There are plenty of new kits for the World Cup and here are our top 15 favourites...


An added bonus to the World Cup taking place is that all us fans who love football shirts get plenty of new releases for the tournament as kit manufacturers have finally begun to create kits specifically for the women's national teams rather them having to use the same as the men's teams. granted this makes it a bit more expensive for us collectors as there are plenty of shirts for us to purchase but it is nice to see the women getting the chance to standout on their own. There are some brilliant designs being released for the women's teams too and it is safe to say this World Cup is no different and there are some truly eye catching designs. Some shirts definitely standout more than others with bold in your face designs whilst some are a bit more subtle and go for a simpler classic kind of look. Today's post is a look at the 15 shirts that have quickly become favourites that we are looking forward to seeing throughout the tournament and why we are loving those specific designs, so here are the 15 shirts that have made the cut...


Canada Home

This Canada home shirt for the World Cup definitely stands out from the crowd whilst also representing the nation brilliantly. The classic red you associate with the nation is front and centre whilst the fading of the colour just adds another layer to the shirts design alongside the geometric print that makes up the bulk of the design. The added bonus of the maple leaf just captures a art of Canada's culture and adds to the representation of the nation. This is so much better than some of the plain red shirts we have seen Nike produce for Canada in the past and it is certainly going to help them stand out on the pitch.


Netherlands Away

Nike really have brought out some crazy in your face designs for the World Cup, some work and some not so much but this Netherlands one really stands out to us for all the right reasons. We ended up falling in love with the Netherlands in the Euro's due to the fan experience plus some of the players performances so of course we were looking forward to seeing what sort of shirt they would be wearing this time around. Nike hasn't disappointed with the design of the away shirt as the colours work so well together. This is definitely high up on the want to purchase list.


Portugal Away

This shirt is a bit of a Marmite shirt isn't it? People have either being loving it or hating it and we are   definitely on the loving it side. Our favourite shirts are those that stand out and are bold as you will see in this post, as for too many years teams were having boring generic shirts but these are just different and make a nice change. This design is pretty random but again Nike have managed to incorporate the nations primary colours into the shirt well without it being like a home shirt. We love when the nations main colours spill into the away kit too and they can represent those colours with less chance of clashing with the opposition.


Australia Home

The joint host nations shirts always impress us if we are honest as you can't really go wrong with the green and gold colourway. If we are being honest we did prefer the previous shirt with the collar however, this is still up there as one of our favourites for this competition. The green details against the gold background once again look absolutely fantastic and the swirl design on the shirt just adds a layer to the design without it being too in your face. We might like bold crazy shirts but with Australia's shirts a much simpler design works perfectly and this ticks all the boxes for us.



Netherlands Home

We did mention earlier in the post that we had a soft spot for the Netherlands these days and we guess it shows with the fact that both their shirts have made it into our top 15. The Netherlands away kit is out there and in your face where as the home shirt is a bit more classic and simple. It has the vibrant orange you always associate with Netherlands and just like with the Australian home shirt it has a subtle design built in rather than being a bold print as we see in the away shirt. Again the subtle design just stops the shirt being so plain and boring and is one of the reasons this shirt is here on our favourites list.


Denmark Home

Hummel is not really a manufacturer we are usually impressed by however, we are really looking forward to seeing this Denmark shirt being worn at the World Cup. This shirt design is the classic red you associate with Denmark with some bold white prints making the shirt catch your eye. For us though it is the faded design on the shirt which blends into the red brilliantly but is still very noticeable. This design features the Danish badge and bold prints without taking away from the otherwise simple design. We would love to actually see this shirt in person as who knows that print might be even bolder in person.


