The Best Euro Championship Kits of All Time: 11 Continental Classics

Ask anyone behind the counter of a shirt shop which tournament produced the greatest designs and you will get an argument, because the best Euro Championship kits have a swagger that World Cup shirts rarely match. Four weeks, sixteen or twenty-four European sides and a lot of brave decisions by kit designers have left us with a run of genuine classics stretching from 1984 to the present day.

Netherlands 1988: The Orange Shirt That Set the Standard

If there is a consensus number one, this is it. The adidas shirt the Dutch wore in West Germany in 1988 lasted only five matches, which is part of its mystique, and it carried a bold abstract graphic across an orange body that looked like nothing else on the pitch.

It helped that the football matched the clothing. Ruud Gullit headed the Netherlands in front in the Munich final and Marco van Basten finished it with that absurd volley from the tightest of angles, beating the Soviet Union 2-0 for the country's first major trophy. Original 1988 shirts now change hands for serious money, which is why most fans go for a reissue instead. Our Netherlands jerseys page is the place to start, and if you want the wider story we have a full rundown of the best Netherlands jerseys of all time.

West Germany 1988: adidas Flag Colours, Shoulder to Shoulder

The hosts lost to the Dutch in the semi-final wearing one of the most copied shirts in football history. The adidas design ran the black, red and gold of the German flag across the chest from one shoulder to the other, and it has been remade and referenced ever since.

It is the reason people still ask for an eighties Germany shirt by description rather than by year. Browse our Germany shirts or the broader classic jerseys range.

France 1984: adidas Blue and Platini's Summer

Four years earlier, France had hosted and won the tournament in an adidas shirt that is a lesson in restraint. No flag panels, no shouting, just a clean blue jersey worn by the best midfield of the decade.

Michel Platini captained the side, scored nine goals in a single tournament and lifted the trophy after a 2-0 win over Spain at the Parc des Princes, having come through a semi-final against Portugal that is still argued over as the best match the competition has produced. Few Euro Championship kits carry that much football in them. Have a look at our France shirts if the eighties silhouette is your thing.

Denmark 1992: Hummel's Fairytale in Sweden

Denmark only got into Euro 92 because Yugoslavia were excluded, then won the thing. The Hummel home shirt split vertically, one half plain red and the other filled with the brand's signature chevrons, and it is now one of the decade's most recognisable jerseys.

John Jensen and Kim Vilfort scored in the Gothenburg final to beat Germany 2-0. Hummel also gave goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel a neon shirt that tops plenty of lists on its own, and Sweden's adidas yellow with diagonal shadow stripes deserves a nod from the same summer. Denmark have stayed with Hummel ever since, which is rare in modern kit manufacturing.

Euro 96: Scotland's Tartan and Croatia's Chequerboard

England 96 was a vintage summer. Umbro put a tartan shadow pattern on Scotland's kit, which sounds like a terrible idea on paper and worked beautifully in practice, and also made England's shirts that year, including the grey change strip that still divides opinion three decades on.

The other star was Croatia. Playing their first European Championship as an independent nation, they wore a Lotto shirt built around the red and white chequerboard of the national coat of arms, beat Denmark 3-0 in the group stage and pushed Germany in the quarter-final before losing 2-1. The chequerboard has been reworked by every supplier since and remains one of the most instantly readable designs in the sport. We have a dedicated guide to the best Croatia jerseys of all time, and more mid-nineties favourites in our look at the best football kits of the 1990s.

Germany 1996: adidas White and the First Golden Goal

Germany's adidas home shirt at Euro 96 is a quieter design than the 1988 version, and it is remembered mainly for what happened in it. Patrik Berger put the Czech Republic ahead from the penalty spot at Wembley, Oliver Bierhoff equalised, and five minutes into extra time his shot squirmed through goalkeeper Petr Kouba's hands.

That was the first major final settled by a golden goal, and Germany became European champions for the first time as a unified country. The Czech side wore Puma, Russia had Reebok and Portugal were kitted out by Olympic, a reminder of how varied the brand landscape was before the big three took over. The full tournament history is worth a read on UEFA's official site.

Italy 2000: How the Kappa Kombat Changed Football Shirts

Some kits are pretty. This one rewrote the rules. Kappa's Kombat shirt for Italy at Euro 2000 was cut deliberately tight so defenders could not grab a handful of fabric, and the stretch panels made it cling in a way no international side had worn before.

Italy reached the final in it and were seconds from winning before Sylvain Wiltord equalised and David Trezeguet's golden goal gave France a 2-1 win. Within a few seasons every manufacturer had moved to a slimmer cut, and the modern player-issue shirt is a direct descendant. Our Italy jerseys and classic Italy shirts cover both ends of that story.

Portugal 2016 and Iceland's Errea Surprise

Portugal's Nike shirt from 2016 is one of the best things the brand has made for a national side, and it came home with the trophy after Eder's long-range winner beat France 1-0 in Paris. France were also in Nike that summer, making the final a study in how differently one supplier can treat two teams.

The sleeper pick from 2016 is Iceland, who wore Errea and reached the quarter-finals on their tournament debut. Smaller suppliers often produce the most interesting Euro Championship kits, and Jako's North Macedonia shirt at the next tournament was cut from the same cloth. Browse the full Portugal jerseys selection or the wider European national team jerseys category.

The Modern Euro Championship Kits: Italy 2020 to Spain 2024

The best recent Euro Championship kits belong to Italy and Spain. Puma dressed Italy for the tournament played in 2021, and they beat England 3-2 on penalties at Wembley after a 1-1 draw. Spain, in adidas, then won in 2024 with a 2-1 victory over England in Berlin through goals from Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal, taking their tally to four European titles, more than any other nation.

England's Nike shirt from 2024 generated more column inches than any other, mostly because of the multicoloured St George's cross on the collar, which drew a public row before Nike confirmed the design would stay. Have a look at our England jerseys and classic England shirts if you want to compare the modern cut with the Umbro era.

Buying Euro Championship Kits: What to Check Before You Pay

Three things decide whether you are still happy with a shirt six months on. First, cut: player-issue jerseys are slimmer and shorter than fan versions, so size up if you prefer room, and check our football jersey size guide before ordering. Second, provenance: the older and rarer the shirt, the more carefully you should read the listing, and our guide on how to spot counterfeit football jerseys covers the tells worth knowing.

Third, originals versus reissues. Many of the oldest Euro Championship kits are collector's items with collector's prices, while a modern remake gives you the same design for a fraction of the cost and you can actually wear it. Our retro jerseys range exists for exactly that reason, and the FAQ answers the usual questions about sizing, shipping and returns.

Shop Your Favourite European Championship Kits at SideJersey

Almost every one of these European Championship kits is available in some form, whether a faithful reissue, a vintage original or the current season's release. Start with our national team shirts, dig through the classic jerseys archive, or see what else we have been writing about over on the SideJersey blog. If you want to compare continental classics with the global stage, our piece on the greatest World Cup kits of all time is the natural next read.