Five shirts to tell the story of the partnership between Germany and adidas An historic sponsorship that has spanned various eras of football
It is not known when the relationship between adidas and the German National team officially began. In fact, it goes back to a time when the kit manufacturer's logo was not yet visible on the jersey and the agreements were often hidden from the fans and players. The first jerseys produced by adidas for the national team date back to the early post-war period, when the nation was still divided into East and West. And it was West Germany that won the 1954 World Cup by beating the favored Golden Team of Hungary in the final, which is still remembered today as the Miracle of Bern. On this occasion, Adi Dassler, who had just re-founded his company after parting ways with his brother Rudolf and the end of National Socialism in Germany, produced revolutionary football boots that enabled the German footballers to withstand the fury of the Hungarians in the pouring rain. A decade later, however, adidas designed a piece that would go down in football history, at least if you consider its stylistic impact, namely the tracksuit with the Three Stripes on the sleeves and shoulders for the Kaiser, Franz Beckenbauer, when he played for the national team of which he was captain.
But it wasn't until the 1980s that adidas became a full-fledged technical sponsor of the German national team, first with the Trefoil and later with the Three Stripes on the right side of the chest, a partnership that has spanned all eras of international football. And now, with the news of the German federation's switch to Nike causing a wave of consternation and surprise, we attempt to recount those fifty years of football and style through the kits that helped write them.
1988 - Home Jersey
The last decade of the relationship between adidas and the German FA will not be complete, as the jerseys for the 2026 World Cup will be the last to be produced by the Three Stripes. That's why we've chosen the home jersey from the last World Cup, which took place in Qatar and where Germany surprisingly didn't make it past the preliminary round. A jersey that perfectly underlines how the sensibility for jersey design has changed over the years. It started in the early 1970s with a very clean look, partly due to the scarcity of technical possibilities, went through two decades of extreme graphic experimentation and the tyranny of stencils, before finally returning to a return to minimalism. The Germany jersey is crossed by a single central black band on which the sponsor and association crests are placed vertically, while the other colors of the flag can only be seen at the edge of the neck. A choice dictated by a general trend rather than a technical limitation. Another piece in the long history of the development of football shirts, told year after year by the relationship between adidas and the German national team.
