The Best Football Kits of the 2010 World Cup

The 2010 World Cup kits still divide opinion in our shop more than almost any other tournament's, which is exactly why collectors keep asking about them. South Africa 2010 gave us Spain's navy winners' shirt, a Nike range spun from recycled plastic bottles and a handful of genuine misfires, so here is our honest ranking of the 2010 World Cup kits worth owning.

Why the 2010 World Cup kits still matter

South Africa 2010 sits at a turning point. It was the last major tournament before sublimated graphics and heavily patterned fronts took over, so most of these shirts are clean, simple and built around colour-blocking rather than print. It was also the tournament where sustainability arrived properly: Nike's nine teams all wore shirts made from recycled polyester, with up to eight plastic bottles going into each one. Add the Jabulani ball, the vuvuzelas and a first World Cup on African soil, and you get a set of kits with a very strong sense of place. If you are building a tournament-by-tournament collection, our guides to the best football kits of the 2006 World Cup and the best football kits of the 2010s bookend this one neatly.

Spain: the navy shirt that won the lot

Spain's adidas away kit is the single most collectable shirt of the 2010 World Cup kits, and it is not close. Spain wore the navy shirt and shorts, with three yellow stripes on each and red socks, for the final against the Netherlands, winning 1-0 thanks to Andrés Iniesta's goal in the 116th minute. That it was a change kit only adds to the appeal — Spain's first world title was won in dark blue rather than the familiar red. Worth remembering, too, that Spain lost their opening game 1-0 to Switzerland and still went on to lift the trophy. For the full story of La Roja's wardrobe, see our rundown of the best Spain jerseys of all time, and browse the rest of our European national team jerseys.

Netherlands: Nike's orange, one goal short

The Dutch shirt is the aesthetic winner for a lot of people. Nike kept it deliberately plain — bright orange shirt, black shorts, orange socks, the classic Oranje look with no gimmicks — and hid the character inside, where an "Inner Pride" graphic reading "Lions Of Orange" sat behind the badge. It was designed by the Amsterdam graphic artist Lennard Schuurmans, and it is the kind of detail that makes a shirt worth owning rather than just wearing. Sneijder, Robben and Van Persie all played in it, which is why the 2010 Netherlands shirt remains one of the most requested in our Netherlands jerseys range.

USA: the sash finally came back

Nike gave the United States a white home shirt with a diagonal line sweeping across the chest, a deliberate nod to the 1950 squad that beat England 1-0 in Belo Horizonte. The away version flipped it to navy with a red collar. Sashes are hard to get right and this one was a little thin, but the idea was sound and the shirt has aged well — helped by the 1-1 draw with England in the group stage. It is one of the few genuinely graphic-led designs among the 2010 World Cup kits.

Germany: black, gold and a brilliant tournament

Germany's adidas away shirt is the other change kit from 2010 that collectors chase: black, with gold stripes, a red V-neck and red piping, three gold stars above the eagle. Joachim Löw's side were the most entertaining team at the tournament, thrashing England 4-1 and Argentina 4-0 before losing to Spain in the semi-final and beating Uruguay 3-2 in the third-place match. Thomas Müller took the Golden Boot with five goals. The black shirt is the one most people want, but the white home version is the easier buy — have a look at our Germany jerseys and our picks of the best Germany jerseys of all time.

South Africa: the hosts in yellow and green

Bafana Bafana's adidas home shirt was yellow with green trim on the V-neck, cuffs and side panels, with a jacquard pattern woven into the body echoing the national flag. It carries the moment the whole tournament turned on: Siphiwe Tshabalala's thumping opener against Mexico in the first match, which finished 1-1. South Africa did not get out of the group, but no shirt from 2010 is more tied to the occasion. Originals are scarce and priced accordingly.

Ghana and Ivory Coast: Puma's African wardrobe

Puma dressed much of Africa in 2010 and did a tidy job of it. Ghana's red, yellow and green became the continent's unofficial second team as the Black Stars reached the quarter-finals, where Luis Suárez handled on the line and Asamoah Gyan put the resulting penalty against the bar before Uruguay won the shootout. Ivory Coast's bright orange shirt, worn by Didier Drogba and the Touré brothers, is the other Puma piece from this tournament that still sells. Cameroon, Algeria and Switzerland completed Puma's roster, and all three are hard to source now.

Uruguay, Argentina and the South Americans

Uruguay's Puma shirt deserves more credit than it gets. Diego Forlán won the Golden Ball as Uruguay finished fourth, their best World Cup since 1970, and the sky-blue shirt is a clean, well-cut piece of design — more on that in our guide to the best Uruguay jerseys of all time. Argentina wore adidas sky-blue and white stripes under Diego Maradona and were taken apart 4-0 by Germany. Brazil's Nike yellow went out 2-1 to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. Chile were the curiosity: they played under Marcelo Bielsa in kit made by Brooks, a running brand, which makes their 2010 shirt one of the odder items in any collection. Browse our Argentina jerseys, our Brazil jerseys and the story of the Seleção's yellow shirt.

The ones that did not work

Not every entry was a success. England's Umbro home shirt was perfectly pleasant white-with-red-trim and perfectly forgettable, which rather matched a campaign of a 0-0 draw with Algeria and a 4-1 defeat by Germany; our England jerseys and best England jerseys of all time pages have far stronger options. Italy's Puma azzurri shirt was fine but is forever attached to a group-stage exit that included a 3-2 defeat to Slovakia — see our Italy jerseys and best Italy jerseys of all time. France's adidas kit is remembered for the Knysna mutiny rather than anything on the pitch. And North Korea's Legea shirt is memorable mostly for the 7-0 defeat by Portugal it was worn in; Portugal's own deep red Nike shirt was much better, as our Portugal jerseys selection shows.

How to buy a 2010 World Cup kit today

Sixteen years on, original 2010 shirts sit in an awkward middle ground: old enough to be out of production, not yet old enough for widespread official reissues. That means most of what you will find is either genuine stock from the period or a reproduction, and telling them apart matters. Check the manufacturer's heat-pressed holographic tag inside the shirt, look closely at badge embroidery and font spacing, and be wary of listings where every size is available in mint condition. Our guides to authentic versus replica football jerseys and how to spot counterfeit football jerseys cover the checks in detail, and retro versus reissue football shirts explains which route suits you. On fit, remember that 2010-era sizing ran slimmer than today's, especially the adidas TechFit cuts — our football jersey size guide is worth two minutes before you order. Official tournament records are all on FIFA's 2010 World Cup page if you want to check squads and results yourself.

Shop the classics at SideJersey

If this has you hunting for a shirt from South Africa 2010, start with our classic jerseys and retro jerseys collections, where tournament-era pieces turn up regularly, or work through the full national team jerseys range by country. We ship across the UK and internationally. For more rankings like this one, our greatest World Cup kits of all time feature is the natural next read, the SideJersey blog has the rest of the series, and the World Cup 2026 jerseys hub covers the modern end of the shelf. Any questions on sizing, authenticity or delivery, our FAQ has you covered.