Suriname 2008-10 Home
Suriname 2010-12 Home

The massive flag coloured sash is very much the talking point of this shirt and it definitely works! Dominates the front of the shirt, hiding that there’s not much else there. Strangely, the FA logo then migrates to the right of the shirt, something not as commonly seen. With the rear of the shirt looking incredibly plain, the only other real talking points are the front of the collar and the sleeve cuffs. Both are formatted like the flag and the sash and add some much needed colour at the extremes.

Their start to 2010 world Cup qualifiers was a single legged affair against Montserrat, though a 7-1 victory made any second leg fairly academic regardless. A 1-0 home and 2-1 away win over their neighbours Guyana sent them through to the third round where things went a little poorer. In a group with Costa Rica, El Salvador and Haiti they grabbed 2 points off Haiti, but finished bottom, with their other four games resulting in a single goal for them and 16 for their opponents.

We move onto this more sweeping design. Logo returns to the traditional place, with the Kelme logo also incorporated into the sweep of the flag. Plenty of green come in on the collar, sleeves and sides to help brighten up the rest of the shirt too, though the shoulder logos feel unnecessary. All in all, a beautiful shirt, bringing in all the right elements and not having any major downsides. How can you not like that?

This shirt was used in 2014 World Cup qualifiers where Suriname started and dropped out in the 2^nd round. They played El Salvador, Dominican Republic and the Cayman Islands home and away, but accumulated only 7 points. Two 1-0 victories over the Caymans didn’t show huge promise, with a 1-1 away draw to the Dominican Republic being the other bright spot. At home they lost both their other games 3-1 and a 4-0 away loss to 100% El Salvador showed that they weren’t on pace. Narrowly finishing in 3^rd, they would’ve hoped for more.

Competent enough but never a major force sums them up quite nicely, really. They’ve never been to a world Cup, or massively close to one, but have regularly taken a handful of victories and draws. They have been to two Gold Cups, but not since 1985, and got a draw from 9 games at those. Luckily for them, their performance in the Caribbean and the Nations League has been a lot happier. 7 Caribbean Cups brought them three 4^th places (last in 1996) and both top two positions in 1978 and 1979. While their main successes were deep in the past, their Nations League qualifying brought them close to a Gold Cup spot (a 0-0 draw with Dominica needed only a winning goal for qualification) and into League B. They took all 6 points from each of Nicaragua and Dominica but only a single point from St Vincent and the Grenadines to make League A and their debut Gold Cup!

On the women’s side, they initially came close to the Gold Cup back in 2002 and 2006, but have slowly dropped down the rankings in the Caribbean, with more recent qualification attempts garnering little in the way of results. They’ve also never qualified for the Pre-Olympic tournament, though have a few wins to their name and have come fairly close on a few occasions. Similarly, on the men’s youth side, they’ve never been to that Pre-Olympic tournament either. It isn’t all bad news though, with the U20s having been to 7 U20 Championships, though the format expansion in 2018 helped with two of those as they’d otherwise only been to one since 1990. As with the two U17 Championships they’ve reached, they’ve never been past the first round. Additionally, the U15scompeted for promotion from Division 2 in one season and were promptly relegated from Division 1 in the next. On the boundary, shall we say? Their women’s youth sides have been sporadically active, with a single appearance by the U17s and 3 by the U20s resulting in no qualifications to date. However, they have had some success, reaching the second round of qualification in 2014 and taking a few points here and there otherwise.

Suriname attended the 2000 and 2004 Futsal Championships, finishing 5^th and 7^th from 8 teams, but thereafter have struggled to qualify, often falling short. For 2021, they were ranked 16^th in CONCACAF, so likely expected to qualify, but not escape the groups. Following sufficient withdrawals, they skipped the qualification stage to down the Group Stage directly, where they reached the knockouts for the first time! Annihilated by Panama, they edged Mexico, who lost to Panama to send Suriname through. Drawn against Costa Rica, they lost 12-1 in the quarter-finals to be eliminated. No Surinamese beach soccer team has existed, to date.

Confident performances against Aruba and the Cayman Islands leave them in a strong place to compete with Canada for the top of their qualification group. However, the away draw makes things exceedingly tricky for them and they’re not favourites, nor would they be for the resulting play-off. While they are unlikely to qualify, a strong performance shows their development well and prepares them nicely for the 2021 Gold Cup.

