Estonia 2000-03 Home, matchworn/prepared v Netherlands, 2002 WCQ
Estonia 2006-07 Home
Estonia 2016-17 Home

First up we have this Nike design. Vertical black stripes, front and rear help to frame the shirt nicely. There’s also black, with double white “railways tracks” for the sleeve cuffs and inside of the collar (which is huge). Not that much to it, very standard Nike. Their typical blue is nice and their badge, while simple, works well though. An interesting little touch is the black outline to the Nike tick, helping to highlight it, but looking at that kind of shows that it isn’t the greatest of shirts!

Estonia used the design across 2002 World Cup qualifiers in a group with Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Cyprus and Andorra. They beat Andorra 1-0 at home and 2-1 away but their only other points came in 2-2 draws home and away to Cyprus, who they beat on goal difference alone (conceding 5 fewer but scoring 3 fewer). They lost 2-0 home and away to the Irish and only lost by 2 goals in 3-1 and 4-2 home losses to Portugal and the Netherlands. However, their away games against the latter two were both 5-0 losses leaving them 12 points distant of 3^rd place.

Next up we have an astonishingly boring shirt. A bit of white on the ends of the sleeves is all we really have, with even the Nike tick attempting migrate as far away from prominence as possible. The FA logo is decent quality and there’s another Nike logo on the left sleeve but there’s really nothing to talk about here. Only a shirt I like because it was incredibly cheap for an Estonia shirt…

The shirt was used in the Euro 2008 qualifiers where Estonia accumulated 7 points from a 7 team group. Home and away wins against Andorra provided 6 of those points with a 1-1 away draw in Macedonia completing the set. Unfortunately that also accounts for all 5 goals they scored across the campaign, with three 1-0 home losses accompanied by three 2-0 losses, two 3-0 losses and the low point of a 4-0 loss in Israel. Respectable results against the likes of Croatia, Russia and England but they really needed a bit more on the board.

Last one is much better. The black works well with the blue and the Nike logo matches it too. We have some airing holes and black accenting down the sides but the main attraction here is the sleeves. A fade in of the black works incredibly well and I do love it. There is a bit of a dearth of other details, though we do have the hedgehog on the back, just under the collar. Why a hedgehog? Centre of a storm of controversy, the humble hedgehog was not voted the national animal of Estonia to widespread dismay. I never thought I’d say that. It does look cool though.

Used in 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Estonia finished 4^th of 6 teams, with 11 points (1 point ahead of Cyprus). They scored 10 goals against Gibraltar, registering their joint largest win (6-0) in the away fixture, also winning narrowly at home and drawing away against Cyprus. Their home fixtures against Belgium, Greece and Bosnia-Herzegovina were narrow losses, but they lost heavily in Brussels and Sarajevo. The highlight of the group was a 0-0 draw away in Greece, a result that didn’t quite manage to cost the Greeks a play-off place.

Estonia are a very old FA, being knocked out in the first round of the 1924 Olympics by the USA and trying to qualify for the 1934 and 1938 World Cups before being annexed by the USSR. After splitting back out, they began poorly, winning 1 game from 20 qualification fixtures (Euros and WC) but quickly improved, regularly avoiding the bottom and consistently taking at least 2 wins and a draw (though 2020 qualifiers were an exception). Their golden era came with 5 wins in 2006 World Cup qualifying (6 points away from play-offs albeit all but one point against Latvia, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg) and 5 wins in Euro 2012 qualifying, including spectacular away wins in Serbia, Slovenia and Northern Ireland. They made the play-offs against the Republic of Ireland but lost 4-0 at home, leaving their later 1-1 away draw inconsequential. However, three of their six 2^nd places and three of their titles in the Baltic Cup came before 1939, with little to brag about since until their shock 4^th title in 2021! The Nations League has also provided little so far, with them surviving relegation in the initial season through restructuring only and in the second season falling into the relegation play-off.

As a women’s side, Estonia are not as great. A win and a draw against Kazakhstan and a draw againa Turkey are their only points in Euros qualification to date, though they’ve garnered a few more wins in World Cup qualifiers, their best being for 2011 where they won 3 games and drew 1, finishing 4^th. They also lost 12-0 away to France and Iceland but still. They easily hold the title record in the women’s Baltic Cup, with 10 titles from 21 tournaments, though they managed the first 4^th place finish when the Faroes were first invited in 2016. Their men’s youth teams are generally unsuccessful, reaching the elite round very rarely and with wins hard to come by. The pandemic cancelled their U17 debut at the euros (as hosts) which would add to their U19 debut (as hosts) in 2012, where they lost all their games by at least 2 goals and scored only once. They are the worst Baltic team at the U21 and U19 Baltic Cups (0 U19 titles), though all the teams are fairly even at an U17 level. The women’s youth teams find wins even harder to come by and have not come close to Euros qualification in recent years.

