The biggest ever edition of the European Championships will get underway shortly and the best part about the increase to 24 teams is that we have (mostly) terrible jerseys to mock!
Soccer is a sport that generally brings out either the very best (the Socceroos 2014 World Cup Strip) or the very worst (the Socceroos Pro Hart special Strip) for jerseys and that is certainly the case at Euro 2016.
Below we have ranked the 24 nations in Euro 2016 based on a combination of both their home and away strips and there are a number of very controversial decisions!
24. Russia
I find it very hard to believe that Putin would approve such an awful kit!
The home jersey looks as though it was made out of leftover dress material, while their away strip takes patriotism to a simply obnoxious level.
23. Turkey
When did Spiderman qualify for the Euro 2016?
This looks like the horrendous Superhero Jerseys that the NRL roll out once a season in a desperate attempt to con kids and the Aqua coloring does not help this become any more fashionable!
22. Spain
The Spain home jersey is a classic, but their away strip is an absolute disaster.
What we are sure is meant to be an artistic display of triangles just looks as though somebody has violently vomited down the front of a plain white shirt!
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21. Germany
Germany’s home strip is a model of German efficiency, but their away jersey looks like a middle aged man’s bed shirt.
The only positive we can find about the strip is that they have correctly added a fourth star following Germany’s fourth World Cup win in 2014!
20. Sweden
What is the deal with Adidas producing bed shirts?
Sweden’s home strip is fairly Plain Jane – you can’t do much with Yellow and Blue – but the away jersey looks like the default jersey option in FIFA with a Swedish Flag thrown on for good measure.
19. Ukraine
What did we just say about Blue And Yellow?
The artistic stripes in the background make this jersey look like a gross scarf that a British chav would wear and that button design went out over a decade ago!
18. Ireland
The Irish have decided to ruin what is a perfectly good jersey with a very tacky sponsorship.
We know that Ireland’s economy is in the toilet, but surely the sponsorship money from Three was not worth this slap in the face to national pride!
17. Wales
Wales starts a run of red and white jerseys that look extremely similar.
Their home jersey basically just looks like a vintage Liverpool strip, but their away kit looks like a training jersey with heinous fluro green piping.
16. Austria
I could tell you that this jersey belonged to Austria, Switzerland or the Czech Republic and you would be none the wiser.
Austria’s coat of arms is pretty badass, but that is the only real positive going on here.
15. Switzerland
Puma have obviously elected to save time and money by making the jerseys of Switzerland and Austria almost identical.
The away strip looks like better suited to retired Swiss cyclist Fabian Cancellara than Xherdan Shaqiri and his Swiss teammates!
14. Czech Republic
These are both jerseys that you can set a watch too, but there is very little character here.
We expect better from a country that is home to the famous Prague Pub Crawls!
13. Romania
This is another fairly no-nonsense strip and it is very reminiscent of the style of football played by this Romanian side.
The problem is that it looks better suited to a Div 3 Overs 35s team than the finals of the European Championship!
12. Slovakia
It is important to note that this is the jersey of Slovakia and not Slovenia – a classic mix-up that is sure to be made countless times during the tournament.
This is a inoffensive number, but it doesn’t make us want to pick Slovakia as our team to follow during Euro 2016.
11. Italy
It is very tough to go wrong with the famous blue of the Azzuri.
The collar on their home kit is a bit too Turtlenecky for our tastes and that is what has kept them out of the top ten.
10. Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland wins the award for producing the jersey that looks the most like their National Football Associations crest.
At least they didn’t sell out for sponsorship dollars…
9. Belgium
This might be a controversial call, but their away strip is a personal favourite as it is an exact replicate of the cycling jersey worn by the Belgian National Champion.
Hopefully this excellent kit choice will inspire the Belgian side to play a more attractive brand of football than they did at the 2014 World Cup!
8. Hungary
It would be a slap in the face to the voice of soccer in Australia, Les Murray, if we put the Hungarian jerseys any lower on this list.
Nike have clearly outpointed Adidas in the lead-up to Euro 2016 and this is the highest-ranked Adidas jersey.
7. Albania
Most football pundits are confident that Albania will only play three games during Euro 2016 and they could wear a different jersey in each games.
We are not sure what the design on these jerseys is meant to symbolize, but we are fans and Albania are one of the plucky underdogs that we will be cheering for during the tournament.
6. Portugal
It is fair to say that Cristiano Ronaldo would look good in anything, but even Pepe will look good in these numbers.
Their away jersey actually looks like a keepers jersey, but their home kit is a classic.
5. Iceland
Iceland were the bad guys in Mighty Ducks 2, but they will be fan favourites during Euro 2016 and it is amazing that a country with the same population as Canberra has qualified for the tournament.
This is the first time that Iceland have ever qualified for a major tournament and they can celebrate the fact that their jersey is the best not produced by Nike.
4. Poland
There isn’t a great deal of difference between the jerseys worn by Poland, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Austria but the Polish jersey has a professional edge missing from the other kits.
This is the most confidence that Polish fans have ever been heading into a major tournament and we think that these kits are playing a big part in that – as well as the goal scoring form of Robert Lewandowski.
3. England
It pains us to compliment England for anything, but these jerseys are pretty bloody great.
The light blue on the sleeves is a nice touch, but it would still be hilarious to see the Three Lions bow out in the pool stage for the second tournament in a row.
2. France
Paris is the fashion capital of the world and the French National Football team have not let this reputation down.
Hopefully this snazzy kit will stop the infighting in the French side that always seems to rear its ugly head at every major tournament.
1. Croatia
The critics will say that it looks like a tablecloth, but this jersey is an absolute ripper.
They have put a modern twist on am old favourite and if this doesn’t make the angry Croatian football fans happy nothing will!
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