Spain 2017-18 Home

South Sudan 2014-15 Third

South Africa 1998-2002 Away, matchworn/prepared Pierre Issa
South Africa 2010-11 Home

South Africa are often a little bit stylish with their kits and these Adidas design have enough to them to meet that criteria. A lot of colour involved with white, black, gold and green all in prominence across the shirt. It allows for enough prominence of each without being too busy and the colourful stripes below all the logos prevents anywhere from ending up too plain. Nowhere’s left untouched by splashes of colour and that’s great, even if the design can’t be as wild as some of their previous ones.

Used for a long time, the main appearance was the 2000 AFCON. South Africa would top their group, coming back to win 3-1 against Gabon, edging DR Congo 1-0 and drawing 1-1 with Algeria. In the knockouts they’d edge past Ghana 1-0 before getting dropped by two first-half Nigerian goals. A penalty shoot-out win would secure them 3^rd place after their opponents Tunisia would twice equalise, but it would be another downgrade on the previous tournament for Bafana Bafana.

Next up is a considerably more understated design, with the green being used for accenting on a yellow shirt. Well, that and making the players look like they had a severe armpit infection. The collar is nicely patterned but the subtle design on the front is the best part of it. Looks emblematic of the flag, it provides a nice extra detail to the shirt. Much plainer than its predecessors? Sure, but still reasonable.

Famously used at Africa’s first World Cup, South Africa would host the finals. While it would be beaten in 2022, they would also be the worst performing host nation in history. A promising 1-1 opening draw with Mexico would be followed up by a 3-0 loss at the hands of Uruguay and they were left needing a win against holders France and decent goal difference swing. Uruguay only delivered a 1-0 win so Bafana Bafana would fall out on goal difference, managing a 2-1 victory over a dismal France.

South Africa’s history is a lot shorter than you might expect due to their football ban for their apartheid period. They were allowed to play from 1994 World Cup and AFCON qualifiers and wouldn’t make it to either. Despite this they would reach 3 of the next 4 World Cups (with them hosting 2010), dropping in the group stage every time, but on goals scored in 2002 and goal difference in 2010! They haven’t returned since. More regular AFCON participants they would debut as hsots in 1996 and win the whole thing before slowly dropping off. 1998 would bring them 2^nd place, and 2000 3^rd, but they’ve failed to progress past a quarter-final since. Missing 4 of the next 12 AFCONs also shows their slide a little. Thanks to hosting the 2009 Confederations Cup they have 2 appearances, coming 4^th in that edition, but dropping in the group stage previously. Only 2 CHAN appearances is perhaps a concern, particularly as neither saw great success. They are, however, a significant force in COSAFA football, taking home 5 titles, only behind Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Banyana Banyana, as the women’s team are known, are if anything stronger than the men’s side, though achievements have been close. 5 final losses in WAFCON and a further 5 semi-finals were finally topped by them taking home the 2022 title! These level of results took them to the 2019 and 2023 World Cups where they’d reach the Round of 16 at the 2^nd time of asking, though would then immediately fall. Two Olympic appearances without notable results and two African Games silver medals shows continued strength, and their COSAFA record is scary. Despite sending weakened sides, South Africa have 7 titles from 11 tournaments! Rarely the strongest in Africa, they are nonetheless always in the conversation. Men’s youth sides continue the strengths of the senior side, with three Olympic group stage exits, an African Games silver and 2 AFCON bronzes. The U20s have had 3 AFCON semi-finals and a final loss to take them to as many World Cups, though they’d only scape the groups once. The U17s have an AFCON runners-up finish along with a 4^th and 1 other qualification, but that only means 1 World Cup appearance. 2^nd place in COSAFA for youth titles, they are absolutely still a force continentally and regionally. Despite being 1 aggregate win from a World Cup on 7 separate occasions, the women’s U20s have never quite made it, with Nigeria playing spoiler so often. The U17s have managed 2 group stage exits, however, and take home South Africa only COSAFA women’s youth title. Less consistent, possibly just less lucky.

Active in futsal, South Africa have been to 4 AFCONs, though did withdraw from the last one. They’d come 4^th on their debut (only 4 teams) but only have 2 wins against Zambia to show for their efforts to date. Inactive these days in beach soccer, South Africa hosted the first 4 AFCONs, coming 4^th in 2007. They’d attend the 2011 edition in Morocco but haven’t been seen since. 2 World Cup appearances in 1999 and 2005 brought them no points in both. Previously active, hope to see them more active in both in future!

