Top Kits Of The World Cup

One last kit post before we get back to our regularly scheduled Rapids coverage.  Going to break this down into top kits by confederation plus a couple of additional categories before doing a top X overall.

Top Kit - Oceania - New Zealand Away

With only one team, the choices were limited.  I almost went with the goalkeeper kit but that felt like cheating a bit.  The white looked better than the dark,

Top Kit - AFC - Australia Away

Yeah, I forgot Australia is Asian in FIFA terms sometimes too.  I really like the two tones of this one. A woman I work with is Australian and wore one of these to the office on game day and it looks even better in person.

Top Kit - AFC - Sportswashing Division - Saudi Arabia Home

If it weren't for what it represents this would be one of the top kits of the tournament for me.  I love the green and purple color combo with the tiled motif.  But I will not be supporting Saudi Arabia in any format.

Top Kit - UEFA - Norway Home

This is the kit I've been trying to track down with no luck, waiting too long to try to get it.  A simple design of the flag that comes off very bold.  Even with my Swedish heritage I'd be happy to have this one in the collection.

Top Kit(s) - CAF - Ivory Coast Away

I couldn't choose between my top two CAF kits so you get them both.  First the Ivory Coast away kit with this great pattern of local flora and fauna.  For a long time west Africa has had some of the great tournament kits, I have two different Cameroon ones from the 2010's.  This continues that run.

AND

DR Congo Home

The colors of this kit really work together (even the yellow badge) and the zebra pattern gives a unique spin on the kit.  One of the kits we wouldn't have seen without the expansion to 48.  Also what the team ahs been doing to try to bring visibility to the issues in their country is important.

Top Kit -  CONMEBOL - Paraguay Away

This one surprised me as I didn't pick it out as a highlight during the kit releases.  Seeing it on the field, first against the U.S. but also later in the tournament and I was taken with how good it looked.  I like the way the white badge pops against the blues and blacks, one of the times changing the logo works.

Top Kit - CONCACAF - Haiti Home

This is the original kit before FIFA forced them to remove their freedom fighters from the kit.  Its an important nod to Haiti's history and given everything else FIFA has allowed not allowing this is another example of their double standards.  IT was a tough call between this and the third kit, which is the same design on red, but the collar works better here.

Top Kit - CONCACAF - Rivalry Division - Mexico Home

I mean, come on, that's a top-tier kit.  But its Mexico so this is the only time I'll ever admit that.

So after that, my top five overall:

Norway Home

DR Congo Home

Paraguay Away

Haiti Home

Ivory Coast Away

At different times during the tournament I've looked at buying all of those, but haven't yet pulled the trigger on any of them yet.

Rapids Kit Rankings Home Top 10

Time to finish this series up with the top 10 home kits!  I pre-ranked all the kits before starting this series but as I was writing them up I found myself making slight changes.  No part of the list changed more than this 10 though, I made changes all the way up to #3 while writing this.  The top 2 were always locked in though.

#10 - 2016-2017

The first kit with a legitimate jersey sponsor (ciao Ciao!) and a good team to go with it.  Nice and clean but doing nothing with the burgundy means that it can't go much higher than this.  I do like that Transamerica didn't demand a bright red logo on the front to match their company colors.

#9 - 2018 - 2019

Minimal changes form the prior jut but making the sleeves burgundy and all the trim light blue instead of the light blue/white mix makes this one the better of the two

#8 - 2024-2025

The checkered flag design, I like finally giving the burgundy some kind of design but this trends closely to one of those optical illusion images.  The light blue really pops on this one though.  Hard to believe we went to the 'Colorful Colorado' kits from this unfortunately.

#7 - 2001-2002

The true 'Aquaman' kits.  Super tight and green.  Our last green home kit ever, we wouldn't really get Rapids green back until last year's 3rd kit.  Also the final Kappa kit.  Given their skin-tight nature I had to take a pass on these for my personal collection.  This was the point where the Rapids switched from white at home and green on the road to the reverse, something they've kept through all their color combinations since (until, arguably, this season where they're black at home and green on the road).

#6 - 1996

The original.  Its hard to not put this in the top 5 but overall I thought the road kit was better.  The stripes on the shoulders just don't work for me as well as they should.  Still its a classic 90's style kit and that can't be ignored.

#5 2009-2010

I gave this a one spot boost because we won MLS Cup in this kit.  We'll always have the great memories of Casey scoring while seated and Kandji sacrificing his ACL for the MLS Cup winning goal in this shirt.  To say nothing of Drew Moor's last second clearance.  I don't love the collar on it but that's not enough to downgrade it from its importance in team history.  

#4 - 1997-1998

The kits just kept getting better in the early years.  This gave us the first use of the round badge but avoided duplication by moving the wave badge to the center of the chest.  The later 2006 road kit would be inspired by this one but this was the better version of it.  It removed the old gold color from the sleeves that stood out in a bad way to me on the first kit.

