Honduras 2003-04 Home
Honduras 2010-12 Away

We start off with a slightly strange one that didn’t see a lot of use. Honduras were no stranger to stripes but these ended up very wide, making it just look a little strange. They do continue on the rear though and frame the old, spiked shield style crest nicely. Great crest, a little too simplified for me in the modern era. There’s a little bit of deep blue accenting at the edges and the shoulders, but not a lot of detail to the shirt.

Joma and the Honduran national side have a long relationship between them, leading back all the way to the 1990s. Some shirts were always going to not be seen a lot and here’s one, seemingly having been made for the 2003 Gold Cup where it was used for 1 of their 2 matches they played before crashing out. Admittedly it is hard to argue that a 2-1 loss to Brazil and a 0-0 draw with Mexico were bad results but that’s how the draw happens sometimes.

Next up is a design that presents fewer conflicts with white shirts, this all blue affair may have the inferior badge, but the subtle deep blue pinstripes front and rear help avoid plainness. There’s a little bit of white trim to help the sleeve cuffs and collar stand out, the nice fade effect bar of white across the front cutting out the pinstripes and highlighting the Joma logo, and I’m not sure anyone knows what’s going on inside the collar. The 5 stars of the flag in gold at the top of the shirt’s rear are also a nice touch. Not a world beater, but stands firmly on its own merits.

Designed for the 2010 World Cup, Honduras weren’t expected to do a lot in a tough group with Switzerland, Spain and Chile. They opened with a narrow 1-0 loss to Chile, followed it up with a 2-0 defeat to Spain but did manage to cap off the tournament with a 0-0 draw with the Swiss. Overall they were a tough tackling, defensive side. They might not have set the tournament alight, but they did a job. Also they were only behind defending champions France on goals scored, so it could’ve been far worse…

Generally one of CONCACAF’s better sides, Honduras aren’t regulars at the World Cup, having qualified 3 times (1982, 2010, 2014) and are even yet to register their first win in the competition. They’re mostly a tricky side in qualifiers, often competitive without making that final leap, leading to several incidents where they’ve been the kingmakers. Similarly, in the Gold Cup they’ve only tasted glory as hosts, back in 1981! They added 2 further finals in the next 3 tournaments, having previously had 3 semi-final appearances, but their best run since was 4 semi-finals in 5 tournaments across 2005-2013. Otherwise they’ve hovered between group stages and knockouts. The inaugural Nations League season put them in an easily won group in League A from which they managed 3^rd place, with them maintaining League A status in the next edition. As one of the most successful Central American teams they hold the 2^nd most titles in the Copa Centroamericana at 4, only the 2^nd nation to have more than 1, and hold a group record in the various tournaments across the region. They even are the 2^nd most successful CONCACF team in the Copa América, arriving in Colombia at extremely late notice to go on and grab 3^rd place at the 2003 edition, better than any CONCACAF team except Mexico!

Their women’s side, however, has not been quite as successful. Their qualification record is poor, with very few wins and them not always even participating. They’ve never been to a Women’s Championship/Gold Cup and don’t look particularly close to doing so, though they are comfortably above the bottom of CONCACAF. Olympic qualifying has been similarly spotty, with their biggest achievement probably being their 2001 Central American Games silver medal, achieved after 1 win and 1 penalty shootout win in 4 matches. Men’s youth football has been generally positive, with the U23s excellent, travelling to 5 Olympic Games (finishing 4^th in 2016!) and winning 2 Pan American silvers; the U20s having 2 titles from 5 finals (only one since 1994) and bowing out in the first round of 9 U20 World Cups; the U17s managing 4 finals and a further 7 semi-finals in CONCACAF and reaching the quarter-finals in one of their 5 World Cup appearances and an U15 CONCACAF title. Add in 4 Central American Games titles from 7 competitions amongst other minor tournaments and they’re a force to be reckoned with. Women’s youth football has been less exciting, with 2 successful qualifications (1 U20, 1 U17) and 3 automatic U20 qualifications leading to 2 match wins (although incredibly a 4^th place in 2015 U20s!). A 4^th place in the inaugural U15 championship has failed to be followed up, with them skipping the 2016 edition entirely.