Expected to potentially compete with Ghana for the 2022 play-off spot, South Africa would come bitterly close (seems to be a theme here). They’d trade 1-0 wins with Ghana, leaving other results to be the decider. However, despite even appealing against alleged match-fixing, their opening 0-0 draw in Zimbabwe would sink them. They finished level on points, level on goal difference, but behind on goals scored. So very close, yet so far.

Solomon Islands 2012 Third

Slovenia 2018-19 Away
Slovenia 2004-05 GK

So, we start with this lurid orange shirt by Kappa. Really not much to it beyond the flags and Kappa logos on the sleeves and the old NZS logo on the front. The black sides to the shirt make it look even narrower than it actually is, a definite achievement considering that it is apparently an XL and it fits an M like a strait jacket. Kappa have no idea how people who aren’t athletes are shaped, I swear.

This design was used in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, where Slovenia were grossly inconsistent. Drawn with Italy, Norway, Scotland, Belarus and Moldova, they finished 4^th, narrowly behind Scotland in 3^rd and barely ahead of Belarus in 5^th. Play-off football was 6 points away. They drew home and away to Belarus, won at home but lost away to Moldova, lost both games to Norway, drew away in Scotland but somehow got thrashed at home and drew 1-1 on aggregate with Italy after a home win. How a side can lost o Moldova but beat Italy is beyond me.

Up next would be a standardised Nike shirt were it not for the mountain range casually thrown across the front. It fades out as it goes down, drawing the eye to the peaks and massively improves the shirt. Add to that embroidered badge and logo and you’re left with only 1 downside, that being the brief lime green interruption at the neckline. It stands out and not in a good way.

This shirt was used across the 2018-19 Nations League where they started in League C. Drawn with Norway, Bulgaria and Cyprus, they managed only 3 draws to finish bottom, only saved from relegation by the restructuring. 1-1 draws came away in Bulgaria and at home to Norway and Cyprus but two 2-1 losses and a 1-0 loss cemented them at the bottom of the group.

Normally Slovenia have done a little better than this, with them regularly finishing mid table and having a reasonable number of wins. They’ve been to 2 World Cups and 1 euros off the back of play-off victories and lost a further 2 Euros play-off matches. Unbeaten in 2022 World Cup qualifying (5 wins, 5 draws!) they beat Romania in a play-off but lost all 3 games at the tournament. 2010 provided their first draw in controversial circumstances and their first win, but they were eliminated regardless. Two draws was also not enough to escape their Euro 2000 group.

Their women’s side isn’t as successful, with their irst qualifying attempt being an utter disaster. Nevertheless, they reached the play-offs for Euro 2009 and won every games in their class B group for 2007 World Cup qualification. These days, avoiding bottom seems to be their main objective and they do typically manage that, though the gap to the biggest teams is still vast. Typically mid-table with a handful of qualifications sums up the men’s youth teams as well as the senior side and they have never escaped the group stages there either. Their women’s youth sides have never qualified for their respective euros competitions, however.

Beach soccer hasn’t been an outlet for the Slovenians (withdrawing in 2004 being the closest they’ve gotten), but they’ve competed in futsal, with 6 UEFA Futsal Championship appearances for the men, including 5^th place in 2018 and only a -4 loss to the Netherlands preventing them from attending the 2019 U19 edition. Their women’s side failed to win a game in the crucial group for their sole qualification attempt to date, but have had limited exposure.

A team that could surprise, but is expected to finish mid-table, Slovenia will be competitive but unlikely to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, with a middling Euros qualification campaign behind them.

Slovakia 2002-03 Home, matchworn Marián Zeman v England
Slovakia 2002-03 Away, matchworn Vladimír Janočko v Liechtenstein
Slovakia 2002-03 GK, benchworn Jan Mucha v England U21, 2004 U21 EC Qualifier
Slovakia 2014-15 Home

The initial view of these shirts is fairly boring. We’ve got the classic Nike 2002 template, with the pointed detailing coming from the sides. But then, beyond slight differences in material, all we have is the blue on the collar and sleeve cuffs. On the GK shirt there’s a widening white edged black stripe across the front of the shirt and the sleeves separating a black top from the grey bottom. The grey is rounded off on the rear of the shirt, to allow for the numbers, and this too looks alright. But the collar is awful, I’ve seen smaller polo necks, so what’s good here? Well, look at that logo! The old SFZ logo replaced the national crest for parts of 2002 and it is both unusual and beautiful. I’m a definite fan.

