The Biggest Jersey Winners of World Cup 2018

 

The 2018 FIFA World Cup continues to produce excitement and some major upsets for soccer fans worldwide.

No matter which team you favor, there are likely to be ups and downs throughout the competition. But the biggest World Cup winners seem to always be the sellers of football jerseys².

Two of the world’s biggest jersey¹ manufacturers are American-based Nike and Germany’s Adidas.

Adidas chief Kasper Rorsted predicted last month his company would sell more team shirts this year than during the 2014 World Cup. If he is correct, this means Adidas would beat its record of eight million jerseys sold in 2014.

Sales of jerseys and other soccer-related items are also rising for Nike. The Oregon-based sports clothing company is hoping to increase the $2 billion it sold in soccer-related items last year, Reuters news agency reports.

Nike got off to a good start when its jersey design for Nigeria’s team sold out just a few minutes after going on sale June 1. That was after Nike had already sold three million of the shirts in pre-sales. The jerseys cost about $90.

Many fans and clothing critics have praised the Nigerian jersey design for using bright colors and designs in an unusual way. The shirt has a green wing pattern on the front, with a similar black design extending out onto the arms. Some fans commented that the jersey seemed to re-imagine the Nigerian team’s design from 1994, the first time the country entered the World Cup.

In addition to Nigeria, Nike also supplied the designs for nine other World Cup teams. These include Brazil, France, England and Croatia. Adidas provided jerseys for 12 of the 32 teams, including Germany, Japan, Belgium, Sweden, Spain and Russia.

Simon Doonan is a super soccer fan and the writer of the book “Soccer Style: The Magic and Madness.” He says his choices for jerseys that really stood out this year include Croatia, Colombia and Belgium.

He said when it comes to the fans, it used to be acceptable³ for people to wear a team shirt to show support even if it was not “particularly attractive.”

But Doonan says this has changed. “Now guys wear their shirt, but they want it to look cool… and go out to some bar or night spot and feel like Mr. Fabulous⁴.”

Doonan praised Colombia's jersey for having a rock and roll-style design with “David Bowie lightning bolts” coming out from the arms. “Nothing intimidates⁶ an opponent quite like saying, ‘I have magical powers in my armpits,’” he said.

He describes Brazil's jersey as "a real classic." The front of the shirt includes the team sign, along with five stars: one for each time the country has won the World Cup. Doonan said Brazil’s jersey does not change much from year-to-year, despite the country’s historic⁷ World Cup success.

While the World Cup can be intensely competitive⁸, Doonan believes it also can unite people the same way a jersey can. He said huge numbers of people come together to watch the World Cup, but with very strong feelings on all sides. “So these things are going on at the same time. It's a sweet thing, because that's just life."

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

upset – n. when a person or team beats an opponent in a contest they were not favored to win

jersey – n. a piece of clothing with long sleeves that is worn over the upper body

attractive – adj. beautiful or pleasant to look at

bolt – n. a flash or bright light seen in the sky

intimidate⁵ – v. to frighten or threaten someone, usually in an effort to persuade the person to do something

armpit – n. hollow place under the arm where it joins the body

classic – adj. traditional in style or design

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 jerseys   

n.运动衫( jersey的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The maximum quantity of cotton jerseys this year is about DM25,000. 平方米的羊毛地毯超过了以往的订货。 来自口语例句
• The NBA is mulling the prospect of stitching advertising logos onto jerseys. 大意：NBA官方正在酝酿一个大煞风景的计划——把广告标志绣上球服！ 来自互联网

3 acceptable   

adj.可接受的，合意的，受欢迎的

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• Air pollution in the city had reached four times the acceptable levels.这座城市的空气污染程度曾高达可接受标准的四倍。

4 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

5 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

6 intimidates   

n.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的名词复数 )v.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He intimidates the children by shouting at them. 他朝孩子们大声叫喊以吓唬他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Militant Islam condemns and intimidates and kills Muslims before anyone else. 穆斯林武装分子非难、恐吓和杀害穆斯林自己人在先。 来自互联网

7 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

8 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。