They’ve never touched beach soccer, but can boast a futsal side. However, they’ve played extremely irregularly, with a failed attempt to qualify for the 2004 CONCACAF Championship followed up by a play-off win to take them to the 2016 CONCACAF Championship! They didn’t overwhelm in qualification and lost all 3 matches at the final tournament. 11-a-side remains their strength for now…

Highly ranked, Honduras were expected to be competitive in 2022 qualification, automatically being drawn in the final 8. Qualifying was always going to be tricky, but the campaign was a dismal one from start to finish. They managed 4 draws in 14 matches to finish 6 points behind the nearest competition and a whopping 21 points off the World Cup play-offs. Despite many narrow results, absolutely one to forget.

Guyana 2015 Home

Greece 2006 Home

Gibraltar 2010-12 Home
Gibraltar 2014-15 Away
Gibraltar 2014-15 GK, match prepared Jamie Robba v Republic of Ireland

It is sometimes said that Hummel don’t make bad shirts. This is no exception. The traditional Hummel chevrons liven up the sleeves and there is a lot of white accenting, front and back, to liven the shirt up. The asymmetry is perhaps a little odd, but easily made up for with the flag on the rear and the old, classic, Gibraltar FA logo. Nothing massively personalised to Gibraltar from the design, but it suits their colour scheme and looks good.

This shirt design was used across the 2011 Island Games. Drawn in a group with Alderney, Ynys Môn (Anglesey) and the Isle of Wight, Gibraltar won their first two games 6-1 and 6-3 to go into the decider against the Isle of Wight. Falling 3-0 behind, they could only recover to 3-2 against the eventual winners and fell into the 5^th/6^th place play-off. A confident 4-0 victory over Saare County led to a respectable finish, though they likely wondered what might have been.

Next up we have their Admiral designs. It may have been a common template, but it again works well for Gibraltar. A variety of different colour schemes were used across their games with some appearing for as little as a single game. The away shirt feels a bit cut off, with little to the stripe and mostly being grey and white. Pattern is front and rear and logo is spotlighted but does fall a little short. The GK shirt loses the stripe, but the bold contrast of the pattern with the main colour of the shirt really makes it stand out. Also helped by the numbers and patches!

Admiral were the supplier for their Euro 2016 qualification campaign, their UEFA debut. Unfortunately, Gibraltar struggled immensely in a group with Germany, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Georgia. They lost all 10 games by at least 3 goals, had to play away from home due to their stadium not being up to UEFA standards and recorded one of the worst goal differentials for a Euros qualification campaign at -54. An equaliser against Scotland in a 6-1 defeat and a late goal in an 8-1 defeat to Poland were their only consolations.

So far these results have been fairly typical for Gibraltar due to their small size and newness to the main competitive scene. They’ve lost every qualifying game to date, though produced much improved performances the more they played and when they could play at home rather than at a neutral venue. In contrast, the Island Games saw several high placed finishes, with multiple 5^th places and medals in 1995 (2^nd) and 2007 (1^st). The Nations League has brought their best success though. Drawn with North Macedonia, Armenia and Liechtenstein they shocked Armenia with a 1-0 win in Yerevan and followed that up with a 2-1 home victory over Liechtenstein, though otherwise struggled. 2019-20’s season brought no defeats and promotion to League C, coming from a win and a draw against each of Liechtenstein and San Marino.

Women’s football in Gibraltar has been developed cautiously, with the senior team only really competing in the Island Games to date. They’ve also struggled in the Island Games tournaments but are looking to improve through their youth teams. Their men’s youth teams have struggled similarly to the senior team, though each have at least one positive result, with the U21s 1-0 win over North Macedonia being the highlight. Both men’s and women’s U16s have attended UEFA development tournaments, though results are difficult to find. A women’s side lost 1-0 to Andorra, 2-0 to an Algarve XI and 3-0 to Luxembourg in 2014.

Active in futsal, they’ve mostly been competitive at the lower end, with a narrow loss to Andorra and a win against San Marino. They’ve suffered a few very heavy losses but have been refreshingly active so improvement is to be expected. Beach soccer so far has not proven to be an outlet for the Gibraltans, as with many of UEFA’s smaller nations.