Incredibly few points in Euros and World Cup qualification for futsal, combined with eight 3^rd places and a solitary silver in the Baltic Futsal Cup firmly place Estonia in the lowest regions of UEFA futsal and they’ve consequently not participated in U19 or women’s futsal to date. A little more capable in beach soccer, they’ve progressed to the 2^nd round of World Cup qualifiers 4 times from 7 attempts, though only average 1 win per qualification attempt. In Division B of the Euro Beach Soccer League, they’re yet to win the division, but have twice finished 2^nd, though these results seem more the exception than the rule.

With a significant drop in recent form, poor performances coming in the Euro 2020 qualifiers and both iterations of the Nations League, Estonia are not expected to impress in 2022 World Cup qualification. Their aim has to be to not finish last, something they’d normally be confident of but won’t be this time around.  A 6-2 hammering by the Czechs and a 4-2 loss to Belarus leaves them needing results from Belgium or Wales…

England 2004-06 Away

El Salvador 2017-18 Home

Ecuador 2003-05 Home

Now here is a nice shirt. Stripes with the colours of the flag, and interesting pattern of curves across the body of the shirt to avoid any plainness. The badge is a nice material too but no patterns on the back of the shirt (some slight stripes) as well as plain sleeves do take away from the experience slightly. The authenticity tags are also interesting, with two of them tied together.

Qualification for the 2006 World Cup went very well in this design, with Ecuador being comfortably qualified, despite 2 draws in their final qualification games. Their away record was poor but strong home performances took them through. They also wore it for the 2004 Copa America where they lost all 3 games to crash out. A 6-1 loss to Argentina and 2-1 losses to Uruguay and Mexico ranked them as the worst side in the tournament which is harsh on the shirt, if nothing else.

Up until 1998 World Cup qualification, Ecuador has rarely achieved much in CONMEBOL, with 2 victories from 5 games in 1966 qualification being their best performance. They completely turned this around as qualification opened up into the now familiar giant round robin stage and have qualified for 3 of the 6 world cups since! 2006 proved their most successful outing, where they reached the knockout stages, only to get dumped out by David Beckham’s free kick. Otherwise the match was so memorable that all I can remember is that he was also sick on the touchline. Not quite Gary Lineker but impressive enough. In the Copa America, Ecuador have hosted it 3 times and done their best then, with 2 4^th places. Otherwise their performances have been unremarkable with only 16 wins from 121 games… 4 Pan American Games appearances are capped by a 2007 gold medal though where somehow a tournament with Brazil, Argentina and Colombia involved had Mexico, Jamaica, Bolivia and Ecuador in the semi-finals!

Their women’s side is generally unremarkable too, with a World Cup appearance in 2015 (1 goal scored, 17 conceded) after a good qualifying performance was capped by an intercontinental play-off victory vs Trindad and Tobago. Their highlight was a 1-0 loss to eventual finalists Japan. Otherwise, a 3^rd and a 4^th place in the Copa América Femenina in 1998 and 2014 (as hosts) respectively are their standout moments, with no participation in the pan American games thus far. Youth football has been a brighter spot, with the U20s having a successful 2019 (3^rd at the World Cup and South American champions) as well as several other World Cup qualifications under their belt. The U17’s have a string of 3^rd and 4^th places in CONMEBOL and 5 World Cup qualifications though the U23s and U15s haven’t been as successful. Women’s youth football has sadly only been repeated group stage appearances in CONMEBOL except for 1 3^rd place many years ago.

Male and female futsal (yeah, South America’s keen) are not highlights for Ecuador except for one or two highlights that otherwise stand out. Neither senior nor youth futsal have shown any consistent success and they typically compete it out amidst the bottom nations. Beach soccer is much more exciting, although 3^rd and 4^th places tend to be their lot, partly because how do you get close to Brazil?

Ecuador might struggle in 2022 World Cup qualification as most of CONMEBOL do due to the sheer size of the qualifiers. However, without standout players their expected position is around the play-off spot so I suppose we’ll have to see.

Denmark 2006-08 Home

Czechia 2008-09 Home, matchworn Jan Blazek v England U21, 2008 U21 friendly
Czechia 2014-15 Home

Let’s kick things off with a very plain design. Thin, blue sleeves cuffs and collar add a splash of colour to a shirt that’s otherwise basically just red mesh. There are slight stripes of a different shade where the panels are heat-bonded together but the design is basic indeed. The old Puma numberset definitely adds a little, with the sort of pixelated fade-away adding a nice sense of definition to them. Additionally, the Czech coat of arms is superbly detailed and adds some much needed colour.

