Who supplied national teams at France 1998

The great wait for the 2018 World Cup - that has now finally begun - has been spent most of the time watching all the presentations of the brands. From football shirts to dedicated collections, stepping of course through football boots. We’re almost certain that there has never been a World Cup edition that got that attention from the media and social, giving life to a new way to live the most important football tournament of the world. Well, we crossed paths with an interesting graphic on the web, that shows which brand featured the 1998 World Cup in France, a cult edition from the aesthetic point of view.

The first striking difference is the gap between the two main brands in football, adidas and Nike, and all the others. In fact, for Russia 2018 the two colossi of the sportswear secured 22 of the 32 participant teams, almost the 70% of the lot. On the other side, back in 1998 adidas and Nike sponsored just 12 teams, almost the half. PUMA had quite the same booty - five teams in 98, four in Russia - while things have changed big time for all the other brands.

The few teams left in the current edition have been divided between New Balance, Uhlsport, Umbro, Hummel, and Errea. Among these, only Hummel and Umbro were part of the French tournament, with four teams’ kits provided by the Double Diamond, while all the others have changed. Back in 1998, Reebok had three national teams, Kappa had two just like Lotto - that sponsored Croatia’s amazing kit - while the remaining ones were Hummel, ABA Sport, Diadora, Asics, and Shamel’s, that produced the kit for Saudi Arabia.