Very much middle of the pack in Euro 2004 qualifiers, Slovakia struggled a little in a group with England, Turkey, Macedonia and Liechtenstein. Home and away losses to England and turkey always meant they’d not qualify (despite 3 only being by a single goal) but they comfortably put 6 goals without reply past Liechtenstein across their 2 games. Macedonia grabbed a 1-1 draw in Slovakia but they beat them 2-0 away to finish 4 points clear of 4^th but 9 points south of Turkey.

Next up is a shirt with subtle detail to make it good. We’ve got a little bit of white accenting on the sleeves, collar and front of the shirt but only a little. There’s the national crest and the updated SFZ logo, adding a pleasing symmetry to the replica, and the double cross from the crest is subtly imprinted across the front of the shirt below them. All in all couples together for a rather nice shirt. Enough to keep it interesting, but could be a bit more to it.

Spain and Ukraine were their main opponents in Euro 2016 qualifiers with Belarus, Luxembourg and Macedonia making up the rest of the group. They beat Spain 2-1 at home and managed 12 of 15 points away from home, only falling to Spain. At home they managed 6 points from Macedonia and Luxembourg but only a 0-0 with Ukraine and an embarrassing 1-0 loss to Belarus almost meant they fell into Ukraine’s clutches (and thus the play-off spot). Otherwise, a superb qualifying campaign left them in 2^nd place, 3 points ahead of Ukraine and got them into Euro 2016. Certainly a worthy performance from the team in the shirt.

Since they separated from Czechoslovakia, Slovakia have mainly been a middling side, mostly finishing 3^rd or 4^th in their qualification groups. The expansion of the Euros appears to have helped them, with them debuting in 2016 (though 2^nd would have made that previously) and also qualifying for 2020, though they only managed 1 win in each. For World Cups they were thrashed in a play-off for 2006 by Spain but recovered to win their 2010 qualification group and reach the Round of 16 in that. For 2018 they almost qualified but fell short of the points threshold for the play-off spot. In the Nations League they finished bottom of their League B group in the first season, being saved by the restructuring, but were relegated in the second season.

Their women’s side has never qualified for a major tournament, having been mainly in Class B qualifying while that was active. With the merging of the two classes, they’ve been more towards the bottom of their qualifying groups, though still manage to pick up points, even when they’ve done poorly. They’ve come close to a play-off spot before, from the Class B days, but otherwise haven’t troubled the qualifiers overmuch. On the men’s youth side they’re regulars in the Elite round but very rarely qualifiers. They hosted and reached the semi-final of the 2000 U21 Euros but next qualified in 2017, while they’ve also been to two U19 Euros and 6 U17 Euros, though only 3 times since 2000 though. Highlights include 3^rd at the 2002 U19 Euros and semi-finalists at the 2013 U17 Euros. This has sent them to the U17 and U20 World Cups once each, falling in the Round of 16 both times. On the women’s side they have a reasonable number of appearances in the Elite qualifying round but have not troubled the qualificants in either age bracket. In 2016 they hosted the U19 Euros to debut and finished 4^th in their group with only a single point. That was, interestingly, after only 50 minutes against Norway, with the match being abandoned due to heavy rain and neither side able to qualify for the knockouts.

In beach soccer, Slovakia have not been very active, trying to qualify for 3 World Cups and attending the most recent Euro beach Soccer League. In World Cup qualifiers they’ve only ever beaten Andorra, but they managed a 6-0 win over Lithuania in the Beach Soccer League to make the promotion final. In futsal they’ve reached several play-offs, always finally short at the final hurdle, and narrowly missed out on several more. For 2022 they finally managed to break through, the expansion of the tournament helping their second place finish into qualification. They’ve also tried to qualify for both women’s futsal euros, failing in 2019 but succeeding for the 2022 edition, having comfortably won their group. They missed out on the U19 futsal championship on goal difference alone.

Drawn in a challenging 2022 qualification group with Croatia, Russia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta, Slovakia started slowly. Draws with Cyprus and Malta put them on the back foot, and despite a win over Russia they took too few positive results and fell too far behind Russia and Croatia. Their final games against Slovenia and Malta will still determine who finishes 3^rd but that’ll only be for pride.