This design saw use across the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, where the Czech’s were drawn in a finely balanced group with Slovakia, Slovenia, Northern Ireland, Poland and San Marino. They dropped points at home in a 2-1 loss to Slovakia and a 0-0 draw with Nortehrn Ireland but their away form sank them, gaining just 6 points on the road, losing to Poland, beating San Marino and drawing the other 3 games. They finished 3^rd in the group, only a point ahead of Northern Ireland and 4 points behind Slovenia. Considering the Slovenians went on to qualify they might consider that a slight disappointment.

Next up we have this slightly more imaginative design, though the replacement of the coat of arms with just the Bohemian Lion crest is a definite downgrade. This time we’ve got blue sections all over, helping to break up the monotony somewhat, though the lines on the front are just beyond strange. Just in case you missed the crest though, there’s a giant Bohemian lion across the front of the shirt, kicking the shirt up from ok to cool.

The Czechs were much less forgettable in this shirt, winning Group A of the Euro 2016 qualifiers at the death. Grouped with Iceland, Turkey, Netherlands, Kazakhstan and Latvia they were expected to have a hard time but rose to the occasion magnificently. Opening out with 4 wins from 4 they stumbled at home to Latvia (1-1) and Turkey (0-2) but beat the Netherlands home and away and only lost away to Iceland, who lost their last game to help the Czechs claim the crown.

These results are fairly typical of the men’s team, who regularly qualify for the Euros (last did not in 1992 as Czerchoslovakia) but struggle a little more in the actual tournaments and tend not to qualify for the World Cup (only appearance in 2006 as Czech Republic). Their history is fairly deep though, when they do well they do really well! As Czechoslovakia they didn’t enter two World Cups and qualified for 8 of the 13 they did enter, coming runners-up in 1934 and 1962! In the Euros they managed 3 appearances as Czechoslovakia, with two 3^rd places and the 1976 title (with some bloke called Panenka inventing a new type of penalty to win it, you may have heard of him). As the Czech Republic they still came 2^nd in 1996 and reached the semi-finals in 2004 but otherwise have mainly been in the Group Stages, with 2012 and 2020 providing quarter-finals exits. In other tournaments they managed 3^rd at the 1997 Confederations Cup and, in the Nations League, initially held position in League B before getting promoted in the 2^nd season.

On the women’s side the Czechs can’t boast the same sort of history, having never qualified for a major tournament, but they’ve come close a number of teams and are a team that have will punish any slip-ups. They’ve reached 4 qualifying play-offs but lost them all to date. Initially pushed down into Class B for the qualifiers for 1997-2001 they did well enough to move into Class A for 2005 and 2007, before the system was removed. Since then they’ve always been in 2^nd or 3^rd in their qualifying groups, though sometimes well distant of the leaders. Expect to see them at a tournament soon enough though. Despite winning the Olympics in 1980 as Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic’s U23 side has only been to the 2000 Olympics, exiting at the Group stage, though the U21s have the 2002 U21 Euros title along with 2^nd in 2000 and 4^th in 2011. The U19s have 2 semi-finals and a final appearance to add to the pile, also grabbing 2^nd in the 2007 U20 World Cup. The U17s can add another 2 finals but little progression in the corresponding World Cup. Adding in Czechoslovakia results only brings in 2 titles and finals from Euros too. The women’s youth team suffer from the same curse as the seniors, with the U17s making the 2016 and 2017 tournaments (the latter as hosts) but managing a solitary 0-0 draw with Italy. They’ve come bitterly close to other qualifications though, almost always making the elite round and once missing out on goals scored (by 2).

Czechia do play beach soccer, though they’ve always been fairly middling in UEFA. They’ve been in Division B more than Division A in the Euro Beach Soccer League (8 vs 5 seasons) and are mainly out in the first group stages of World cup qualifiers, though they’ve progressed a few times. Futsal has proven a little more successful for them, with the Euros bringing them two 3^rd places and them attending 3 FIFA World Cups, with them qualifying from the group stages twice. They’ve never done as well in the AMF World Cup but do hold 2^nd places in the 2018 Grand Prix de Futsal and the 2014 Confederations Cup. Not setting the world alight in either but certainly active. On the women’s side they qualified by default for both tournaments, though fell at the Group Stage in 2019. On the youth side they narrowly failed to qualify for the U19 tournament.

Drawn with Wales, Belgium, Belarus and Estonia in 2022 World Cup qualification, Czechia will be hopeful of a play-off spot at the end. Their opening has been slightly shaky, drawing 1-1 with Belgium and thrashing Estonia 6-2 but the 1-0 loss away in Wales may raise some concerns. It will be tricky, but they are capable of making it.

Cyprus 1996-99 Home, matchworn by ??? v Slovenia
Cyprus 1996-99 Away
Cyprus 2006-08 Away

A lot of Cypriot shirts have the unfortunate tendency to be a bit boring. Errea decided, upon receiving the contract, to give them their best shirt ever, just to compensate. A massive FA logo printed across the front in a giant, angled cross; the rest of the front and the sleeves inspired by when your old CRT TV had no signal; and even a  vague pattern in the fabric, though who knows what that is. It is bold and in your face from the start, with the nicer, round logo. They then rather spoilt the effort by reverting to plain kits after a few years, but what can you do?

