The best football kits of all time, from clubs, countries, the depths of your childhood and beyond
(Image credit: Future)
Ranking the best football kits of all time was always going to be an enviable task. Where do you even start?
In the modern world, there are three new shirts every year nowadays, plus special tops that get worn on one-offs, international shirts – for men's teams and women's, now – not to mention keeper kits and pre-match tops. We excluded the latter two: we're looking purely across the history of football for the most iconic kits worn by outfielders, of any team in any land of any time.
Our final 100 may be debated but it's one hell of a nostalgia-soaked trip, from the time of shorter shorts to sleeve sponsors, with everything in between. Strap in and brace yourself for a century of items that no hall of fame would be complete without.
The 100 best football kits of all time
100. Napoli: home, 1990/91
Napoli: home, 1990/91 (Image credit: Future)
Close your eyes and you'll see images of a shaggy-haired Diego Maradona donning this in the glistening southern Italian sun. Ennerre produced this masterpiece and Napoli arguably haven't had a shirt this nice since. An early entry in this list, too, for the greatest sponsor ever.
Ah, the 1970s: when French football was still innocent, Paris Saint-Germain was an infant of a club and Saint-Etienne ruled the Gallic game. Les Verts reached a European Cup final that decade – they were massive… but still not as big as this sponsor.
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98. Real Betis: home, 1995-97
Real Betis: home, 1995-97 (Image credit: Future)
Kappa has a rich heritage in Spanish football and this Betis number is synonymous with Brazilian superstar Denilson and the advent of La Liga being shown on British TV. It's an almost unbeatable design.
West Ham United: home, 1999 (Image credit: Future)
It evokes one image: Paolo Di Canio kung-fu'ing the ball into the net against Wimbledon. The sponsor is magnificent, the white piping and sky blue perfectly contrasting – and the Irons even recreated the look with the 2021/22 home shirt.
An optical illusion of a shirt, for a side most often associated purely with green and white get-up. Northern Ireland went badder and bolder as house music and Britpop was about to take over: the result? This absolute masterpiece.
In these heady days for French football, Marseille wore what is essentially a baseball top – but lest we forget, another of their shirts of the decade saw this plain design with "BUT" scrawled across in huge letters. It's French for "GOAL", they weren't looking to rain on anyone's parade.
This is thought to be the first-ever use of a sponsor and manufacturer logo, too. C'est tres bien.
The 1990s: when football was beginning to become box office and all-over prints on shirts were commonplace. This from Wolves is one of the nicest of the decade, with paint-like patterning giving the home top a distinctive look it had never had before… and rarely since.
"I haven't felt that good since Archie Gemmill scored against Holland in 1978," says Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting during a scene you wouldn't watch with your parents. Not that you'd watch any of that film with 'em.
The shirt from that iconic night was one of Umbro's finest, with diamonds dotted on the sleeves and a thick collar that was all the rage back then. The deepest shade of blue, too, of course.
El Loco's run of a lifetime was as madcap and loveable as you'd expect. Athletic Bilbao wore this shirt during their jaunt to the Europa League final in 2011 and it's as unique as the club itself. We've never seen a lookalike, let alone a rip-off.
A tank on the front of the AC Milan jersey was fitting for a side that bulldozed and battered all before them under Arrigo Sacchi. This was the shirt of Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard, of another European Cup victory and in many minds, it's the Milan shirt.
Mark White has been at on FourFourTwo since joining in January 2020, first as a staff writer before becoming content editor in 2023. An encyclopedia of football shirts and boots knowledge – both past and present – Mark has also represented FFT at both FA Cup and League Cup finals (though didn't receive a winners' medal on either occasion) and has written pieces for the mag ranging on subjects from Bobby Robson's season at Barcelona to Robinho's career. He has written cover features for the mag on Mikel Arteta and Martin Odegaard, and is assisted by his cat, Rosie, who has interned for the brand since lockdown.