England Away

In the past both England shirts might have been on this list however, the home shirt this tournament is a let down compared to the last World Cup & Euro's. The away shirt though is a different story and is one we actually want to purchase. It gives us retro vibes and we can't help but think of the Italia 90 shirt when we look at this. It gives you those vibes but Nike have done well to work the design to make it unique for the Lionesses to stand out on the pitch for their own reasons as it is similar but not an identical copy. This is by far one of our favourites from all those nations heading to the World Cup and of course it will be the number 1 purchase. Even if we weren't English this would no doubt still have been purchased we just love it.


Italy Away

Puma never did Italy justice in our eyes and the shirts they were producing for them just weren't cutting it for us even if we did end up purchasing one of the third shirts from an outlet recently. Adidas on the other hand have created a nice and simple looking away shirt for the nation which catches our eye for all the right reasons. Adidas have really pulled it out of the bag with these designs and Italy's shirt is no different as the colours work well and the pattern on the shirt stands out without being too much. This is definitely one of our favourite Italy shirts in recent years, let's just hope we get to see it throughout the tournament.

Spain Away

This Spain away shirt is possibly our favourite out of all the away shirts that Adidas have released for the World Cup. With the ocean theme this shirt is totally different to what you would expect to see Spain wearing however, it works really well. All the colours work well together and the coral / sea life pattern stands out perfectly with out being too much as the main focus is of the detail growing out from the seams of the shirt. This shirt is definitely up there as one we really want to add to our collection just down to how different it is.


Japan Away

The Adidas shirt love continues with this stunning Japan away shirt that catches your eye due to the colours on the shirt rather than a bold in your face print. We don't think anyone expected a shirt like this for Japan but it works perfectly, the main focus is the nations badge but the colours made to look like the sky catch your eye and blend perfectly together. This shirt is so simple compared to some of our other favourites but we honestly just can't get enough of it. There seems to be a Japan shaped hole in our collection which this might fill perfectly if we were to find it in our size.


Germany Away

Look we told you Adidas have impressed us with their away shirts for the World Cup and the Germany away shirt isn't even the last to feature from Adidas in this post. Every time we go to the local Adidas outlet we get tempted to purchase some of the Germany shirts they have to offer but we always opt not to buy them, if we come across this shirt though it is going to be an instant purchase. Carrying on the climate theme from Adidas this green and gold colourway works brilliantly and the green forest design blends into the shirt perfectly with just a few leaf details standing out that bit more on the pattern rather than it being a full shirt of leaves which would possibly have been far too much.


Ireland Home 

We have to say that Castore are definitely becoming a manufacturer that we are paying more attention to these days as they are releasing some great shirts and the shirts are really good quality and provide a nice fit. It is Ireland's first time in the World Cup and they have a nice simple & classic shirt to wear for their debut in the tournament. Castore have kept the green as the main focus of the shirt with just small strips of white and orange to incorporate the nations flag colours. Nice and simple and a shirt we 100% want in our collection.


Switzerland Home

We mentioned earlier that Puma had let us down in recent years with shirt releases however, there is one that we are really liking for the World Cup. The shirt we are loving is the Switzerland home shirt, this is much simpler than 90% of the other shirts on this post but it is a simple shirt that works. Previously Puma shirts have looked like those cheap templates you can get in Sports Direct however, this one just looks a lot better and the white across the shoulders just stops the shirt being too plain and boring. This is definitely better than Puma's recent options and we will be keeping an eye out for a price drop on this one.


Colombia away

This is the final Adidas shirt we promise. In all honesty though this is possibly our favourite shirt out of all the Adidas ones in this post as that galaxy/cosmic print really stands out and catches your eye. The colours of this print is absolutely brilliant and the yellow badge and stripes just stand out nicely without spoiling the shirts overall purple & blue galaxy design. Nice and simple with the print blending in but catches your eye for all the right reasons.


France Home

The blue on this France shirt is a bit different to the usual blue you expect as it is a lot lighter in colour but we love it due to it being that little bit different simply down to the colour. We ended up purchasing the France home shirt from the Euro's and that had a print worked into the design that definitely stood out where as this one is a lot more subtle in it's design. The light blue works really well on this simple template which a few teams will be wear just in different colours. We will definitely be looking to add this one to our collection too as you can't beat a good France shirt, past or present.