The great design saw extended use, across 1996-1999, mainly for the 2 sets of qualifiers. 1998 qualification saw them in a group with Bulgaria, Russia, Israel and Luxembourg. Their home performance was impressive, taking 2-0 wins over Israel and Luxembourg, while also drawing 1-1 with Russia. However, they only had a 3-1 win over Luxembourg to show for their away matches, losing every other match by at least 2 goals. They finished in 4^th place, only 3 points behind Israel, but struggled to step up to compete for qualification.

2000 qualifiers were much more interesting, with Spain, Israel, Austria and San Marino providing the opposition. Again, they had only a single away victory for points, an edgy 1-0 win over San Marino, even losing 8-0 to Spain! However, at home they grabbed 3-2 victories over Spain and Israel. Coupled with a 4-0 win over San Marino, they again finished 4^th, but this time in a cluster of three teams. Only a point behind Austria and Israel (the play-off team), they suffered on goal difference regardless.

Next up is a more commonly seen shirt. Diadora went for something fairly interesting with the sort of wave pattern across the sleeves and the central badge. The green is an interesting addition and the top of the shirt does work well, but it suffers somewhat lower down. A nice enough shirt from a short lived contract, but a fairly simple one that didn’t lead into anything more.

Cypriot Diadora graced the vast Euro 2008 qualifying groups. Cyprus would again finish second from bottom, in a cluster of teams, but this time much further from qualification. Czechia and Germany were far ahead of everyone else, but the Republic of Ireland in 3^rd were only 3 points ahead of 6^th  placed Cyprus! They managed a 1-1 away draw in Ireland to complement a familiar 1-0 win over San Marino for an additional away point, but a familiar story held true with only 2 home defeats (both by 2 goals, to Czechia and Slovakia). 3 goals victories over the Irish and Sammarinese, a 2 goal win over wales and a spectacular 1-1 draw with Germany helped them to a reasonable 14 points!

In general these performances are fairly typical for Cyprus, a team who regularly occupy the bottom few rungs of the qualifying ladder. While they joined FIFA fairly early, and struggled accordingly, since the 1994 qualifiers they’ve managed at least 1 (and up to 4) wins in all but 1 qualification attempt. Being a point off the play-offs is the closest they’ve come to a major tournament. In 3 seasons of the Nations League they’ve also only managed 3 wins, falling twice into the relegation play-off. More luck has been had in friendly tournaments, with them organising the Cyprus Tournament most years between 1997 and 2011. They only won it twice, but faced a variety of sides throughout.

Their women’s side has only seen very limited action, predominantly in very recent years only. They host the Cyprus Cup, but have only played in the 2^nd tier version, the Aphrodite Cup. Here they managed 2^nd place in 2015 and 2016, falling short of Greece and Israel respectively. However, despite a disappointing 5^th place in 2017 (bringing a record 7-1 win over Bahrain), they managed to come back strongly in 2019 to win it. Their sole competitive qualification attempt was for the 2023 World Cup, grabbing a 1-1 home draw against Belarus, but otherwise scoring only a single further goal while conceding another 47… Still progress to be made. Men’s youth football has regularly followed a similar pattern to the seniors, with the team struggling in the first qualifying stages, though there has been success. The U21s managed 2^nd in their 2004 qualifying group, the U19s became semi-regular in the elite round of qualification and hosted the 1998 U18 Championship, and the U17/16s would go to the 1990 and 1992 Championship (the latter as hosts), grabbing a draw and a win. Women’s youth football has been deeper than the senior side, starting in 2008 for both levels. The U19s only have 2 wins and 3 draws (plus 1 forfeit win) in qualifiers, while the U17s only played in the 2008 qualifiers. They’ve struggled to get going in the sport, and only seem to have made limited effort.

Active in futsal qualifiers, Cyprus tend to be stuck in the preliminary qualifiers when those are implemented. They often get a result or two at that level, showing that they can be competitive there, but they are ranked lowly within UEFA and are fairly stable in that position. They reached the main round of U19 futsal qualifiers in 2019 (and started there for 2022), but haven’t threatened qualification, while they’ve never tried women’s futsal. Beach soccer, interestingly, has not been an avenue explored by the Cypriots, who have never competed.

For 2022 they were drawn in a qualifying group with Croatia, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta. Expected to possibly cause a slip up or two, they had a few narrow results, but only scored points at home, with draws against Malta and Slovakia and a win against Slovenia keeping them ahead of Malta on goal difference alone. Not an ideal campaign from them.

Cuba 2013 Away

Croatia 2012-13 Home

Côte d’Ivoire 2010 Away