FIFA has ordered Egypt to change their 2026 World Cup kit just two days before their opening match in the United States. The African giants have become the second national team at the finals forced to make a last-minute alteration to their kit, after Haiti's shirt design was viewed as 'political'.
Egypt's World Cup Campaign
Egypt are looking forward to taking part in only their third World Cup finals and their first since 2018, with Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah and Manchester City star Omar Marmoush hoping to fire them to glory. They kick-off their campaign on Monday night against Belgium in Seattle, before taking on New Zealand and Iran.
While they have never won a game at the World Cup, the Pharaohs have been far more successful on the continental front, winning the Africa Cup of Nations a record seven times. Kit manufacturer Puma was keen to highlight these triumphs, with seven stars embroidered onto their World Cup shirt above the badge. These shirts were worn during their warm-up games ahead of the tournament, with Egypt sporting their classic red with black trim shirts and white shorts.
FIFA's Regulations
However, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) announced on Saturday that FIFA had instructed them to remove the stars from the shirt before their clash with Belgium. The reasoning is that regulations only allow stars recognising World Cup triumphs, not continental competitions, with England permitted to include a solitary star above their badge.
But FIFA's style police are not done there, as the original gold numbering on the red home shirts have also been banned after failing visibility tests. They have been changed to white to ensure that referees and broadcasters can clearly read them.
Official Statement
'FIFA informed us that stars representing continental tournaments are not allowed on World Cup shirts,' a statement from the EFA, as quoted by AS, read. 'FIFA also requested that the shirt numbers be changed to white instead of gold to improve visibility. This is not a surprise and we were already aware of it before the tournament.'
Egypt and Haiti are not the only teams to have suffered issues with their kit at the World Cup, with England players having football boots and other key equipment stolen just days ahead of their opening match against Croatia.
