Germany's DFB side wear their blue adidas away kit for the first time at this World Cup in their final group game against Ecuador. There is more to it than a simple change of colour.
The final group game of the German national team at the 2026 World Cup takes place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. Ecuador stands in the way, but a place in the round of 32 is already secured after two wins – 7-1 against Curaçao and 2-1 against Ivory Coast. Yet the kits Germany wear for the occasion may attract just as much attention as the match itself: the dark blue away shirt.
Blue and Germany – for many, that combination still feels unfamiliar. The national team is traditionally associated with white, black or the occasional green. But the colour has a history that runs deeper into the DNA of German football than most people realise.
Blue in DFB life: A colour rooted in training wear
The colour draws its inspiration from old DFB training wear dating back to the 1950s. The pullovers worn by Sepp Herberger and Adi Dassler were navy, and Franz Beckenbauer's training jacket continued that tradition. Blue was a constant presence in the DFB's day-to-day life for decades – just rarely seen on the pitch.
There was one exception. In 1986, shortly before the World Cup in Mexico, the German national team wore a blue kit in an unofficial warm-up match against local side Monarcas Morelia. As no strict kit regulations applied to unofficial fixtures, the squad turned to blue alternative kit – a colour already familiar to the DFB through its training wear of the era. The original shirt from that day hangs in the adidas archive.
The final tournament: adidas and the DFB say goodbye in blue
Forty years on, in the context of another World Cup held partly in Mexico, adidas revisits that moment. The new away shirt features a subtle zigzag pattern inspired by vintage adidas shoe boxes, complemented by turquoise accents and graphic elements that recall the 1990s. A badge on the front left hem reads: “Partner of the German national team since 1954.”
It is a detail that carries weight. The 2026 World Cup is the last major tournament in which the DFB side will wear adidas. From 2027, Nike takes over. A partnership of more than 70 years comes to an end – and the blue kit on show at MetLife Stadium is, in its own way, a farewell.
Germany's blue away kit is available at adidas.com.
