Few national teams wear their identity as loudly as Mexico, and Mexico jersey history tells the story of a football nation through green, white, black, and the odd shocking-pink goalkeeper kit. From the golden Adidas era of the 1970s to the Aztec-inspired shirt that ABA Sport gave the world in 1998, El Tri’s shirts have become collector’s items in their own right.
If you’re building out a collection of national team jerseys or just landed on Mexico because of the World Cup 2026, it helps to know where this shirt has been. Here’s a proper look back at a century of El Tri kits, and what made each era matter.
Early Mexico Jersey History: Finding an Identity in Green
Mexico didn’t settle on green as its permanent home colour by accident. Early 20th-century sides experimented with different shirt colours before green became fixed as the national identity, tied to the green stripe of the Mexican flag. By the 1960s, the shirt had settled into the template fans recognise today: green body, white shorts, red socks — the same tricolour arrangement Mexico still wears when it lines up against rivals from South America or Europe.
Hosting Glory: The 1970 and 1986 World Cup Kits
Mexico is the only country besides Italy, France and now the United States to have hosted (or co-hosted) the World Cup more than once, and the 1970 and 1986 tournaments left a permanent mark on Mexico jersey history. The 1970 kit — simple, collared, made by various manufacturers of the era — carries huge nostalgic weight as the shirt worn on home soil during the tournament that gave the world Pelé’s Brazil. The 1986 shirt, worn as Mexico reached the quarter-finals under Bora Milutinović, is remembered for its boxy 1980s cut and for being on the pitch during one of the most iconic World Cups ever played.
1982–1990: The First Adidas Era
Adidas first took over Mexico’s kit deal in the early 1980s, a partnership that ran through the 1986 World Cup and into 1990. This first spell established the three-stripe branding that would eventually become permanent, even though Mexico’s kit went through several other manufacturers before Adidas came back for good in 2007.
The Wilderness Years: Umbro and the Early 1990s
After the first Adidas deal ended, Umbro picked up the Mexico contract in the early 1990s. It’s a less celebrated chapter of Mexico jersey history, but it set the stage for what came next — a decade in which small, homegrown Mexican brands would produce some of the most beloved shirts the country has ever worn.
ABA Sport and the Legendary 1998 Aztec Shirt
If you ask any serious shirt collector to name the greatest Mexico jersey of all time, most will point to the same shirt: the 1996–1998 ABA Sport home kit. Designed around a deep green base with the Aztec Sun Stone shadow-printed across the fabric, it drew directly on pre-Hispanic Mexican heritage rather than generic football design language. Worn by Luis Hernández, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Jorge Campos at the 1998 World Cup in France, it’s now regularly named among the best football shirts ever produced, and original ABA Sport shirts fetch serious money in the classic jerseys market.
Jorge Campos: Football’s Most Colourful Goalkeeper
No look at 1990s Mexico is complete without Jorge Campos, the goalkeeper (and occasional striker) who designed his own neon, geometric kits. His shirts had nothing to do with the outfield green kit above, but they turned him into a global icon and remain some of the most requested retro goalkeeper jerseys around, alongside oddities from other North and Central American sides of the era.
Atlética and the Turn of the Millennium
Guadalajara-founded brand Atlética took over the kit contract from 2000 to 2002, producing shirts for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. Like ABA Sport, Atlética was a home-grown Mexican company, and its shirts are prized today for being distinctly different from the mass-produced designs of bigger multinational sportswear brands.
Nike’s Brief Spell (2003–2006)
Nike held the Mexico contract from 2003 to 2006, a functional but less adventurous period sandwiched between two more celebrated eras. It’s a useful reminder that Mexico jersey history isn’t a straight line of hits — some years produced quietly forgettable shirts, even for a team known for bold design choices.
Adidas Returns for Good: 2007 to Today
Since 2007, Adidas has held the Mexico kit deal continuously, making it the longest-running manufacturer relationship in the modern El Tri era. Under Adidas, Mexico’s shirts have leaned into the green-white-red tricolour while experimenting with texture, gradient prints and the odd nod to Aztec design heritage that made the 1998 shirt so beloved. Fans following current squads built around players who also turn out in MLS and across European leagues can see how far the shirt’s profile has travelled.
The 2026 World Cup Kit: A Tribute to 1998
With Mexico co-hosting the 2026 World Cup alongside the United States and Canada, Adidas designed the new home kit as a deliberate homage to that 1998 ABA Sport classic, reviving the Aztec Sun Stone patterning for a new generation. It’s a smart move — for a country making World Cup history by hosting for a third time, tying the newest shirt to the most romanticised one in Mexico jersey history gives collectors and casual fans alike a reason to want both versions side by side. You can read more about the tournament structure on FIFA’s official World Cup site.
How to Choose Your Own El Tri Jersey
If this history has you wanting to add a Mexico shirt to your own collection, think about what you actually want it for. A current replica from our Mexico jersey range is the easiest way to support the current squad heading into 2026. If you want a slice of history instead, look for a retro reissue of the 1998 design rather than an original — genuine ABA Sport shirts from that era are rare and expensive. Either way, check sizing carefully before you buy, and if you’re new to buying shirts online, our FAQ page covers sizing, shipping and authenticity questions in more detail. Mexico’s rivalry with sides like Argentina and comparisons to iconic kits worn by Brazil also make for a fun collection theme if you’re building out a North and Central America shelf alongside classic South American shirts.
Final Whistle
A hundred-plus years in, Mexico jersey history remains one of the most colourful and distinctive stories in world football — from early green shirts and two home World Cups, through the homegrown genius of ABA Sport and Atlética, to Adidas’s long modern reign and a 2026 kit built to honour the past. Whether you’re chasing a retro classic or the current squad’s shirt for this summer’s tournament, browse our full national team jersey collection or learn more about how we source and check our stock on our About Us page.