These shirts are by far the favourites this time around and these nations are definitely going to look great on the pitch and let's hope their performance matches up to that. If the cost of these shirts wasn't as ridiculous as it currently is I would very happily buy every single one off this list but I am definitely going to have to try narrow it down to just a few purchases and it is pretty difficult to just pick a few of these to purchase as they are all great in their own ways. Keep an eye on social media to see which shirts we end up purchasing, if we end up getting any at all...

Don't forget the World Cup content is well underway here at Edge of the Area and there are even more posts coming this weekend and into next week which are all about the players to keep an eye on throughout the tournament.

How do we think the final two World Cup groups will finish?

 Here we go, we have so far done posts predicting groups A & B, C & D, E & F and now we are at the final two groups. It has been a fun week predicting the groups and today's post is no different as once again it was quite hard to narrow down who we thought was going to progress to the round of 16 especially when it came to having a guess at who would be finishing in second place in these two groups. In previous tournaments this might have been a bit easier but as we have said all week the progression of the women's games around the world has really made the competition much tighter and these groups really could go either way. There are some teams in these groups that could really cause an upset due to their standard of football increasing in recent years but only time will tell if that progression has been enough for this tournament or if it will be too much too soon for them. So here is how we think the final two groups will look by the end of the group stages...

Group G

Sweden

Italy 

Argentina

South Africa

When it has come to predicting these groups we have honestly had the biggest challenge when it has come to narrowing down how we thing the group will look at the end of the group stage as a lot of these teams have really progressed in the past few years and there could potentially be a bit of an upset caused in this group. Sweden didn't have the best of performances at last years Euro's but still managed to get to the semi-finals, they definitely didn't look like the Sweden we were used to seeing though so it is going to be interesting to see how they get on at the world cup. Group G definitely has the potential to be a strongly contested group however, we just can't help but think that Sweden's experience is going to help them top the group and progress to the round of 16, they definitely need to put in better performances than they had in the Euro's though as those in their group have the potential to get a result out of them. When deciding the team from this group to go through second we found it hard to decide, all 3 of the remaining teams in the group have developed in recent years but we think Italy will just scrape through and into the round of 16. Italy are a team that are full of surprises and can play some good football, it will be tough for them but we can see them just sneaking in to the knockout stages even if it is simply on goal difference. It was also quite difficult to work out who to add as third place in this group however, for us we think it might be Argentina who end up just missing out on progression out of the group stages. As we say we believe it could be a case of goal difference being the decider in this group for the second place unless one of the teams in this group other than Sweden put in an absolutely fantastic performance each and every game. It was tough to decide between Argentina and South Africa as both teams bring something different to the group but we took the difficult decision of having South Africa at the bottom of this group. We really hope they prove us wrong though as they have progressed so well in recent years and as we said in this group anything could happen.

Group H

Germany 

Colombia

Morocco

South Korea

The final group of the tournament and again it is a group that could provide us with some surprises. Just like most people are no doubt predicting we can't help but think that Germany are going to be progressing to the knockout stages as group winners. The Euro's runners up seem to be going from strength to strength and have some promising talent coming through the ranks which we think are going to secure them that 1st place in the group. Again though as for who will be joining them in the group stages it is difficult to try predict as the remaining 3 teams all have great potential to really challenge for the final knockout round place. We aren't sure why but we just keep going back to Colombia coming in second place in this group. The teams in this group have all grown and we can see the games between the 3 remaining teams being closely contested however, we believe Colombia might just coming out of the games with the better results and just about scrape into the round of 16. We could very easily see this group coming down to just a single point for who goes through and who goes home but we can see it being Colombia who out muscles the competition in this group. As for the third and fourth spots in this group we are going to switch it up a bit and go for a bit of a wild card result and throw in Morocco coming in third place and South Korea finishing bottom of the group. Morocco have really grown over recent years and we are putting them down to cause an upset and make sure they don't end up bottom of the group and have South Korea finishing in that spot instead. The group definitely has the potential to be a competitive ones and provide us fans with plenty of entertaining football where anything could happen.

