The France 2026 FIFA World Cup home jersey has a white polo collar, sitting on top of the deep blue Nike shirt with the gold rooster crest. If you're here because you noticed it during a broadcast and asked "why does France have a collar on their jersey?" — the short answer is that the polo collar is a deliberate Nike design callback to the French national team's earliest heritage identity, and France is one of only two nations at the 2026 World Cup wearing a polo collar on their first-choice home shirt. The other one is Uruguay.
Below, the full context: why the collar is on there, the story behind France's polo collar tradition, which other 2026 kits have collar treatments (and which don't), and every FAQ we could think of on the search-heavy angles around this one specific design choice.
The France 2026 Nike home shirt. The white polo collar is the design signature people are searching for.
The Short Answer
Nike put a white polo collar on France's 2026 home shirt as a heritage callback to Les Bleus' classic look. Football jerseys evolved from actual buttoned dress shirts with collars in the late 1800s — the polo collar on a modern national-team kit is almost always a deliberate nod backward to the early 20th-century identity of the federation. France has one of the deepest polo-collar traditions in international football, and Nike has revived that look on the France home shirt multiple times over the last two decades, most notably on the 2018 World Cup–winning shirt worn in Russia.
The 2026 France home is a deep blue Nike shirt with a subtle tonal diagonal pattern, a white polo collar with red-and-blue trim, and the gold Coq Sportif rooster crest — a direct visual descendant of the polo-collar look Les Bleus have carried at various points in their history.
Every 2026 World Cup Jersey with a Polo Collar
Out of all 48 nations at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, only two are wearing a polo collar on their first-choice home shirt:
- France (Nike) — white polo collar on the deep blue home. The signature detail of one of the tournament's most-praised home kits.
- Uruguay (Puma) — white polo collar with navy trim on the sky-blue Celeste home. A callback to Uruguay's four-star crest and the classic look worn during the country's long international pedigree.
France · Nike Home
White polo collar with tricolor trim
Uruguay · Puma Home
White polo collar with navy trim
Every other 2026 nation is wearing either a round crew-neck collar, a v-neck, or a modernized rib collar. Polo-collar treatments were common through the 1980s and 1990s — the 1998 France World Cup–winning shirt is the most famous example — but the modern kit-design trend has swung heavily toward crew-necks and rib collars for aerodynamic and merchandising reasons. Nike and Puma keeping the polo look on France and Uruguay in 2026 is the exception, not the rule.
FAQ: France's 2026 World Cup Jersey Collar
Why does France have a collar on their 2026 World Cup jersey? Because Nike deliberately designed the France 2026 home shirt with a white polo collar as a heritage callback to the French national team's classic identity. France has worn polo-collar shirts at multiple points in the federation's history — the polo collar is one of Les Bleus' most recognizable design cues.
What kind of collar is on the France 2026 World Cup shirt? It's a fold-over polo collar in white, contrasting against the deep blue Nike home body. The collar has red-and-blue tricolor trim and sits above the gold Coq Sportif rooster crest on the chest.
Is the France 2026 collar the same as the 2018 World Cup shirt? Both shirts feature polo collars from Nike, and both are heritage-driven design choices, but the 2026 design is more refined and modern. The 2018 shirt worn during France's World Cup win in Russia had a soft polo collar too — the 2026 iteration is Nike's continuation of that lineage.
Who made the France 2026 World Cup jersey? Nike. Nike has been the FFF's kit supplier since 2011 and has designed every France national-team home and away shirt in that window, including the 2018 World Cup–winning kit and the 2026 tournament shirt with the polo collar.
What color is the France 2026 World Cup home jersey? Deep blue, with a subtle tonal diagonal pattern woven into the fabric, red-and-blue trim on the collar and cuffs, and the gold Coq Sportif rooster crest.
Does France's 2026 away jersey also have a collar? No. The France 2026 pale-mint away jersey, the one featuring the Statue of Liberty motif, uses a modern crew-neck rather than a polo collar. The heritage polo-collar treatment is reserved for the home shirt.
Why did Nike put a polo collar on France's home jersey? Nike's design language for national-team kits leans heavily on heritage callbacks for federations with strong historical identities. France's polo-collar tradition goes back to the early 20th century, when football jerseys were essentially dress shirts. Nike consistently reaches for the polo collar on France to evoke that heritage line without going full retro.
FAQ: Other 2026 World Cup Jerseys with Collars
Which 2026 World Cup teams have polo collars on their jerseys? France and Uruguay. Those are the only two nations at the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a polo-collar first-choice home shirt. Every other team is using a crew-neck, v-neck, or modernized rib collar.
Does Uruguay have a polo collar on their 2026 World Cup jersey? Yes. Uruguay's 2026 Puma home shirt features a white polo collar with navy trim, sitting on top of the classic sky-blue Celeste body with the four-star crest. It's one of the tournament's most heritage-focused kits alongside France.
Do any 2026 World Cup away or third jerseys have polo collars? Not on any first-choice reveal we've tracked. Nike's France away, Puma's Uruguay away, and every other national team's alternates use crew-neck or rib-collar constructions rather than polo treatments.
Does Argentina have a collar on their 2026 World Cup jersey? No polo collar. Argentina's 2026 adidas Albiceleste home is a classic sky-blue-and-white striped shirt with a modernized crew-neck collar, not a polo. Argentina has worn polo-collar shirts historically but the 2026 iteration is a crew-neck design.
Does Brazil have a collar on their 2026 World Cup jersey? No polo collar. Brazil's 2026 Nike home is the iconic canarinho yellow shirt with a crew-neck construction and green trim.
Does England have a collar on their 2026 World Cup jersey? No polo collar. England's 2026 Nike Three Lions home uses a modern rib-collar construction rather than a heritage polo treatment.
FAQ: The History of Polo Collars in Football
Why do soccer jerseys have collars? Football jerseys originally were essentially dress shirts with buttons and collars — the sport in the late 1800s was played in whatever the club had at hand, often literal buttoned shirts. Collars persisted through the mid-20th century, then largely disappeared as manufacturers moved to aerodynamic, breathable crew-necks. Modern national-team kits with collars are almost always deliberate heritage design choices.
When did football jerseys stop having collars? The transition began in the 1970s and accelerated through the 1980s. By the mid-1990s the crew-neck had largely replaced the collar as the default construction for pro football shirts. Nations with strong identity ties to the collar look — France chief among them — brought it back occasionally as a design flourish, especially for major tournaments.
What is a polo collar on a soccer jersey? A polo collar is a fold-over shirt collar, typically with a short button placket at the neck, borrowed from the classic polo-shirt silhouette. On a football shirt, the polo collar is a design element rather than a functional one — the buttons are often decorative.
Which national teams historically had polo-collar shirts? France, Uruguay, Argentina, Italy, England, Brazil, and Germany have all worn polo-collar shirts at various points in their federation histories. France's 1998 home shirt (Zidane era, World Cup win in France) is one of the most famous polo-collar jerseys in football history.
Read Next
- 2026 FIFA World Cup Jersey & Uniform Tracker — every match kit pairing of the tournament graded from the opener through the July 19 Final at MetLife
- Ranking Every Nike World Cup Kit 2026 — France's polo-collar home ranks near the top of Nike's 2026 catalog
- Ranking Every Puma 2026 World Cup Kit — where Uruguay's polo-collar home lands in the Puma order