For Qatar 2022 they’ve been drawn with the Netherlands, Turkey, Norway, Montenegro and Latvia. While qualification is expected to be far out of reach, Latvia are a League D team and so Gibraltar will smell blood in the water!

Ghana 2012-13 Home

Moving swiftly onwards, this 2012-13 Puma design is much better. Would be a standard Puma template were it not for the stars littered across it. Mostly black, as per the nickname but nicely include the flag colours too. The badge isn’t as nice quality but this is definitely one of my favourite recent Ghana shirts. The scribbled design of the stars adds an interesting touch, though I’m not sure I’m completely keen.

This design was used at the 2013 AFCON, as well as in their incredibly brief qualification campaign (a single two-legged tie against Malawi, consisting of 1-0 and 2-0 wins). They won their group, beating Mali and Niger but drawing with DR Congo and made the semi-finals with a 2-0 win against Cape Verde. Burkina Faso took them to penalties after a 1-1 draw and a 3-2 penalty loss put them in the 3^rd place play-off. A slight surprise ensued with a 3-1 loss against their group stage rivals Mali and Ghana finished 4^th.

The Black Stars are titans of the continent, with 4 AFCON titles to their name and several World Cup appearances. Their recent record continentally has been just short of expectations, with 6 consecutive top 4 finishes in the AFCON between 2008 and 2017 but no titles. Indeed, their last title was in 1982! 2 runners-up finishes in the CHAN show that their local league is still fairly strong, though they last qualified in 2016. 2006 – 2014 brought consecutive World Cups for the Ghanaians, 2006 having them knocked out by Brazil in the Round of 16 and 2010 being the infamous quarter-final exit against Uruguay after that Suarez handball. In lighter news, 8 tournaments have been hosted for Western African nations only, Ghana winning 6 of them and otherwise dropping in the semi-finals. The 3 more recent ones were a bit more competitive but in the 1982-1987 tournaments they never lost a game.

The Ghanaian women have the delight of being nicknamed the Black Queens, which sounds a little more awesome than they are. Nonetheless, four 3^rd places and three 2nds in Africa (as with the men, primarily early on, only one semi-final since 2006) is an impressive haul. However, beyond a win and a draw with Australia, their 3 consecutive World Cup appearances haven’t brought success. Neither have they been to the Olympics. Youth football has been a real source for success for Ghana with both genders meeting with some serious success. For the men there an Olympic bronze, an U-20 World Cup (along with 2 runners-up and a bronze), 3 African U-20 Championships, 4 consecutive U-17 World Cup finals (and 2 victories) and 2 African U-17 Championships. The women have also done well, with several U-20 African Championships (titles stopped being decided in 2014), 5 U-17 African Championships and a 3^rd place at the U-17 Women’s World Cup.

Despite a second place at the Africa Futsal Nations Cup in 1996, Ghana haven’t been seen in the sport since and beach soccer seems to have been short lived too with 3 attempts at the African Championships. Despite qualifying in all 3, they only won 2 games and didn’t bother trying for 2018 or 2020.

Despite not qualifying for 2018, they’ll be hoping to qualify for 2022, though Africa’s qualifying will always punish any mistakes harshly.

Germany 1994-96 Home
Germany 2006-07 Home

The best of an iconic Adidas template. We have the German flag and DFB logo in the collar, with the diamonds pattern similarly in flag colours. To add to that, not only is the diamonds pattern a great concept, but we have a sort of fade away effect that helps the colour transition stay less sharp. Not only do we also have DFB logos on the sleeves but the entire fabric of the shirt is tiled with them in a jacquard pattern. Yes, the rear of the shirt isn’t particularly interesting, but overall there’s really not a lot to complain about!

Most famously used at the 1994 World Cup, Germany entered the tournament as defending champions. Their group stage performance was easily enough to progress, but narrower than they’d have liked. A 1-0 win over Bolivia, 3-2 over South Korea and a 1-1 draw with Spain would set up a Round of 16 tie against Belgium, whom they’d also dispatch 3-2. Bulgaria weren’t a weak side in the quarters, but Germany were fully expected to win. Then, they didn’t. Two Bulgarian goals in quick succession knocked them out 2-1 and that was that.

