Rating The Gold Cup Kits - The Best And The Worst

Now that we've gone through all 16 sets of kits, lets recap.

Overall Best Kit - Jamaica alternate

Class of the competition here.  The Honduras and Guadeloupe alternates were also in the running.  The Saudi Arabia primary would also be a candidate if they were actually a team that should be in the Gold Cup.

Top 3 Overall Sets

1. Jamaica

2. Guadeloupe

3. Costa Rica

One and two were easy as they had no weak kit in their set and had the best couple kits overall.  Third was a bit of a tossup between Costa Rica, Honduras, and Haiti.  In the end the Ticos were just a little more consistent through both their kits than the others.

Worst Overall Set - El Salvador

Sorry La Selecta but those aren't great.  Just too plain and a lack of effort from Umbro.

Rating The Gold Cup Kits - Group D

The final group including the hosts tonight, Group D.  I may do a wrap-up post on this series tomorrow since there's no Rapids game this weekend.

United States

I was all set to give the U.S. a high rating until turning on tonight's game against Saudi Arabia and realizing they're still using the 2024 alternate kit (seen above) instead of the new 2025 alternate which is a great shirt.  This duo, not as impressive.  I misunderstood that the pinstripe kit will be used by both men's and women's team but the stars kit will be women's only and the men will stay with this kit.  A lot of people like the pinstripes but I'm not as taken with them.  I do appreciate what Nike was trying with it though.  The alternate kit is very plain.  I will likely buy the new women's white kit but not this one.

5/10 - Available through Nike

Haiti

Haiti goes with a solid template and varies the colors through the red, white, and blue of their flag.  They're the best set of kits in the group, even if the blue comes out looking a little Aquaman-ish in these pictures.  I'd probably give the nod to the white secondary but they're all well done.

7/10 - Available through Saeta

Trinidad & Tobago

These aren't quite as good as their prior kits with Bol but they're still very nice.  The road/white kit is my favorite with that gradated red detail, the best individual kit in this group.  The primary just shouts T&T to me for some reason, which is what you want in a primary jersey (and something Nike has struggled with on the U.S. jersey).  The black isn't as impressive but still has nice work.

6/10 - Available through Capelli but the second kit only has youth sizes

Saudi Arabia

First of all, why are they here?  CONCACAF is past the time that they need to invite outside teams to make up the numbers.  Guyana should be here in their place, or maybe Cuba (Cuba is higher ranked but Guyana was the best losing team in the qualifiers).  If you are going to invite a team, why Saudi Arabia?  Qatar at least made some sporting sense when they were looking for competitive matches when they didn't have to go through qualification before hosting the 2022 World Cup but Saudi Arabia is just here so they can do more sportswashing with their large investment in CONCACAF.  Do better guys.

If it weren't for that though, the home kit would be top tier in this competition.  The Saudi Arabian crest is distinct and that pattern looks great.  The road kit?  Meh.  The sublimated pattern doesn't really add anything to the shirt.

5/10 - Minus a point for not needing to be here.  Available through Adidas

Rating The Gold Cup Kits - Group C

As the competition moves into its second round of games we move into the second half of the groups.  Tonight its Group C.

Panama

Tough start for this one as its hard to find any official images of these kits.  Reebok doesn't seem to sell them through any well-known outlets.  Anyway the home is a solid if simple kit but the road and the black third have great detailing.  I like the waves on the road kit in particular.  Its not a top-tier group but its above average for this Gold Cup.

6/10 - Not available from a known online outlet

Jamaica

Jamaica always brings the color and this pair is no different.  The home is a nice blending of the colors of the Jamaican flag with the subtle print that you have to look hard to see, but the away is an immediate classic.  The color and design pattern with the birds standing out instead of being sublimated is great and was an instant hit among kit collectors.  There are some non-soccer related issues that lead me not to want to support Jamaica at this time (LGBTQ rights/protections) but otherwise that away kit would be the top of my acquire list. Clearly the class of this group.

8/10 - Available through Adidas on Amazon

Guatemala

This is our first true inverted pair of kits (El Salvador was close but one had a collar) with the home and away kits having reversed colors and the third sticking with the same design but adding detailing to the sash.  There a nice set of kits, nothing fancy, but certainly define a look.  And they didn't go with a big G as their badge.

5/10 - Available through Umbro

Guadeloupe

I know I said Jamaica was the class of this group but I would make them 1A and Guadeloupe 1B.  I love this set of kits, especially the road green.  Using the three colors of the unofficial flag (as a department of France its official flag is the French flag) that the national team uses in CONCACAF competitions and an image of the flag on the home and away.  The home and away also include a sublimated image of Carbet Falls while the third includes an image of the island country.  Very well done all around.

8/10 - Available through Tempo Sport

Rating The Gold Cup Kits - Group B

Part two of my four (or maybe five) part review and rating of the Gold Cup kits.  Tonight we get Group B.

Canada

For an program that's recently taken big steps into the top tier of CONCACAF their kits have not done the same.  I know Canada Soccer and Nike dropped the ball in the last World Cup cycle but these aren't a great improvement.  The red home kit is fairly plain and the pinstripes give the road kit at least a little character but I'd expect more from a nation gearing up to host the World Cup.  Hopefully their 2026 cycle is better.

3/10 - Available through Nike

Honduras

The home kit starts the group out on the wrong foot with a plain white shirt and the large H badge which I've never been fond of, but the second and third kits save this group.  Until I was writing this I was not aware that Honduras had changed its flag color from the darker blue on the third kit to the more aqua blue on the secondary.  They both look great and a nice nod to the recent older flag by having the third.  The only knock on those two is the big white box on the front of the third kit.  It would make sense for a club team as a spot for a sponsor logo, but its not needed on a national team kit.  This is a weak group kit wise, but this batch is the best of the four.

7/10 - Available through the Joma store on Amazon

El Salvador

Eh, those are certainly three kits.  Just none of them stand out to me.  The trend in Central American crests, Costa Rica, Honduras, and El Salvador so far, to go to really big letters with little else doesn't do much for me (and yes, I feel the same way about the current USA logo).  Combined with little detail there's not much here for me to like.  A collar on the primary, some detailing on the third, but nothing that makes them memorable.

3/10 - Available through Umbro

Curacao

These are also a bit plain but break it up with some nice cutouts, a little texture, and some non-basic colors.  Plus a patch on the right arm containing the Curacao national anthem is a unique touch.  Solid but not spectacular.  Still in this group that's good enough for second place.

5/10 - Available through Kelme

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