Football Shirt World

Sierra Leone – Away – 2014

Whilst I already have this design in the collection, and indeed sell it in the Football Shirt World online shop, this one is a match worn shirt from the 2014 matches vs Dr Congo. Picked up from ex-Peterborough united player Zakuani, the shirt was worn by Mustapha Dumbuya who was playing for Notts County at the time. Unlike the Ivory Coast shirt that I picked up at the same time, this shirt seems almost identical to the replica shirt, but with ‘AFRIFIT’ written on the front, and a white inside collar instead of blue.

DR Congo – Home – 2017

There was a time that DR Congo were virtually impossible to find, but thanks to one of football’s strangest sponsorship deals with Irish sports manufacturers O’Neills they are available easily. Ex-Peterborough United defender Gabriel Zakuani captained his country at the 2017 African Cup of Nations in Gabon, so as a Peterborough fan myself I am delighted to be able to add this shirt to the collection directly from the man himself.

Ivory Coast – Home – 2017

Despite being African Champions in 1992, and again reaching the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations in 1994, Ivory Coast (or Cote D’Ivoire) didn’t reach the World Cup Finals until 2006, they have since qualified every time, but have yet to make it out of the group stages. I already have a few Ivory Coast shirts in the collection including this fantastic 1994 home shirt. However, when a player you know tells you he has a match worn Wilfred Zaha shirt from the 2017 African Cup of Nations in Gabon you’re not going to say no.

The shirt differs significantly from the replica shirts, with lots of rubber strips that make it a pain in the arse to get on and off the mannequin and presumably pull on your chest hair. None of the badges are embroidered either. For some reason this shirt features two ‘celebrate Africa’ patches, and does not have the Gabon 2017 patch that photos from the match show. The shirt has clearly been worn, so my conclusion is that Zaha wore different shirts for the first and second halves, If anyone can clarify this then please get in touch.

Afghanistan – Away – 2015

Afghanistan – Home – 2015

I’ve had a couple of Afghanistan shirts in my collection for quite a few years, both bought directly from the Hummel facebook page, this home shirt which I can only find being used by the women’s team in a match vs Nato forces, and this away shirt which was widely available, but as far as I am aware, never used.

Central African Republic – Home – 2017

Match worn Central African Republic home shirt from the recent African Cup of Nations qualifier against Rwanda. This shirt was worn by Le Havre midfielder Amos Youga. Very very similar to the design worn a couple of years ago against DR Congo, but this time black instead of blue.

Jamaica – Away – 1997

Jamaica qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time at France ’98. They did so wearing this fantastic design , by Kappa – sort of. They actually wore the home shirt throughout their qualification, and the design was actually from Lanzera. I would love to find some photos of this shirt in use and have managed to narrow it down to the Second round qualification match over Barbados on June 23 1996, or the Third round qualification match away to St Vincent & the Grenadines on September 23 1996.

Oman – Home – 2013

Cuba – Home – 2015

Embed from Getty Images

South Africa – Away – 1998

Destined to be the away shirt for France ’98, this shirt design was only used once, in a pre-tournament friendly against Iceland.