Singapore 2000 Away
Singapore 2014-15 Away

We start off with this Grand Sport design with classic 3D numbers. Smooth bands of white break up the deep blue of the shirt, though the lack of continuity across to the sleeves hurts chronically. The back of the shirt is very plain, though, without name and number there’d be nothing to it. Although at least the tournament patch adds to it nicely. Weird name, slightly strange looking tiger (are those legs a bit short?), it is excellent.

Used across, would you believe it, the Tiger Cup, this shirt sadly has little positive for it on the pitch. The Tiger Cup was the 2000 AFF championship, with Singapore being drawn in a group with Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. A comfortable opening against Cambodia and Laos brought two victories, narrowly over Cambodia (1-0 and 3-0) but their start didn’t last. Two 1-0 losses against Malaysia and Vietnam sent their opponents through and left them short and ended their title defence somewhat limply.

Next up is this nice blue design with a gradient arrow effect down the front of it. Navy blue collar and sleeve cuffs stand out nicely too and the overall effect of the gradient makes it work well. The rear of the shirt is completely plain though, and really there’s little more to it. The flag, as with many Singapore away shirts, stands out a bit much, Singapore being allergic to their FA logo until recently. I like it as a shirt, but there’s very little to discuss.

This style of design was used across the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, where Singapore were drawn against titans Japan along with Syria, Afghanistan and Cambodia. 1-0 and 2-1 victories over Afghanistan and Cambodia made for good home form, though a 3-0 loss to Japan was expected. Less expected was the 2-1 loss to Syria and the away loss by the same score to Afghanistan. They beat Cambodia 4-0 away and managed a very credible 0-0 draw with the Japanese but lost 1-0 to Syria. They finished 3^rd, only a single point ahead of Afghanistan, a long way off the 3^rd round places. This sent them onto the final round of Asian Cup qualifying where they’d draw with Bahrain and Turkmenistan but lose every other game, including both to Chinese Taipei.

Overall Singapore have been alright, though typically don’t have much of interest to their name. Their sole Asian Cup appearance came from being hosts, in 1984, where they drew with Iran and beat India but finished 4^th from 5 teams in their group. They did come close to qualifying in 1996, but fell well short on goal difference and 2 points short regardless. On the World Cup side, they’ve not been close, with performances varying a bit but typically holding towards the lower end of the confederation. They have done much better more regionally though. In the Asian Games in 1966 they came 4th but better came from the SEA Games (three 2nds, four 3rds and four 4ths) and the AFF Championship which they’ve won 4 times, doing so in 1998, 2004, 2007 and 2012.

Their women’s side has been less successful, but still have had their moments. 7 Asian Cup appearances, all before qualification tournaments, brought a 3^rd and a 4^th place in 1977 and 1983 and they also came 2^nd in the 1985 SEA Games. However, aside from those results they’ve never scored points in more than 1 game of a tournament or qualifiers for one. This has made tournaments a little more sporadic, with them playing 8/11 AFF Championships and 4/9 SEA Games. In youth football, Singapore’s men have come close to U23 qualification, played in most U20 cups before qualification was required (not been back since) and hosted then qualified for an U17 Asian Cup. 4^th in the 1967 U20 Asian Cup is their best to date. Again better at AFF level they’ve had a 2^nd in 2005 U23s, a 3^rd in 2003 U19s and two 4^ths in 2008 and 2011 U16 (1 win and 1 draw from 4 games at U14 level). Only able to qualify for Asian Cups without qualifiers, their youth women’s teams have followed a very similar pattern to the senior side. Several withdrawals are dotted here and there and losses tend to be common, but they’ve had qualifiers with multiple points scoring games before, just no success.

As with many AFC nations, they’re inactive in beach soccer, though futsal has provided a brief distraction. They played in the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Asian Futsal Cups, losing every game handily, only returning to try and qualify for the 2016 edition. In 2016 qualifying they lost all their games, including to Timor Leste and Brunei. They’ve also played two AFF Futsal Championships, winning two games to reach the final on goal difference in 2001 (where Thailand thrashed them 12-1) and losing every game in 2015. Not a great AFC power.

In 2022 World Cup qualifiers Singapore were drawn in a group with Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Palestine and Yemen. 2-1 victories came at home against Palestine and away against Yemen but their only other point was a home 2-2 draw against Yemen and only a home goal against Uzbekistan prevented all their other matches being scoreless for them and at least 3 goal defeats. Not expected to qualify, they’ll perhaps have wanted 3^rd place in the group, but avoided the bottom.

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