Rating The Gold Cup Kits - Group A

I'll be reviewing that minimal effort from the Rapids tomorrow, but with the Gold Cup starting this weekend and the Rapids on a 10-day break I wanted to start on a related project.  I've become a bit of a kit collector since the pandemic lock-downs, something I blame/credit Jon Arnold's Getting CONCACAFed for.  First of all, support Jon, he's the best coverage of the confederation bar none.  But thanks to his article about Caribbean sides new looks, especially featuring the new Anguilla kits (created by C38 friend Keith Laubhan), I started getting more into kits from smaller nations and mainly from island nations.  Then companies like Stingz Sportswear and Stimulus Athletic started partnering with small countries looking to kick start their football programs by offering stylish kits that would interest collectors and here I am with Dominica and St. Lucia and Kiribati kits in my closet.

So that leads me here, to rating this year's Gold Cup kits.  Going to go through all 16, split over four posts.  I want to give a shoutout to the Football Kit Archive which helped me find details on some of the smaller countries and smaller companies making their kits.  We're going to go by Groups, starting with Group A today.

Mexico:

That first one is their third kit new for the Gold Cup (and what they wore in the opener), followed by the home and away.  None of these blow me away, though I do like the detailing on the away.  That third kit is very plain and I don't like the centered badge.  I appreciate the creativity in the home but it doesn't fully pull it off.

6/10 - Available through Adidas

Costa Rica

The home followed by the away.  These are both great.  I particularly like the pattern on the home kit.  The away doesn't work quite as well but its still a good look.  I my opinion these are the best kits in Group A.  The only real knock on them is that the new Costa Rican badge isn't as good as their older one.

7/10 - Available through Adidas

Suriname

I'm sitting here watching Costa Rica - Suriname as I write this and the only picture I can find online of the home kit is that first pic above from Football Kit Archive.  Suriname recently moved to Macron and I was hoping that would make it easier to find their kits but no such luck.  The away kit is seen from an online store but there's no place to buy the home kit.  That primary is solid but the away does nothing for me based on the few pictures I've seen.  Its a step down from their last kits with Klupp which had me digging around to find one to buy online, unsuccessfully.

5/10 - Mainly due to the home.  Not available from a trusted online outlet

Dominican Republic

Primary and alternate, as Silver Sport dubs them, shown.  As expected for a smaller country in their first Gold Cup these are pretty basic but done well and they are very clean.  The alternate is your basic white jersey but the home has a bit of texture.  The both have an outline of the country with the flag in it on the back just below the collar which is a nice tough.  Good job on these.

6/10 - Available through Silver Sport