There are an unimaginable number of die-hard fans of Portugal’s national football team. Taking the time to learn about the evolution of Portugal’s away jerseys, means you are likely one of them. Before getting into the evolution of Away jerseys. Let us take a look at some of the ambiguous terms that most people get confused about.
What is a Kit and Jersey?
When we talk about football. (Actual football where players play with their foot, not American gibberish) the word kit is used in a very ambiguous way. The one who is just starting to explore this beautiful sport is likely to get confused about this term, just like I got.
Generally meaning kit is ‘a baggage that contains a set of equipment required by players’ But in football, the word kit is used for the full uniform of the player. The uniform includes a jersey, shorts, shin guards, socks, and playing shoes (Studs).
The main difference between a kit and a jersey is that kit means full uniform and a jersey is just a T-shirt that players wear while playing.
Differences Between Away, Home, and Alternate Jerseys
Have you ever observed your favorite team playing with different jerseys in different tournaments or nations’ leagues? Do you know how particular jerseys are selected before a game? Allow us to remove this confusion.
There are three types of jerseys in football. Let’s take a look at each of them one by one:
- Home Jersey – When a team is having a tournament in their own country. (Portugal national team playing in Portugal) Then the players of Portugal will wear a Home jersey. The design and color of the jersey resemble the flag of the country. The Home jersey of the Portuguese team is red and green, just like the flag of Portugal. Though there are some exceptions, like Australian football jersey and Italian football jersey.
- Away Jersey – When a team is not playing in their homeland then they opt Away jersey. The Away Jerseys of the Portuguese football team are usually white.
- Alternate Jersey – There are some instances when the jersey of the host team and the jersey of the team arrived to challenge, may clash, or may look somewhat similar. In that case, the challenger team is told to wear the alternate jersey.
Evolution of Portugal Away Jersey (Last 13 Years)
If you pay close attention to the jerseys of the players, you will find subtle or obvious variations on the jerseys. The players don’t get to decide on the designs or variations on the jersey. It’s the authorities in collaboration with sponsors and designers who make these changes. Nike is a permanent sponsor of Portugal’s national team since 1997. Sometimes they improve the look of the jersey and sometimes they mess up. Like they did with Portugal Away 2020 edition.
Now let’s get into the real meat. The very first jersey of Portugal’s national team appeared in 1921. Here we will take a look at the evolution of the away jersey of the Portugal national team since 2010.
1) 2010
This one looked cooler. Two vertical strips of green and red are in the middle of the shirts. The team emblem and Nike logo are on each side. And the rest was white all over.
2) 2011
This year they used the same jersey they used in 2010.
3) 2012
As everyone was busy predicting doomsday. Nike introduced a fab new Away Portugal jersey. It contained a pattern with strips of red and green, and the rest of the shirt was white. It had a simplified look and was pleasing to look at.
4) 2013
This year they did something unusual. They changed the color from white to black. It was inspired by the black Portuguese basalt rock widely used across the country. Jersey was fully black and with a lighter shade of black in the center of the shirt creating a mixture of checked and strip-like patterns. This peculiar change took fans by surprise.
5) 2014
Going back to the roots. They brought back the white color with cool blue borders at the sleeves and collar. It used a minimalist design, nothing fancy. White shirts, logos, and a blue border at the edge of the sleeves and collar, that’s it!
6) 2015
Again the men were in black! This one looked like a casual streetwear shirt instead of a professional football player jersey. It contained some strange red and green lines of varied thickness in the middle of the shirt. The rest of all was black, red at the behind edge of the collar.
7) 2016
Again taking all the fans by surprise. Light green color with dark green sleeves. Logo and emblem at their usual spaces. Though, it looked good.
8) 2017
Again they struggled with creativity and used the same jersey they used prior (2016).
9) 2018
This one was great. White jersey with a dotted green pattern. The strange thing to witness was they put red and green strips inside of the jersey. I can’t understand why they would do this. No one can see that unless Cristiano Ronaldo removes his jersey and helicopter blade it in joy.
10) 2019
Again designers lacked creativity, and players wore the same jersey they wore last year 2018.
11) 2020
The 2020 Away Portugal jersey is not one of the great or even good ones. It had two wide horizontal stripes meaning. The upper stripes contained three color combinations of black, red, and green with a logo of the Portugal emblem on the right and Nike logo on the left. The bottom stripe was similar without logos. The rest of the T-shirt was white with a black border on the sleeves.
12) 2021
Now I am losing my creativity. Same as in 2020.
13) 2022
Now we are talking, they introduced the Portugal world cup jersey 2022 away. And this was a banger. The sleeves and collar with black color at the edges. Wide stripe in the middle with prominent red color and green resembling the Portuguese flag with logos at their usual location.
Want to Become a Part of Squad?
Taking the time to learn about the history and nuance and apparent variations in the Portugal football team’s Away jersey indicates a deep passion and love for the team. Whether you are a Portugal Away jersey enthusiast or just a hardcore fan who knows every single thing about your Portugal team. You would surely like a explore more Away or Home jerseys of Portugal. If you want to take a look at more of these or get your hands on one of these then is recommended to get your jersey for an official and authentic Portugal football jersey retailer whether offline or online.