Next up, another classic template, but a much less interesting one. Yeah we still have the flag colours, this time winding their way down the front of the shirt (and in the sleeve logo), but they’re not as prominent. The fabric is striped, but not very visible and not in as interesting a manner. The rear of the shirt has something, but it isn’t very interesting and the most positive change is probably that they got smug enough to add their World Cup stars above the FA logo… It isn’t a bad shirt, but coming from that previous one makes it look one.

The home shirt for their home World Cup in 2006, Germany would waltz out of their group with 3 wins from 3. Yes, they conceded 2 to Costa Rica and needed a 91^st minute goal to down Poland, but they were comfortable against Ecuador and in the Round of 16 struck quickly to down Sweden too! Things got interesting from then on, however, taking Argentina to a penalty shootout and not only winning, but also providing a nice post-match brawl. 2 extremely late extra-time goals by Italy would knock them out in the semi-final, though they’d regain their honour by beating Portugal 3-1 for 3^rd place.

Germany need no real introduction, though it is impressive that those 2 sets of examples could be considered underachievements for the team! They’ve been to every World Cup except for 1930 and 1950, won 4 titles, been to a further 4 more finals and 5 semi-finals (and that’s not counting East Germany). Add to that three titles, runner-ups and third places at the Euros and you clearly have a major footballing powerhouse. Just to help, they’ve also had a 1^st and 3^rd at the old Confederations Cup from 3 appearances. However, they have fallen off somewhat, that 2017 Confederations Cup triumph being their last knockout stages win. Still, it is rather telling that them falling out of form is shown by them losing their 3^rd ever World Cup qualifier… The Nations League in this dip in form has not proven useful, with the format change initially saving them from relegation and them being one of the last teams to gain a win. But they remain in League A.

Some nations have much weaker women’s sides. Germany are not one of them. They took 2 Euros to get going, first qualifying for 1989, but won it and then every Euros from then (except a 4^th in 1993) up to and including Euro 2013. Considering 2017 was a quarter-finals appearance and 2022 was a loss in the final, it is safe to say they’re pretty good in Europe. Global tournaments are harder, however, and they do “only” have the 2003 and 2007 titles, a 1997 runners-up medal and 2 further 4^th places. Couple that with 3 Olympic bronzes and the 2016 gold and you start to see that neither German team are there to make up the numbers. Throw in a horde of minor tournament tiles too and it is hard to tell whether they or the men’s team are more intimidating. Both sets of youth teams are about as you’d expect, just with slightly fewer titles. The men don’t have an Olympic title (only 1 silver), but do have 3 U21 titles, 6 U19 titles, 2 U20 World Cup finals (1 title), the same in the U17 World Cup and 4 U17 Euros titles plus a whole host of runner-ups and semi-finals. The women have 3 youth World Cups (all U19/U20 level), 6 U19 Euros and 8 U17 Euros, again with further achievements under their belt too. They are a footballing nation where you can only really list titles, that’s just what they do.

The string of titles dies off as we look outside of traditional football. Germany were late to futsal, debuting in 2016. Ranked comfortably in the bottom half of UEFA, they’ve never been to a major tournament, though have enough about them to compete in qualifiers until they meet the big teams. Youth futsal only started in 2023 qualifiers, with the team eliminated in the preliminary round, and they’ve not delved in women’s futsal yet at all. Long term beach soccer players, Germany did take home a Euro Beach Soccer League in its inaugural season of 1998 and registered several high place finishes there regardless. They have, however, dropped in League B and these days are a middling League A side. They only reached World Cups in the pre-FIFA days, but have come close in recent years. A decent side, but perhaps with their best days behind them.

Unsurprisingly, Germany qualified for the 2022 World Cup. They were expected to, likely without dropping points, but did shock a lot of people when they lost to North Macedonia. They won every other match, but it was a show of vulnerability, which is never optimistic looking towards a major tournament. Nonetheless, objective achieved.

