A clash of kit colours left players struggling to tell each other apart and made the game difficult to follow on television, as World Cup co-hosts the United States were held responsible for the mix-up in their 5-2 friendly defeat to Belgium on Saturday.
Both sides used the match to unveil the kits they will wear at the World Cup, which runs from 11th June to 19th July across the USA, Canada and Mexico. The Americans wore a red and white striped design inspired by their national flag, while Belgium turned out in a light blue away kit with pink detailing.
“Sometimes you had to look twice, especially when you wanted to play quickly,” said Belgian winger Jeremy Doku. “I would have preferred clearer colours.”
American captain Christian Pulisic admitted it made life on the pitch difficult. “When you get the ball and look up, you rely on the colour of the shirt to spot your teammates. When the colours are very similar, it’s really hard,” he said.
Belgian television apologised to viewers after the match, with former international Marc Degryse laying into the organisers. “Football is a product that needs to be presented well, yet they still managed to make the match a nuisance with the jerseys. This is completely unacceptable,” he said.
US Soccer maintained that photos of both kits had been sent to the match officials beforehand and that the referees raised no concerns about a clash.
Belgian media reported on Sunday that the blame lay with the hosts, who insisted on wearing their new red and white strip, which clashed with both Belgium’s usual red home kit and their lighter away kit. Belgium reportedly offered to play in their traditional red, but that was not possible as the American shirt also contains a great deal of red. The USA could have worn their dark blue kit as an alternative, but this apparently did not suit their commercial plans.
