Through November and December 2022, to coincide with the FIFA World Cup, NIFG will be running polls to definitively select Northern Ireland’s greatest ever kits.
Starting with a daily group stage, the best kit from each group will proceed to the knock-out rounds, with the final two facing off and the ultimate winner to be crowned on the day of the World Cup Final.
Kits are being judged in their default format, with minor variations ignored. Voters can use whatever criteria they wish to identify their greatest - whether that is style, a favoured match, or a childhood memory.
[unless otherwise stated, stats are based on senior men’s matches and are based on “best guesses”*]
To vote, please visit and follow on Twitter. Group polls will be open for two days, with a new one unveiled every other day.
Group C
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Group DGroup C of the NIFG World Cup of Kits 2022.
— NIFG (@jcdnifg) November 20, 2022
At the time of tweeting, Groups A & B are still open! Group D to follow shortly, E & F tomorrow.
More details at the link below.https://t.co/ODQViwxpvd
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— NIFG (@jcdnifg) November 20, 2022
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2014 Away |
Although white/green/white had been the long
favoured alternative colours for Northern Ireland, the green on this kit was a
darker shade to match the concurrent home. A standard template, the shorts
were used with the home shirt against Greece, but still managed to look odd
as the white Adidas stripes didn’t match the lime green on the shirt. Still,
it was worn in a famous win in Hungary that got the Euro 2016 campaign off to
a flyer. |
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Adidas |
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(2014) |
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Debut: 05-03-2014 vs Cyprus D 0-0
(A) (International Friendly) |
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Pl: 3 |
W: 1 |
D: 1 |
L: 1 |
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2008 Home |
Aside from the return of green socks, this was the
most uninspiring of Umbro’s releases of this era. A basic template. It stands as the first Northern Ireland shirt to feature players’ names on the
back, but that was for just one match – its debut against Slovakia |
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Umbro |
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(2008-2010) |
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Debut: 06-09-2008 vs Slovakia L 1-2 (A) (2010 World Cup Qualifier) |
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Pl: 14 |
W: 4 |
D: 3 |
L: 7 |
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1982 Away |
When Northern Ireland took to the field for their
first match at a World Cup in 24 years, they wore a new white away shirt complete
with pinstripes. It was worn in three of the five matches in Spain, including
an historic win over the hosts, and it attained iconic status. |
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Adidas |
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(1982-1983) |
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Debut: 17-06-1982 vs Yugoslavia D 0-0 (N) (Spain ‘82 World Cup
Finals) |
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Pl: 4 |
W: 1 |
D: 2 |
L: 1 |
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2020 Away |
Derided as “the nurse’s uniform”, the trim on this
kit was navy and mint rather than the traditional green. The standard shorts
were navy, but white was often worn as an alternative, while the mint socks
were often also replaced with white. Its debut saw Northern Ireland involved
in a penalty shoot-out for the first time |
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Adidas |
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(2020-2022) |
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Debut: 08-10-2020 vs Bosnia-Herzegovina
D 1-1 (won on pens) (A) Euro 2020 Play-Off
Semi-Final |
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Pl: 11 |
W: 3 |
D: 1 |
L: 7 |
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1996 Away |
After Asics’ “safe” first releases, they went for
broke. The red and white colours reflect the Northern Ireland flag, which
proved popular with some. Due to the amount of blue on the home shirt it was
given outings against Italy and at home to Slovakia. The “white short problem”
never came to a head as it was only used in friendlies. |
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Asics |
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(1996-1998) |
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Debut: 22-01-1997 vs Italy L 0-2 (A) (Friendly International) |
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Pl: 2 |
W: 1 |
D: 0 |
L: 1 |
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2006 Away |
Blue returned to the away kit in 2006, paired with
an odd match of dark navy shorts and socks. The shirt proved popular with the
fans, but was only given one airing, in a visit to Denmark. The socks got a
random extra outing as the home white set clashed with Finland’s. |
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Umbro |
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(2006) |
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Debut: 07-10-2006 vs Denmark D 0-0 (A) (Euro 2008 Qualifier) |
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Pl: 1 |
W: 0 |
D: 1 |
L: 0 |
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1986 Home |
For Mexico 86 Adidas provided Northern Ireland with
a new set of kits. The home shirt wasn’t greatly different to the previous
one, the biggest difference being the new diagonal shadow pattern on a shinier
material than its predecessor. The shirt was given a debut on the big stage
against Brazil, and saw four years of service before retirement. |
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Adidas |
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(1986-1990) |
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Debut: vs Brazil L 0-3 (N) (Mexico ’86 World Cup
Finals) |
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Pl: 20 |
W: 4 |
D: 5 |
L: 11 |
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1902 Away |
While the “full” Northern Ireland team continued to wear
blue as a first choice colour, they are noted as having worn green against England
in 1903, presumably in a similar style. Green would become the regular colour
for the Amateur International team, who played their first match in 1906. |
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(1903-1911) |
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(-) |
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Debut: *14-02-1903 vs England L 0-4 (A) British International
Championship |
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Pl: 7* |
W: 2 |
D: 0 |
L: 5 |
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Results:
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