Georgia 1997-99 Home, matchworn v Greece
Georgia 2004-05 Home, matchworn v Kazakhstan
Georgia 2010-11 Home, matchworn/issue v Rep. of Ireland U21, Murtaz Daushvili
Georgia 2010-11 GK, match prepared for Giorgi Makaridze
Georgia 2012-13 Home, matchworn/issue v Rep. of Ireland, Irakli Dzaria(?)

At first glance there isn’t a lot to this shirt. The three stripes circle the collar and stretch across the lengths of the shoulders but otherwise it is just maroon, right? Not so! The material is striped throughout and tiled with the FA logo, front and rear. Add to that, it is the old Georgia FA logo, the giant one in blue and gold. It all adds together to make for a nice shirt. How many FA logos count as a showcase of national identity?

The shirt was used across the end of the 1998 World Cup qualifiers where Georgia missed out on 3^rd place against Poland in their 5 team group by goals scored but was used across Euro 2000 qualifiers from start to finish. Drawn in a group with Norway, Slovenia, Greece, Latvia and Albania they finished bottom. 5 of their 10 matches were single goal defeats, with their only points coming at home. They drew against Slovenia and Latvia, beating Albania, but 5 points left them 2 points behind Albania though they did have more points than any other last placed team.

There’s white under the armpits and in a ring around the collar. Otherwise it is all red. The FA logo fits into the colour of the shirt well, blending nicely with the body of the shirt. And yet there’s not a lot going on, particularly compared with some of their other shirts. Felt numbers help somewhat and the old Puma logo adds a little, but there’s not a lot here.

Used primarily across 2006 World Cup qualifiers, it was swapped out before they finished. They struggled in the large, 7-team groups, finishing 6^th but competing for 5^th. They drew at home to Ukraine, Denmark and Kazkahstan as well as away to Turkey. This, along with some close away matches help commit them to the lower tiers of the groups. They beat Kazakhstan away and Albania at home at least, with only Greece beating them home and away. 10 points left them 3 behind Albania, but 9 ahead of Kazakhstan.

Moving on, we have a Jako design that doesn’t seem to quite live up to what it should. Very white, with only a little red accenting in strange places, it has the right colours but not enough of them. There are some nice curving patterns on the shirt, but the accenting is only on the outer edge of them, not really highlighting. Also the front number is lower than the logo which is lower than the Jako logo and looks a bit messy. However, the typeface is very nice and the Georgian logo is spectacular. Incredible embroidery on a very small and detailed logo, definitely the highlight of the shirt.

The GK shirt for the same year is similarly plain. Even less detail to it, black with a little grey, and a transfer badge. Definitely less care was applied to it, with the GK shirts shifting around a little between several different designs. Felt numbers adds a little additional robustness but without numbers and patches there would be nothing to this shirt.

Used across 2012 Euro qualifying, Georgia displayed their characteristic defensiveness, conceding 9 goals in 10 games but only scoring 7. They finished 5^th from 6 teams, with both of their wins at home, against Malta and, surprisingly, Croatia. An astonishing 4 draws came through, 1 at home to Israel and away draws against Greece, Latvia and Malta. Lastly, they never lost or won by more than a single goal and were just a point behind Latvia.

Now here’s a proper offering from Jako! We continue with Jako’s asymmetry, with a black stripe down one side being white on the other. Away from the asymmetry, the aeration strips and subtle colouring makes for a great looking shirt. This is repeated front and back for additional effect and works really well. The incredibly detailed logo is a little larger, so it is very clear, and the numbers will last forever, being felt.

Drawn in the only 5 team group in Europe for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Georgia were always going to struggle. Despite playing Spain, France, Finland and Belarus, they never lost by more than 2 goals, only conceding twice at home to allow for a 0-0 draw with France and a 1-0 victory over Belarus (lost the other two 1-0). Three 2 goal losses away from home brought a single goal in a 3-1 loss to France but a 1-1 draw with Finland salvaged their form slightly.  Points put them 1 ahead of Belarus but 4 short of even Finland in 3^rd and a long way of the play-off spot.

