USA vs Belgium match marred by confusingly similar jerseys
A Clash of Kits: When the USA and Belgium Looked Like One Team
Anyone tuning in to watch Saturday's friendly between the USA and Belgium must have been thoroughly confused at first glance. From a distance, it looked as though only one team was on the pitch—all dressed in light-colored jerseys. The two sides' pre-approved kits were so strikingly similar that even the players and referee struggled to tell them apart.
The risk of confusion apparently only became clear when the players removed their warm-up tops and lined up for kickoff—by which point it was too late. Frantic attempts were made during halftime to fetch an alternate set of jerseys from the team hotel, but time ran out. Even Belgium's red home kits—which had initially been rejected over concerns they might clash with the red stripes on the U.S. shirts—were nowhere to be found.
So the match carried on: light versus light. Both teams made the most of the opportunity to showcase their specially designed World Cup kits—though the U.S. jersey, predictably, drew inspiration from the American flag. The back, however, was almost entirely white, which only added to the on-field confusion.
A Tribute to Art (If Not to Clarity)
Belgium's away kit, on the other hand, is a nod to art history—a homage to the Belgian surrealist René Magritte. Emblazoned inside the collar are the words "Ceci n'est pas un maillot"—"This is not a jersey." In this case, it certainly wasn't a good jersey for avoiding mix-ups.
In the end, Belgium won 5–2. No one could accuse them of gaining an unfair advantage from the color chaos—both teams were equally baffled. Fortunately, there was one saving grace: the shorts. The Americans wore dark blue, which at least provided some contrast against Belgium's white.