We are really looking forward to seeing how these two groups play out as just like the other groups they have the potential to provide us with plenty of action. With this World Cup being the first with 32 teams in the competition the group stages are going to be more intense as there will be no third place teams heading into the round of 16, so teams will be giving it their all to progress through the competition and get themselves a better game in the round of 16. This World Cup really is going to be bigger and better than ever and we are looking forward to checking back on these prediction posts once the group stage is over to see if we guessed correctly or if we were way off the mark with our predictions. 

Don't forget if you have missed any of this week's prediction posts you can click on the following to be taken to the predictions for those specific groups: A & B, C & D, E &F.

Check back tomorrow for yet another World Cup focused post. 

We have had the first 4 groups, now here is how we think groups E & F will finish...

If you have been reading the website the past few days you will know that this week is all about our predictions for the group stage of the upcoming world cup, we have been focusing on two groups a day with groups A & B posted on Monday whilst yesterday saw us take a look at groups C & D. Today though is all about groups E & F which once again thanks to the progression of the women's game is bound to be two exciting groups that were hard to put in order once again. The groups really are getting tighter with the talent growing so you never do know which way they are going to go and anything can happen really. Group E is looking especially exciting with the reigning champions in the same group as 2019's runner up. Then you have group F where France are entering the competition with new management after issues off the pitch whilst facing some tough competition thanks to growth of the women's game in the other nations in the group. So let's get into it and see how we think groups E & F are going to look by the end of the group stage...

Group E

United States

Netherlands

Portugal

Vietnam 

Group E is an exciting group for a fair few reasons but the main two are going to be the replay of the 2019 final whilst still in the group stages and then the fact that Portugal have developed absolutely brilliantly in recent years and are starting to show us football fans exactly what they are capable. Due to the quality of the competition you can't help but feel that poor Vietnam are going to struggle and come bottom of the group. Although Portugal has seriously progressed in recent years again with both 2019's winner and runner up in their group you can't help but think that 3rd place in the group is the best they are going to get but again you never know and we might see some big shocks in the group, only time will tell. When it came to narrowing down who would win the group we just couldn't look passed the Euro's campaign we saw from the Netherlands, yes we know things have changed management wise but those Euro's were only last year and the Netherlands did well but were nowhere near the standard we got so used to. With new management in place for less than a year we just can't help but think it might be too soon for the team to win the group but they definitely have the potential to come second. We know the USA haven't been at their best recently but we still think they could end up topping their group to progress to the round of 16. This is going to be a totally different side to 2019 though with a new manager, big names missing and 14 world cup debuts being handed out. Will this be too much or will those few experienced players really come together and get the youngsters shining? It is going to be interesting to see how their campaign plays out and a group topping performance might help them progress easier in the next round of the competition but we all know how much tougher that round of 16 is going to be this time around.

Group F

France

Brazil 

Jamaica

Panama

France have had a managerial change recently thanks to unrest prior and post Euro's so has that change come soon enough to get the team settled into their new managers style? We can only hope so or we are going to see a big upset with some big names exiting the competition early on. In all honesty though we can't see France having that bad of a competition, in fact we honestly believe that we might see them top their group. There will be some tough competition in group F but France's experience and eagerness could just see them go through as group winners. As for second place in group F it was a really difficult choice as this could very easily have gone to Jamaica but we can't help but think Brazil might just creep into second place and the round of 16 even if it is on goal difference which is just how close we think this group could be. Like we say Jamaica could very easily have been our pick for second place however, we just think they might end up falling a little bit short and again this could easily be missing out on goal difference or even by a single point, Jamaica are definitely a team that could cause an upset though so keep an eye out for them at this tournament. There has to be someone who ends up bottom of the group and we just can't see anyone other than Panama being bottom of group F. The rest of the teams in the group just seem like they will be too strong for Panama but who knows they might prove us wrong. 

