motif from previous kits that supporters were so attached to.

🇷🇴 ROMANIA 🇷🇴

Romania turns to its flag for the inspiration for its new national team kits, made by Joma. The colors of the Romanian flag are reflected in the yellow home kit, the red away kit and the blue third kit. All three feature a notched collar and trim on the sleeve cuffs mimicking the Romanian flag. All three kits also feature an embossed on the sides featuring symbols from the coats of arms of all five Romanian provinces, which are also found in the national team crest.

*Courtesy **@echipananationala** / Instagram*

🇸🇦 SAUDI ARABIA 🇸🇦

After playing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar in uniforms made by Nike, Saudi Arabia has switched to Adidas in 2023. Their new home kit keeps the country’s usual dark green base, this time augmented with a tonal pattern of triangles that’s similar to one Adidas used for French Ligue 1 side Stade Brestois 29’s 2022-23 third kit. The away kit, meanwhile, has a solid white front and back with green raglan sleeves and gold Adidas shoulder stripes.

🇽🇰 KOSOVO 🇽🇰

Kosovo joined UEFA and manufacturer Erreà’s Kit Assistance Scheme in 2023, which means new home, away and third kits for the nation of 1.87 million people. All three kits — the blue home, white away and black third — feature tonal prints of maps of the country.

🇬🇹 GUATEMALA 🇬🇹

The standout element of Guatemala’s new home and away kits for 2023, made by Umbro, is the sash running diagonally across the front with a pattern inspired by traditional Gautemalan textiles. The home kit is white with light blue and dark blue striping around the V-neck collar and sleeve cuffs, while the away kit is dark blue with light blue and white trim.

*Courtesy **@fedefutguate** / Instagram*

🇩🇰 DENMARK 🇩🇰

Denmark’s new kits for 2023, made by Hummel, are not exactly new. While the team wore a tonal design during the 2022 FIFA World Cup to protest Qatar’s human rights record, that design appears in its full red-and-white glory on the 2023 kits, with a red base for the home kit and a white base for the away kit. The designs on the chest and sleeves are directly inspired by the kits the Danish team wore in 1992 when they won the European Championship. The all-red shirt that was Denmark’s first-choice shirt at the World Cup is still registered as their third kit heading into 2023.

🇬🇷 GREECE 🇬🇷

For their 2023 kits, Greece has gone with some rather plain teamwear options from supplier Nike. The home kit features a pattern of blue diagonal stripes forming crosses on a white base; this pattern is also used for some European clubs that Nike outfits, most notably German Bundesliga side RB Leipzig. The away kit is solid white with no embellishments, while the third kit is solid blue with white striping on the sides, sleeve cuffs and back collar.

🇸🇻 EL SALVADOR 🇸🇻

El Salvador’s home kits for 2023, made by Umbro, feature an abstract pattern of tonal zigzags on the royal blue base, while the white away kits have a geometric pattern in light blue covering the entire shirt. Both have dark blue collars and sleeve cuffs with light blue striping, and both have the country’s “ES” crest and the Umbro logo centered on the chest.

*Courtesy **@laselecta_slv** / Instagram*

🇭🇰 HONG KONG 🇭🇰

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s national team enter 2023 with new kits using Nike’s latest Dri-FIT ADV template. The home kits are solid red, with white sleeve cuffs and a white Nike swoosh on the right chest. The away kits are solid white; the bright red crew neck collar and sleeve cuffs have a darker red stripe going through the middle.

*Courtesy **@hkfa_official** / Instagram*

🇧🇦 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 🇧🇦

The Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced a deal with Spanish sportswear company Kelme to become their national team kit supplier on March 13. By March 23, the national team was wearing blue Kelme kits with a tonal zigzag pattern in a European Championship qualifying match against Iceland. As Footy Headlines points out, this may be a temporary teamwear kit until a new custom design is rolled out. Bosnia and Herzegovina then wore white Kelme kits with a similar zigzag pattern in a match against Slovakia on March 26.