The pattern from these results continues across their international history. They regularly grab a few wins and draws but tend to finish in the penultimate position. Strangely, World Cup qualification has tended to go worse than Euros qualification. Having only twice finished above the bottom two positions (1996 and 2002), they are generally regarded as a stumbling block, a stout, defensive team that it is easy to drop points to. Being relegated to kingmakers seems to suit them, though, with a few big results across their history that fans of some teams might like to forget… In the Nations League’s first two seasons they dominated their initial League D group, only dropping points away in Andorra, but struggled to convert draws to wins in League C, finishing 3^rd with 4 draws from 6 games.

Women’s football is not as popular in Georgia, with their national side appearing for 2 games of 1999 World Cup qualification before withdrawing. Next seen in 2009, they’ve almost exclusively been relegated to the preliminary round, qualifying for the main group stage once (though they’ve played in 4). From when they’ve not played in a preliminary stage they have only a single draw (1-1 at home to Bulgaria) to show for it. Progress to be made there. Men’s youth football has seen some success, though a couple of their qualifications have been through hosting rights. The U21 have several 3^rd places to their name in qualification and will host the 2023 tournament while the U19s and U17s each have 3 tournament appearances, 3 of which were in the 2010s.  While the U19s never escaped the group, the U17s did so twice, though then immediately fell. Women’s youth football has been in the opposite direction, with results being worse than the senior team’s. 2019 saw the U17s narrowly qualify for the Elite round with a surprise draw against Sweden but otherwise they have almost always lost.

The Georgians are reasonable at futsal, regularly qualifying from the preliminary round, but struggling a little in the main/elite rounds. They’ve come within a play-off of the Euros but never actually qualified for a major tournament. Wins to losses remain about 50-50, though they’ve never tried the women’s game. The U19s lost all 3 games in the only qualification attempt to date. Not as active in beach soccer, Georgia tried to qualify for the 2008 and 2017 World Cups without success. They debuted in the 2018 Euro Beach Soccer League, winning their first beach soccer games along with the Division B stage 1 title before returning to type for the promotion rounds.

For Qatar 2022 they were drawn in a tricky group with Spain, Sweden, Greece and Kosovo. Expected to fight for 4^th place in the group, possibly acting as kingmakers for the play-off spot, they delivered on that. They traded wins with Kosovo, drew away in Greece and actually beat Sweden. They were also within minutes of beating Spain, shocking everyone. They finished 4^th, with only 2 more points than Kosovo and 3 fewer than Greece.

France 2008-09 Away

Finland 1996-98 Home, matchworn Kari Rissanen v Switzerland
Finland 2008-10 Home, matchworn Roman Eremenko v Turkey
Finland 2012-14 Home

We open things up with a classic Adidas template and, sadly, one of Finland’s better shirts. Generally known for their boring shirts, we do at least have this design, which in their colour scheme looks a little like icicles or possibly that’s just my excuse for it working really quite well. The black acting almost like a shadow effect is a real positive, with the same colours seem in the collar and the old logo feels nicely retro, although is hardly inspiring.

Used across 1998 World Cup qualifiers where Finland were in a bitter fight for a play-off spot, they fell narrowly short. They grabbed an away draw against runaway group winners Norway and 2-1 away wins in Azerbaijan and Switzerland, but lost 1-0 in Hungary. This good away form was not matched at home, however, with a 3-0 win over Azerbaijan and a 1-1 draw to Hungary providing their only points. A 3-2 loss to the Swiss and a 4-0 loss to the Norwegians left them a point shy of Hungary in 2^nd and only a point ahead of the Swiss in 4^th. So near, yet so far.

Next up, a much less interesting Adidas template (this is a bit of a theme for them). The curves of blue across the sides and rear are nice enough but not a lot else grabs the attention. The shoulder stripes don’t start at the collar or finish at the cuffs (the latter for patches, the former for…no idea) but the collar is at least blue to stand out. The updated logo is the main thing for the shirt, with a wreath around a triangular logo. Much more interesting to look at than the last one, but that’s not particularly hard.

