Why don’t England wear white shorts at the World Cup?

Over the decades, the England national football team uniform was known for the white colors that dressed players from head to toe. The classic look, however, was changed for the 2023 Women’s World Cup for good reason: British athletes’ concerns about their menstrual cycles. During the tournament, the dark blue coloring has been used.

The annoyance became public during Euro 2022, when players like Beth Mead and Georgia Stanway were against the coloring of the piece, which could expose players who were menstruating during matches unnecessarily. “I hope they change the colour. It’s nice to have an all-white kit but sometimes it’s not practical when that time of the month comes around. We deal with it as best we can,” Mead said at the time.

The English team won the tournament and the subject became increasingly relevant. In a note, the English Football Association (FA) said it would reassess the colors of the uniforms used by the athletes. “We want our players to feel that they have our support on this issue and we ask international tournament organizers to take this issue into consideration and to allow greater flexibility with regard to changes to kits,” she said.

It was in club football, however, that the first changes took place. Teams like Manchester City, which have traditional white shorts, opted to change the color of the pieces for greater comfort for their players.

Surfing this wave, Nike announced that it would also redesign the uniforms of the 13 national teams, England included, for the 2023 World Cup. liner that prevents unwanted leaks.

“Professional soccer players play two 45-minute halves. Many have told us they can spend several minutes on the field worrying about leaks,” said Jordana Katcher, Nike’s global vice president of women’s sportswear.