‘I started to play with bright jerseys because I grew up in Acapulco. I was a surfer and liked to express myself – it wasn’t about putting off strikers’ Jorge Campos explains his outrageous World Cup goalkeeper jerseys

Jorge Campos in action for Mexico against Italy in 1994. — Jorge Campos in one of his goalkeeper shirt creations (Image credit: Getty Images)

One of the advantages of this summer’s bloated World Cup roster of 48 teams is that football fans who like to keep one eye on the sport’s sartorial elegance has more shirts than ever to pore over.

And while there is the usual mix of classy efforts ready to be worn alongside some more dubious designs, one thing is for sure this summer.

Nothing will be as eye-catching as the garbs that former Mexico goalkeeper Jorge Campos used to wear during his 12-year international career.

Jorge Campos on his outlandish goalkeeper shirts

Campos, who is known as one of football's most eccentric characters, first entered the mainstream consciousness during the 1994 World Cup in the USA, with his vivid, self-designed kits even more eye-catching than the 5ft 7in stopper’s performances.

“Yes, I started to play with bright jerseys because I grew up in Acapulco,” Campos tells FourFourTwo when asked how his unique styling came about.

Jorge Campos — Campos in another bold design

“I was a surfer over there and I liked to express myself. I always used to wear bright colours because I loved that style.

“So when I started to play in goal, I wanted to use a different kind of jersey.”

This desire to be different was not just down to his surfer roots and fashion sense though, as the diminutive glovesman also wanted to highlight just how differently he played the game.

“I played differently to everyone else and wanted to have a different jersey too, using new colours, so I started to design my own kits.”

The initial reaction among his peers was not so positive, but after a while, certain advantages became apparent.

Goalkeeper Jorge Campos celebrates Mexico's group-stage win against the Republic of Ireland at the 1994 World Cup — Campos won 129 caps for Mexico (Image credit: Alamy)

“In the beginning, everybody told me that they thought it was crazy,” he continues. “They would ask how I could play with all of the colours on my jersey because it was too much – too bright.

“Some of my coaches said the jersey was so bright that the opposition forwards were able to see me, but I just liked the colours. I wasn’t thinking about using them to put the strikers off or anything like that.

“Before then, all of the keepers would go out in something either grey or black.”

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For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.

With contributions from

Rich Chamberlain