2010 World Cup qualifiers were a similar enough story, with Finland in 3^rd place, outside of the play-offs. Two stunning draws against Germany were extremely helpful (the only points Germany would drop) but two 3-0 losses to Russia were rather less so. They did win both matches against Wales and Azerbaijan, but it was too little, too late, and rather thankfully so as they did also draw away in Liechtenstein, which they shan’t want reminding of…

Well, this one’s dull. We have another badge update, this time back to the flag in a shield and the shoulder stripes are a little better done. Really, that’s about it though, no alteration to a plain white Adidas shirt below the shoulders. It tries nothing and achieves nothing, rather disappointing, really.

Another set of World Cup qualifiers, another 3^rd place! 2014 admittedly saw them in a small 5 team group with France and Spain and they weren’t expected or believed capable of really getting anywhere with that. They grabbed an away draw in Spain, but a home draw with Georgia and an away one in Belarus meant that even with their narrow wins in the opposite fixtures, they only managed 9 points, almost as far as they were from 2^nd place!

With their non-entry in the 1934 World Cup qualifiers, Finland sit just behind Luxembourg in the “most World Cup qualification attempts without success” standings. 20 attempts, 0 successes. Their initial record was pretty dire, picking up their first qualifying win in their 22^nd match (1966 qualifiers), but it has gradually improved. Much better since the late 90’s, they’ve come close to play-off spots, but have never been able to make that final leap. The Euros remained another blind spot for them with similar progression in their results, again without being able to make that final step for so long. Finally they broke their streak, qualifying in relative comfort for Euro 2020, where they would beat Denmark in an infamous match before losing their next two and bowing straight back out. Initially drawn in League C of the Nations League, they managed promotion to league B, where they’ve been good, but not quite promotion material. Their deep footballing history means that they’ve been to 4 Olympic Games as a senior side, coming 4^th in 1912. Generally bottom of every Nordic Football Championship, the one-off tournament in 2000-01 finally brought them some measure of revenge with them taking the title. They’ve even twice been to the Baltic Cup, though only managed 2^nd and 3^rd.

With several near misses in World Cup qualification it almost looks like a familiar story emerging for their women’s side, but they are saved by the Euros with 4 qualifications from 5 attempts between 2005 and 2022 (though they were 2009 hosts). Managing a 4^th place in 2005, their last 2 tournaments ended in the group stage, despite extremely strong qualification performances. Possibly struggling a little to maintain position in the UEFA hierarchy, they’ll be relieved by a comfortable promotion from league B in the women’s Nations League. Active in both the Cyprus and Algarve Cups (and the old Women’s Nordic Cup), Finland have struggled in all 3 for form, generally playing higher ranked sides and consequently falling short. On the youth side of things, there is a little more brightness for the men than for the senior side, with appearances in the U21 Euros (2009), the U18/19 Euros (2001/2018, as hosts) and 9 U16/17 Euros, albeit last in 2002 and their only group stage escape in 1982! Elite round appearances are sadly rare for them. While these generally haven’t gone well, the U17s did host the 2003 World Cup, and managed a win against China, though their goal difference was the worst of anyone. Rare to qualify for the Euros, the women’s youth teams nonetheless take advantage with what they get, reaching the semi-finals of 3 tournaments from 5 and therefore going to 2 U20 and 1 U17 World Cup! All resulted in group stage exists with only a single draw to their name, however.

Futsal is fairly popular in Finland, with the team dominating the Nordic Futsal Cup winning 5 of the 6 editions they’ve played in without loss. However, results in European qualifiers tend to be decent, but middling with only 1 qualification to date, and that as runner-up. They reached the 2022 quarter-finals, but got no further. They qualified for the 2023 U19 futsal Euro, losing all 3 games fairly comfortably and in the women’s edition have generally been one of the best teams to not qualify for the final tournament, which is a bad of a shame. On the cusp, but never quite one of the best. Surprisingly they have had a beach soccer team, taking part in the 2019 Euro Beach Soccer League, but losing every match and subsequently not returning. There have been a few friendlies as well, but they aren’t exactly regulars in the sport for perhaps obvious reasons!

