The USA opened the 2026 FIFA World Cup as co-hosts and did what was expected of them: they won. The opponents were Paraguay, the first half was electric, and the Nike home shirt got its first real World Cup outing on home soil, in front of a crowd that had been waiting for this moment for years.
The debut
The shirt is a confident statement. Nike went with an off-white base and layered it with red horizontal stripes in a wavy pattern, giving the jersey a textured, almost painterly quality that stands out from the usual flat-coloured home kits. Navy trim runs along the V-neck collar and sleeve edges, pulling in the third colour of the American flag without overdoing it.
It is a design that rewards a closer look. From a distance it reads as a classic red-and-white American shirt. Up close the wave pattern gives it something more considered. It sits in the tradition of the USA's best kits: the 1994 World Cup shirts, the denim away, the 2010 away. Without directly copying any of them.
Seeing it in a real match rather than a studio render is a different thing entirely. The off-white holds up well under floodlights and the stripe pattern catches the light in a way that makes it look particularly good in motion.
The match
The USA came out fast. The first half was the story: energetic, direct, and full of the kind of pressing football that gave Paraguay little time to settle. Pulisic was at the centre of it, pulling strings and causing problems every time he got on the ball.
When the goal came it felt inevitable given the pressure the USA had been building. The crowd responded exactly as you would expect from a home World Cup opener.
It was not without controversy. A VAR check added some tension to proceedings, the kind of moment that kills momentum and tests a team's composure. The USA came through it.
There will be more group stage games, and if the USA progress as expected, plenty more opportunities to see this shirt in the knockout rounds. The home kit has made a strong first impression.
The USA 2026 home kit is already in the ShirtSociety catalogue: USA 2026 Home Kit →
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USA 2026 Home Kit
In the ShirtSociety catalogue