#3 - 2022-2023

Almost my top burgundy kit, I really like this one.  The sublimated mountains on this kit are great and the Colorado 'C' as the jock tag is a nice touch.  This is my current burgundy kit for game days and its going to take a lot for the 2028-2029 kit to replace it.

#2 - 2013

This, of course, had to be the top burgundy kit.  Its also the reason we have had 18 home kits but only 17 road kits.  for one season the Rapids wore this kit with the dark bands, when looking closer at the bands you'll see they're made up of a list of names.  Those were the season-ticket holders of the Rapids (the band across the chest just says 'Colorado Rapids' repeated, in case they had managed to sing a jersey sponsor, that way nobody's name would have been covered.  They didn't sign one).  My name is in the lower band across the belly.  The Rapids were at least one of the first, if not the first, clubs in the world to place their ticket holder names on the kit and it was well received.  Hard to downgrade a kit that has your name on it!

#1 - 1999-2000

There was never a doubt this one (and its away partner) were going to end up on the top of my lists.  This was the kit the team used for the first full season I followed them, it was the first kit I bought ( a signed one from a trip to Dallas that still hangs in my office) and its the one I think of when I think of "classic Rapids" like 'Celo, JDV, Agogo, Limpar, and Hahnemann, among others.  More of a throwback to this is what last year's 3rd kit should have been.

So, there it is, all 40 kits ranked.  If I had to choose a combined top 5:

1999-2000 Away

1999-2000 Home

2013 Home

2025 Third

2022-2023 Home

Back this weekend with some review of World Cup kits before we transition back into the season next week.

Rapids Kit Rankings Away Top 10

Here we go with the best of the alternates!

#10 - 2007-2008

Our first light blue kit, and it really worked with the burgundy trim.  The big drawback on this one is the badge that says 'Colorado Rapids' and then right below it the big 'Colorado' across the front of the kit.  It would have been better as a clean blue kit.  I could take or leave the collar as well.

#9 - 2009-2010

See, better without the 'Colorado' on the front.  This collar works a bit better too IMO.  Otherwise only minor changes from the prior kit.

#8 - 2021-2022

The Class V mountain kit.  Love the goal to raise awareness of protection of our 14ers, love the idea of using the topographic map, loved the return to green, execution left a lot to be desired.  From any sort of distance this looked like a white kit with mint trim.  Also, once again, changing the badge which is an automatic deduction unless it knocks it out of the park, which this doesn't.  I like the clean style however.

#7 - 2001-2002

Nicknamed the Aquaman kits these were the first to shift from the baggy 90's style to the more skin-tight, hard to grab, modern style.  Great for top shape soccer players, not so great for out of shape fans like yours truly.  Otherwise it was a white kit with green trim and double Rapids logos.  Its the last Kappa road kit.

#6 - 2025-2026(?)

The current road kit.  Much like the mountains kit I love the goal of river protection, concept, and color, but execution was a stumble.  This one from a distance looks like moss or mold on the kit.  I actually like the completely different badge, I just wish it was an already established design and not something new for this kit.  We will be getting a new road kit either right before or right after the sprint season.  I think it will be before, but it a bit unclear.

#5 - 1997-1998

I like this color of green for the kit and the black trim works.  Still, it is just a green kit.  But that makes it almost top 5 on its own.

#4 - 2023-2024

The 'New Day' kit, to promote awareness of mental health.  An important topic and all the more so coming out of the pandemic.  A great design going back to our light blue secondary color and designed by local artist Pat Milbery.  This was the only one of this new run of away kits to support local movements that I think worked on all levels so far.  Still not sold by changing the badge colors, but at least its a secondary club color.

#3 - 1996

The original, and IMO still one of the best.  No big Rapids across the front, a bold green/white design for the 90's (understated for the time if anything), and the gold numbers play off the gold in the badge well.  Almost impossible to find now and impossible to find at a good price.  LAst year's anniversary kits should have taken more from this design to be a true throwback.

#2 - 2006

After four years of the awful black and blue we got some green back in our kit.  This is almost the same as the 2005 kits but the green works so much better than the blue.  Adding the green around the collar and down the inside of the sleeves was a big improvement.  I might be biased too as this was the first or the kits I went out to buy for my collection.

#1 - 1999-2000

This is easily the best road kit we've had.  A good 90's style with the white trim, the true Rapids green, and its the reverse of the home kit for consistency.  Still stuck with the double Rapids but at least this one is the circular logo as the badge and then a form of the original badge on the front of the kit.  I've got one of these in my collection but I only bring it out for important matches as its a little tight on me, and I don't want it to wear out.