Despite their 2022 qualification group being tough, Finland were expected to compete for the play-off spot. France won the group, as expected, but messy starts for Bosnia, Ukraine and Finland left 2^nd place very much up for grabs (except for Kazakhstan). 1 win from their first 5 matches doomed their attempt, however, and they finished a point behind Ukraine, once again in 3^rd place. One day…

Ethiopia 2017-18 Away
Ethiopia 2021-22 Away

So, we start off with a fairly plain effort from Errea. Yellow all over, with deep green collar and sleeve cuffs. The front is divided by a green bar with a hint of red, meaning that all the major flag colours are there, but otherwise there’s nothing more to it. The badge is a patch lightly stitched on, but is nicely detailed for it. The only other thing to it is a small flag on the upper rear of the shirt, a fairly common detail, but a nice touch all the same.

Used across 2019 AFCON qualifiers, Ethiopia were drawn with Kenya, Ghana and Sierra Leone. Their early victory of Sierra Leone was annulled after they got banned, leaving the Ethiopians with three losses, in which they didn’t score, and a 0-0 draw at home to the Kenyans.

Next up is their latest away kit from Umbro. Across the front, sleeves and shoulders there’s this lovely geometric pattern, all squares and triangles, almost like camouflage. Only disappointment is that it doesn’t extend across the rear. The sleeve cuffs mimic the flag nicely, as additional detail and the logos and hard plastic ironed on, for a more solid feeling detail. A great addition to Ethiopia’s kits.

This new kit will be used across the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (in 2022) at least, and likely for the next set of qualifiers too. Ethiopia are expected to struggle in a group with Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Cape Verde, but will be hopeful of sneaking through to the knockout stages regardless.

Ethiopia have a deep footballing history. They have distinctly struggled in the modern era, being eliminated in several preliminary rounds and struggling regardless. They’ve only reached the 2013 and 2021 AFCONs since 1983, coming closest to a World Cup in 2014 qualifiers where they lost a play-off against Nigeria 2-1 then 2-0. Otherwise their record has been unspectacular. But look back far enough and they were a real powerhouse in the continent. They were at the first 7 AFCONs, winning in 1962, but the complexities around qualification and the limited African spots meant that they never reached a World Cup on the back of those good results. In CECAFA they’ve managed a few good results too, with 3 titles in the senior CECAFA Cup, though they lag well behind their local rivals.

Debuting in 2002, Ethiopia’s women’s team has made it to 3 AFCONs, though never gotten far enough to qualify for a World Cup. They managed a singular draw in each of 2002 and 2012, but a win over South Africa and a draw with Zimbabwe helped them beat the latter out on goal difference to advance behind Ghana in 2004. Nigeria beat them 4-0 to send them into the 3^rd place play-off where a 0-0 draw led to a 6-5 penalties loss against Ghana, for their best ever result to date. They managed 3^rd at both the 2017 and 2018 CECAFA Cups, but haven’t managed to replicate that since. They’ve twice been to the African Games, in 2003 and 2007, but lost all their matches. At a youth level, the men have managed a string of semi-finals, in 1979, 1985, 1993 and 2001 for the U20s and in 1997 for the U17s. They only have 5 further qualifications to their name though. Their sole appearance at a youth World Cup came in 2001, where they managed narrow losses to the Netherlands, Costa Rica and Ecuador to be sent home at the first hurdle. In CECAFA they’ve managed 3 U20 titles and an U23 title, but struggled in the younger age groups. The women have been competitive at a youth level, lately progressing reasonably through qualifiers and even being a single match away from the 2016 U20 World Cup. They might yet make the 2022 edition, if it happens. They also won the inaugural U20 CECAFA championship.

While they haven’t yet tried beach soccer, they are clearly open to the idea of futsal. However, so far all they’ve managed is to withdraw from the 2018 youth tournament. Hopefully expect a little more in the future.

Drawn in the preliminary round for 2022 against Lesotho, Ethiopia didn’t convince, with two draws to advance on away goals. Ghana and South Africa ended up well clear of them, but a home draw against Ghana, an away draw in Zimbabwe and a home win against Zimbabwe helped them secure a distant 3^rd in the group. Probably to have been expected, though they’ll have wanted to have been in it for a little longer than they were.