Why does Germany wear white at the World Cup even though it’s not a color on their flag?
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup happening right now in the US, Mexico, and Canada, fans are curious about the players’ kits. Throughout the tournament, people have noticed some cool little details on what the players are wearing.
For example, three players – Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, and James Rodríguez – have Golden Boot patches on their shirts. This special patch shows that they were the top scorers in past World Cups. Goalkeepers who won the Golden Glove, like Argentina’s Emi Martínez, Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois, and Germany’s Manuel Neuer, also wear a similar patch.
Players from countries that have won the World Cup before – like Argentina, Uruguay, Germany, Brazil, England, France, and Spain – have gold tournament logos on their kits. The other teams wear black or white patches, depending on their kit colors.
Some players, like Lamine Yamal and Erling Haaland, have smaller patches below the main one to mark their first World Cup appearance. Others, including Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modrić, Manuel Neuer, and Yuto Nagatomo, wear “legacy patches” to show they’ve played in five or more World Cups.
Then, teams that have won the World Cup also wear stars on their shirts. For example, Argentina, who have won three times, wear three gold stars. Usually, African teams like Egypt and Senegal wear stars for their Africa Cup of Nations wins, but FIFA asked them to take those off to avoid confusion before this World Cup.
Some fans have also noticed that a few countries’ shirts don’t match their flags. Germany is a good example. They usually wear white shirts with black, red, and yellow details. The last three colors are on the flag, but white isn’t. There’s an interesting reason for this: Germany’s white shirt comes from the flag of Prussia, an old German state that helped unite the country in 1871. Prussia’s black and white colors became part of the German national team’s kit, and they’ve kept it ever since. The black eagle on the flag can also be seen in Germany’s coat of arms and team emblem.
Germany will play their next World Cup game against Ivory Coast on June 20, after a big 7-1 win over Curaçao in their group opener.