That is our predictions for group E & F, just like the four groups previous to today's post these two groups have the potential to provide us fans with some fantastic football, we are definitely looking to that rematch of the 2019 final especially with how much both teams have changed since then. 

Don't forget to catch up on the predictions for group's A & B here or for groups C & D here and check back tomorrow for our final groups prediction post.

How do we think groups C & D will finish at the world cup?

 


Following on from yesterday where we made our predictions for groups A & B today's post is going to be our predictions for groups C & D. Now you will have seen in yesterday's post we struggled to predict the first two groups as they both held some tough competition and honestly groups C & D were also a little difficult as again some of the teams in these groups have either had issues or they have developed brilliantly in recent years and could surprise a lot of people especially if certain teams performances in the send off games are anything to go buy. As we said yesterday the standard of football is getting better & better lately and teams from all around the world are progressing however, some are struggling with issues off the field so who knows exactly what is going to happen this world cup, I don't think we will be seeing a clear cut favourite this time around. Anyway enough about the competition as a whole, groups C & D are going to have some very interesting match ups in them and some teams are definitely standing out to us more than others so here are our predictions for groups C & D...

Group C

Spain 

Japan 

Zambia

Costa Rica

Group C is a group where we believe there could be some upsets waiting to happen especially after a certain team in this groups recent send off game result against Germany of all team. At the top of the group we can't help but think that we are going to see Spain take the top spot. They are still having those issues off the field but we have seen some players step back into the team since the Euros where they did well even with key players missing. This could end up being a very close group but with the quality Spain have in their squad we just can't help but think they are going to progress to the round of 16 as group winners. The second spot in this group was definitely hard to narrow down as the standard of the remaining three teams has certainly started to improve but we can't help but think that Japan could just sneak into that second place spot. Once quite a powerhouse in the women's game Japan haven't really been up to scratch in recent years but they are starting to find their feet again and that is why we believe we could see them progressing to the round of 16. It was quite a hard choice putting Japan second though as Zambia are really showing teams just what they are made of recently especially with that brilliant 3-2 victory over Germany recently, they really do have a strong shot in this group but we just think that Spain and Japan might end up being a bit too strong for them and have them finish in 3rd place. Finally with how strong this group is unfortunately we can see Costa Rica coming bottom of this group, the other teams around them just seem to be doing so well lately we can't see them pulling off to many big results to escape the group stages.

Group D

England

Denmark

China 

Haiti

Now we think it is safe to say that we will be watching every game in group D seen as England are in this group and to be honest we think this was the easiest group for us to pick as there is just no looking past England for us. The European champions might have their issues with injuries but even with those players missing they have managed to bring in some strong replacements to hopefully keep momentum going and help them do well in the world cup. Out of the four teams in this group we just can't see past England going through to the round of 16 as group winners. As for who will be progressing with them we think that Denmark will be the team finishing in second place. They have a strong squad and aren't to be taken lightly, they could definitely push England for that top spot if the gel together quickly but we guess only time will tell and we can't see past them falling just short to England. China could definitely surprise us all in this group but with the strength of both England & Denmark we think it would take some big results to progress but never say never right? Anything could happen. Finally in group D unfortunately we just can't see past Haiti finishing at the bottom of the group. They are definitely up against tough opposition and who knows they might grab a couple of points throughout the groups but honestly we can see them struggling.

So there you go those are our predictions for groups C & D at the world cup, as we said earlier we are really looking forward to watching group D to see how England get on and fingers crossed we see them lifting another trophy by the end of the tournament but they will need a strong group campaign to kick start that journey. Group C is definitely going to be interesting to keep watch play out too, don't write Zambia off before the tournament they could easily pull a surprise result out of the bag to mix up those group standings. 

