England take on Spain today in the final of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
England, the reigning European champions, are looking to win the tournament for the first time, as well as becoming the first English team since 1966 to win a senior final on the world stage.
But England will not be playing in their customary white kit for today’s final.
Here’s why.
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Follow live coverage of Spain vs England in the Women’s World Cup final today
Why are England wearing their blue kit today?
With Spain wearing red, you might have expected to see England wearing their traditional white kit for the final. However, FIFA have decided that the shorts from the kits — both navy — are too similar and want to avoid a clash.
Spain are designated as Team A for the final, therefore the choice was theirs. Unsurprisingly, they opted for their home kit which means England, as Team B, will wear their away kit of light blue shirt and light blue shorts with white socks.
Had it been last summer, England would have been able to wear their home kit but the white shorts were changed after players had raised concerns over the practicality of wearing them while on their period.
What have England teams worn in previous finals?
In England’s one and only other senior World Cup final in 1966, the men’s team also wore their away kit, despite playing at Wembley.
The England men’s team wore red in the famous 1966 final (Photo: Getty Images)The famous images of Geoff Hurst scoring a hat-trick and Bobby Moore lifting the trophy in red shirts rather than white ones was because they lost a coin toss before the match which allowed West Germany to wear their white home shirts.
In the men’s European Championship final in 2021, England were back at Wembley and, this time, wore a full white kit. But it did not bring them much luck as they were beaten on penalties by Italy after a 1-1 draw.
A year later, when the women’s team reached the same stage, it was an all-white affair once again. Fortunately for the home fans inside Wembley, the outcome was different as Chloe Kelly’s winning goal in extra-time earned Sarina Wiegman’s side their first major international honour.
Can I still buy the blue kit?
Yes, the blue kit is still available on both the Nike and England official stores. Although, with the opportunity for the Lionesses to create history in the blue kit, sizes have begun to sell out.
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Meanwhile, as Mary Earps highlighted before the tournament, England supporters are still unable to buy the goalkeeper kit that has been worn by the Manchester United number one at the tournament.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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