ATLANTA – Before the U.S. men’s national team 5-2 collapse to Belgium was even truly underway, there was a glaring oddity on the pitch at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday. The two sides were wearing two different kits but both inside the stadium and on international broadcasts, the looks were hard to tell apart.
The pair were debuting new jerseys that will be worn at the World Cup, each of them with a distinct look in their own right. The USMNT unveiled their stripes kit, a Nike design that pulls directly from the red and white stripes in the American flag, while Belgium sported their away kit created by Adidas. Belgium’s strip is a pale blue with a light pink circular pattern inspired by surrealist art popularized in the country after World War I.
Up against one another, though, their similarities were hard to ignore. Both appeared to have white or very light base colors from any amount of distance, something that was especially true from the back since the USMNT kit features a solid white block where the names and numbers are printed. It created as much confusion for onlookers as it did for the players on the pitch, who did not attribute the result to the conflicting looks but still found it hard to ignore.
USMNT forward Christian Pulisic said the situation was “difficult to deal with” and that “everyone was a bit shocked,” adding that it should have been avoided.
“It’s not an excuse at all because both teams deal with that, but that can’t happen,” Pulisic said after the match. “That was a bit strange … It’s difficult. A lot of times you get the ball and you look up, you can’t really lock in on something. You only can base it off the color of the shirt. That’s how it works. And when it’s very similar, it’s difficult.”
Avoiding a kit clash generally falls under the purview of the refereeing team, though both teams have input in the matter. The International Football Association Board, which oversees the sport’s officiating procedures, states in rule 4.3 in the Laws of the Game that “the two teams must wear colors that distinguish them from each other and the match officials,” a rule that extends to goalkeeper kits.
A U.S. Soccer spokesperson said the decision was made well in advance for the team to wear the stripes jersey and was discussed in multiple meetings between the responsible parties in the build-up to the match. Sources close to Belgium’s team, though, say the onus should have been on the U.S. team to wear their navy blue stars kit instead since it did not conflict with either the Belgium’s red home jersey or their light blue away jersey.
Teams are allowed to change parts or the entirety of their kits mid-match if an issue is spotted but a change was unable to be made. Belgium had already shipped unneeded equipment to Chicago, where they will face Mexico on Tuesday, a fairly common practice for teams making multiple stops in the span of a week while it is unclear if U.S. Soccer would have been able to arrange for a change in a short time span.
The USMNT return to play on Tuesday against Portugal, returning to Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the clash.