So that's it.  Combined with the first post that's all 17 Rapids road kits ranked.  Where will the 2027 kit fall?

Rapids Kit Rankings - Homes 18-11

The best way to move on from last night is to look back at some Rapids history, so lets rank some kits!  Seriously, I do plan to get through all of them before the Rapids return on the 22nd, but I might end up cutting it close. 🤣

#18 - 2003-2004

2003 was the start of the questionable decision to make our identity black and blue, and it sucked.  The 2003-04 away was the bottom of that list and the home joins it here.  I mean, what about that says Colorado Rapids other than literal words across the chest?

#17 - 2006

Generally the Adidas kits were better than the Athletica ones, which is why this isn't in last, but its not great.  The black shoulders and the black arc around the chest just gives it a weird cloak-like look that doesn't work.

#16 - 2005

The last of the black and blue kits, this one at least tried to do something with the fuzzy lines and the collar looks better than the 2006 version.  There's a reason you don't see this trio around at games very often, this is an era that should be forgotten, at least kit-wise.

#15 - 2007-2008

The first of the burgundy kits were certainly an improvement over the prior color scheme (putting aside the whole rebranding debacle) but as the burgundy shirts go this is my least favorite.  The 'Rapids' across the front just looked minor league and the collar never impressed me.

#14 - 2026-2028(?)

Probably the first controversial take in this list.  Yeah, current home kit sucks.  We're the burgundy boys, we play in burgundy.  Not black with burgundy highlights.  And how do you call a black kit 'Colorful Colorado'?  This gets the end over the first burgundy because it is a good looking kit, just not as a home kit for a burgundy team.

There's no clear announcement for when we'll swap this one out, with the schedule change.  What I've heard is that the normal winter new kit will arrive as planned before the sprint season, for us that would be a new away kit.  Then we'd keep this home kit through the sprint season and the first fall-spring season, before swapping it out in the summer of 2028.

#13 - 2020-2021

We're now at the point where the kits go from "yeah, that's fine" to top-tier.  None of these are bad, they're just various levels of good enough to great.  In this case the 2020 one was good enough.  The only thing that puts me off a bit is the gradient in the kit from the left shoulder to the right side contrasting with the Adidas strips going over the right shoulder.  Something about the clash in direction doesn't sit right.

#12 - 2011-12

This is about as close as you can get to a base burgundy shirt.  There's nothing wrong with it but there's nothing that stands out.  It got a one spot boost over #13 because its the first one to have a star on the kit.

#11 - 2014-15

This was a better way of incorporating the flag than the away kits I rated in the last article.  I liked that big C across the front back when a jersey sponsor was a long shot for us.  The white sleeves set off nicely from it as well.

Next up, the top 10 away kits!

Rapids Kit Rankings - Aways 17-11

Ok, it took me a bit to get back to this, but let's start with the bottom of the away kit rankings.

#17 - 2003-2004

You're going to see a lot of the black & blue era at the bottom of these lists and the worst of our road kits are from that period.  You're also going to see a lot of mainly plain white kits tonight.  This was the first year we went to black and blue and the alternate kit was a white shirt with some blue highlights.  There's nothing that stands out about this one.

#16 - 2015-2016

I expect this next group is going to be controversial for many, but I do not like the flag kits.  I appreciate taking the big swing with them but IMO it didn't work.  I also have a general aversion to messing with the badge like they did on these, the blue/red coloring didn't work.

#15 - 2017-2018

The blue sleeves and collar and the sponsor (honestly) make this look better than the prior version of the flag kit, but all the prior issues apply here too.

#14 - 2011-2012

Originally I had ranked this behind the flag kits but when I pulled the pic from CFS I was reminded that this was our kit with our Scudetto and then eventually our first star.  For that it got a boost above the yellow kits, but otherwise this was another white shirt with the "Arsenal" sleeves.  Meh.

#13 - 2013-2014

The first attempt at a flag kit, and the best one.  The blue is better than the yellow as the base color and the C design in the center leans more into the flag.  The badge is still not great though and this one looked far too much like FSL colors, something exacerbated by the decision to wear them at home in a Rocky Mountain Cup match (which we lost).

#12 - 2019-2020

Ah, the almost all-white 'Black Diamond' kit.  I mean, what are we doing here?  Otherwise this is a white t-shirt with some burgundy iron-ons.  There's nothing to get excited about but also there's nothing wrong with it.  It just is.

#11 - 2005

(This was actually a hard one to find an image of)

White shirt with blue highlights. This would be the last away kit with the blue and I liked the general design.  The following year they would use the same design with a different color scheme and that one is going to be pretty high on the list.

Next up, 18-11 of the home kits.

