Retro football shirts: the most memorable Euros kit of all time, ranked - and where to buy

Retro football shirts: the most memorable Euros kit, and where to buyRetro football shirts: the most memorable Euros kit, and where to buy
Retro football shirts: the most memorable Euros kit, and where to buy

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Euro 2020 is well and truly underway, and aside from the action on the pitch, we’ve seen some stunning kit designs.

No doubt in years to come plenty of these shirts will be looked back on as classics, and that got us thinking about some of the finest sartorial choices that we’ve seen in years gone by.

So, without further ado, here are 20 of the best European Championship kits of all time...

Can something truly be considered retro if it only came out five years ago? Probably not, but the fact that Wales reached the final four of the competition in their very first attempt wearing this Adidas number means that it will absolutely go down in history as a cult classic.

Slap bang in the middle of Nike’s T90 phase, a lot of the template kits they produced in this era were a little underwhelming, but the Netherlands’, in a typically striking orange, was great.

Undoubtedly aided by the fact that they caused one of the biggest upsets in Euro history when they lifted the trophy in 2004, this kit is still a great effort no matter which way you look at it.

Perfectly busy in a way that only Adidas consistently nail.

Italy never miss with their kits. (Let’s ignore their current away offering for the purposes of that statement).

Their Euro ‘96 home shirt was simply immense, with its swooping collar and white trim, and even though the Italians bowed out at the group stages, at least they looked nice doing it.

The Scots may not have fared overly well at Euro ‘96, but this tartan affair – while looking slightly like something a darts player might don – was still a real shining light.

Cracking effort.

The Danes didn’t even qualify for the tournament initially, but they still went on to win it, and they did so looking cooler than just about everybody else thanks to this Hummel stunner. A triumph.

Maybe it looks a little like a rugby shirt, but Kappa’s decision to put their branding on the sleeve instead of the chest lends itself to an uncluttered, simplistic masterpiece.

Oh Lotto. Lotto, Lotto, Lotto. They don’t make them like this anymore, do they?

Yes, it’s that classic Battenberg-esque Croatia chequerboard design, but it’s baggier, beautifully realised, and altogether much, much cooler.

On first inspection, this is your standard two-up-two-down England home shirt with a touch of navy.

Look a little closer, however, and you notice that mad zig-zag design and the lovely Umbro detailing on the sleeve. Superb. The away kit isn’t bad either.

Deep maroon accented with gold and green – 100% concentrated Iberian sophistication. Understated and beautiful.

Somewhere between the inside of a kaleidoscope and a Wetherspoons carpet, the loud and brash detailing on this white number has a certain indefinable quality to its gaudiness that makes it downright endearing.

Much more divisive than the home kit, granted, but for our money, this away shirt is still a thing of beauty – albeit in a somewhat unconventional manner.

Shades of greyish blue and three hulking great lions on the chest, this is quintessential ‘90s Umbro through and through.

Another bold design that revels in its weirdness, this time the Scots opted for deep purples and greens to produce something that manages to capture the spirit of the nation and the twisted cool of the ‘90s.

What an absolute humdinger of an alternative strip this was.

The red and the navy compliment each other like perfectly, and the collar –  chunky and ripe for turning up – was a classy touch. One of the best England away shirts ever.

Just look at it. That unmistakable yellow, those regal blue stripes reaching over the shoulder towards the cross on the chest. This might be the pinnacle of Swedish home shirts – and that in itself is saying something.

Some people will take one look at this plain white round neck number and dismiss it as boring or uninspired.

To those people, we say ‘Less is more, folks. Less is more’. Simple, effective, classic.

The benchmark for French home kits ever since, this deep blue dream, complete with horizontal stripes of red and white, was tailor-made for soaking up rays on the Riviera – or by the paddling pool in your back garden.

Gazza’s peroxide barnet, the Dentist’s Chair, Baddiel and Skinner – need we go on? Euro ‘96 has gone down in history as one of the most iconic in recent memory for England fans, and they did it all wearing this barnstormer from Umbro.

The collar, the massive central badge, the retro typeface – what a beauty.

The Germans very rarely miss with their kits, and this is arguably one of their best ever.

From the three stripes running down the sleeves to jagged dash of colour running across the chest, this shirt is so 80s that it might as well come with a built-in mullet and a copy of Kraftwerk’s greatest hits. Das ist sehr gut.

An absolute stunner from the Dutch – perhaps the greatest kit of all time, let alone in a European Championship.

Made all the more iconic by the fact that the Netherlands lifted the trophy in it, this striking Adidas number, with its geometric design and flashes of white, is a stone cold classic.