Prateek Tanmay
2 min readJun 27, 2026 01:58 AM IST
Needing to switch up their iconic bleus blue against Norway in their World Cup Group I encounter on Friday night, France have brought one of the most iconic World Cup jerseys to the field at Boston. They may look white, but they radiate pista green.
Even as Ousmane Dembele scored a hat-trick, the French magicians had a green halo to their kit. It was the faintest of pista icecream green coloured trimmings on the shirts – the collar, the silhouette hemline bands on the stitch, and the thin lining to the whole shirt which gleamed that shade of green when the sun rays hit it.
But the thinking behind the away jersey – which tends to be white – which the French have tinged green is rooted in history, a hat tip to a New York symbol. The green is the green of Statue of Liberty – after the copper frame oxidised over the years, an effect of humidity, rust and dust.
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The statue, a gift from France, was installed in 1876 to celebrate 100 years of American independence. The USA is heading into its 250th this July 4th.
Another detail is the jersey numbers embossed with the Liberty Statue shadow in matte gold, also the colour of the French rooster.
France usually play in white and red when not in blue. The only time they played in green, as per Marca, was when the kit managers messed up in 1978 and the organisers borrowed kits of amateur club Mar del Plata.
The elegant green kits have outsold the traditional Les Bleus back in France. The player kits have the thinnest of tricolour sleeve trims in red white and blue.
As twice world champions in 1998 and 2018, the French are also given the gold patch on the sleeve.