Rapids Kit Rankings - Thirds and One-Offs

Ok, while we're all enjoying this smorgasbord of soccer for the next month plus I'm going to take this time to do something I've wanted to do for a while.  An all-time rank of Rapids kits.

Now, some ground rules.  We're only ranking kits intended for competitive use.  Not pre-game tops, training tops, pre-season gear, any of that.  Also no goalkeeper kits because for many (most?) years MLS has just used a standard template in a variety of colors for all goalkeepers in the league.  We're also ignoring the Earth Day parlay kits or any of the other league-wide special ones.  Lastly I'm going to rank them in their own group.  Third kits and one-offs tonight, away/alternate kits in their ranking, home kits in their own ranking.  In the end I might make a top 5-10 list combining all three.  Given the number of home (18) and away (17) shirts those will probably be split into 2-3 posts each.

A lot of these images come from Classic Football Shirts.  The rest from wherever I could find them.

Speaking of kits, Centennial 38 is raising money to help the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation build its program in their quest to join FIFA.  Right now for every $10 you donate to the MISF through C38 here you get one entry to win a primary or alternate Marshall Islands National Team kit.  Drawing will be held the weekend of the World Cup Final.

So tonight its the five kits that have been thirds and one-offs.  Starting with:

#5 - 2001 - 4th Of July

In 2000 (see blow) and 2001 the Rapids and Kappa did one-off versions of the Rapids kit for their big summer game.  This one is certainly memorable, but not in a good way.  If you ever want to wanter over DIA to help planes land after a home match, this is your shirt of choice.  Otherwise, hard pass.

#4 - 2007-2008

These were only ever used in the friendlies in 2007 and 2008 against Tigres and Everton, they were never used in a competitive match.  Trying to play on the Arsenal red connection they never really worked.  I do have the goalkeeper version of this kit in my collection, its the same design on a green base instead of white.  I bought "game-worn" from the team store.  Its a Bouna Coundoul kit and he didn't play in either friendly, so the "game wear" is from sitting on the bench. :D

#3 - 2000 4th of July

The second of the two one-off kits, this one at least fit the Rapids scheme better.  I liked the blue much more than the red the next season.

#2 - 2006

Honestly until I started this project I didn't remember this one.  A little digging around though and they did use this a couple of times in the last pre-burgundy season.  As you're going to see as we go through these I'm a big fan of the green color scheme.  The blue piping doesn't really work for me, but compared to the other options its not a high bar to cross.

#1 - 2025

When this debuted last season I called it

This is a good, possibly great, third kit.  This is not a good 30th anniversary throwback kit.

and I stand by that.  In fact, after seeing it in person I'd call it a great third kit.   This is the essence of classic Rapids in a shirt and the clear best third/one-off we've ever done.  In fact, the Rapids should have told MLS and Adidas that if they were going to force the club to couch the Messi farce inside a "30th Anniversary celebration" then they were going to bring these kits back for one game in 2026 and play in them at Empower.  That would have put a true 30th vibe on that game.

Offseason Continues To Land With A Thud: Jersey Reveal

A couple of hours before the official announcement this morning the new Rapids kit leaked.  The official release came at 10:

That's the 2026 'Colorful Colorado' kit...which is mostly black.

There is nothing I like about this kit.  Honestly outside of our blue & black years from 2003-2006 I think this is the worst home kit we've ever had.  I could see this as trying something different as an away/alternate kit, or as a third kit, but as a home kit?  We are the Burgundy Boys and yet three stripes on the shoulders is the extent of burgundy.  Also the detailing around the collar and sleeves is supposed to be a nod to our heritage and our prior colors but they're lost in the sea of black.

There are some fans who are linking this to the proposed rebranding but I think that's a mistake.  Teams start working on kits two years in advance so this was in the planning before anything about rebranding was discussed.  I feel like the rebranding push is coming from our new Chief Business Officer, who was only hired in the last year, far after this jersey was planned.  It is however a poorly timed release after the rebranding idea was panned by many fans.

Also I will continue to rant about the pricing of these kits, which is something completely out of the hands of the Rapids.  Those are set by Adidas (possibly with input from MLS, but not the teams).  $160 for an authentic.  $100 for the replica which doesn't include the star or the collar detail.  Add $35 to that if you want Navarro's name and number (or any other name and number) on either kit.  $195 for an authentic player kit.  Unbelievable.  For comparison's sake I got an authentic Aurora FC (USL Women) kit to support Minnesota two weeks ago for $95 shipped, and it arrived in 3 days.  It included name and number for that price, though I chose to leave it blank.  And its a better design of a black kit than this one.

After a run of good to great kits the Rapids completely missed with this one.  Consider this.  2026 is our 20th season playing at Dick's Sporting Goods Park and our 20th season playing in burgundy.  To celebrate or history we're going to play Inter Messi at Empower wearing black.  How does that make sense?