Don't forget to check back tomorrow to see how we think groups E & F will look by the end of the group stage and don't forget to catch up on group A & B's predictions if you haven't already read that post.

It is almost World Cup time, here are our predictions for group A & B

 


With the World Cup very quickly approaching this week is going to be filled with a blog post every day which will be our predictions of how we believe each group will finish before we head into the round of 16. There will be two groups per day and we will break down why we think the groups will end this way then once the group stage is over we will be sure to do a post seeing if our predictions were way off or if we actually correct with a few teams placements. 

This world cup has the potential has too be one of the best and most competitive yet and when you look at some of the groups it is actually quite hard to try predict where each team will finish as there aren't really any clear cut leaders these days, each team is capable of pulling off a surprise if they play to the best of their abilities. With both group A & B housing a host nation we are bound to see a brilliant atmosphere at these games which could be crucial for those teams progressing further into the competition or it could give them a little bit of stage fright if it is something they aren't quite used to such an atmosphere behind them. So here is how we think group A & B are going to look by the end of the group stage...

Group A 

Norway 

New Zealand

Switzerland

Philippines

Hosts New Zealand have been drawn into a pretty interesting group which if they play as well as they are capable of could actually pull of some surprise results and progress further through the competition. This group could honestly go to anyone as however, we believe the Philippines might struggle in this one and finish at the bottom of the group but you never know they might surprise everyone. Norway didn't have the best Euro's campaign last summer so they will be out to prove to everyone they can bounce back and we just can't help but think they will end up topping the group. As for the group runners up it was a tough pick however, we think that being on home soil might just add extra motivation to their campaign and we think that might just give them the push to finish the group in second place. It was a hard shout decided those as top two those as Switzerland are a team who could really challenge them and pull off some great results, there is a good chance they could end up progressing but we just can't see past Norway and New Zealand heading to the round of 16.

Group B

Canada

Australia

Republic of Ireland

Nigeria

Group B is one of the group we are most looking forward to watching if we are honest as it has a lot of potential to provide some nail biting games for us fans. There only seems to be Australia in this group who have no media noise around them due to other issues, poor Ireland's first time at the world cup is being overshadowed by old allegations against their manager and Nigeria are having their own management issues, where as Canada is still having issues with its football federation and they also have some big names missing due to injury. This group could be one of the closest we see but we can't help but think that Canada's experience is going to help them win their group and show the federation just what they are capable of, Canada are a team that have progressed really well in recent years and we think this might be their year to really show the world what they are capable of. As for joint hosts Australia, they could really push for that top spot in the group as we have seen a massive improvement in recent years and they will have a point to prove being on home soil however, we just can't see them having enough to get past Canada to reach that top spot, never say never though anything could happen in these group stages. With this being the Republic of Ireland's first world cup we don't really know what to expect from them on the big stage and to be honest they haven't been drawn in the best group in terms of strength of opposition but then again there could have been tougher groups to be in, if the team settles into the atmosphere there is a chance they can finish 3rd as we predict but only time will tell. Nigeria are having issues and at the time of writing this post there is a chance that they might not even have their manager for the first game, with all the disruptions they are having off the field we just can't help but believe that this is going to mean they struggle on the pitch too, we have seen in the past just how much potential this squad has but with everything going on we just can't help but feel they are going to struggle in the group stages and end up bottom of the group.

So there you go those are our predictions for group A & B at this summers world cup, are these going to represent the groups at the end of the stage or are we going to see some totally different tables? It is going to be interesting to see how these two groups play out and we are really looking forward to sitting and watching as many of the games from these teams as possible as anything can happen.

Don't forget to check back tomorrow to see how we think groups C & D are going to look at the end of the group stage...