Belgium football kit history: Ranking the greatest kits ever

Few national teams have stayed as closely connected to their visual identity as Belgium. Since playing their first official international match in 1904, the Red Devils have built a football tradition that stretches back more than a century. Their famous nickname arrived just two years later, inspired by the bold red shirts that quickly became synonymous with the national side.

As Belgian football developed from its early days into a regular force on the international stage, the team’s kits evolved alongside it. Different generations brought different styles, ranging from simple classic designs to more ambitious modern templates worn during Belgium’s rise to World Cup semi-finalists. Over the years, six manufacturers have produced the nation’s shirts, with brands such as Adidas, Nike and Diadora all leaving a distinct mark on the Red Devils’ image.

Naturally, some kits became unforgettable symbols of great eras, while others failed to leave much of an impression. In this article, nowgoalmobi will list the top 5 best Belgium football kits in history.

Top 5 best Belgium football kits in history

5. The tricolor stripe: 1970 home

Cast your mind back to Mexico 1970, and Belgium's return to the World Cup stage after a 16-year absence. It was a watershed moment for the Red Devils, and their kit reflected exactly that sense of occasion. The strip itself was refreshingly straightforward: a predominantly white jersey, anchored by a bold horizontal band of red, yellow, and black running across the chest, the Belgian tricolor rendered in its most unapologetic form.

What made this kit genuinely significant, however, was context. Mexico 1970 was the first World Cup broadcast in color to vast swathes of the global audience, and that vivid chest stripe ensured Belgium were immediately identifiable on screens worldwide. In many ways, the 1970 strip sits at a pivotal crossroads, bridging the plain, amateur-era jerseys of decades past with the commercially driven, manufacturer-branded kits that would define the modern game.

4. The giant killer: 1982 home

Before Belgium truly announced themselves on the world stage, they did so dressed in one of the cleanest kits of their era. The 1982 strip was pure early-80s Adidas: a rich red base kept deliberately simple, with yellow and black pinstripes trimming the collar and cuffs, and those unmistakable three stripes running down the sleeves. Nothing excessive, nothing unnecessary.

There was a quietly significant detail on the crest, too. Both "België" and "Belgique" appeared side by side, acknowledging the country's Dutch and French-speaking communities, a small but meaningful touch that has since become a permanent fixture of the badge.

But it is what Belgium achieved whilst wearing it that truly defines this shirt. In the opening match of the 1982 World Cup in Spain, they stunned defending champions Argentina, sending Maradona and his side to a shock 1-0 defeat. A genuine giant-killing, wrapped in beautifully understated red.

3. The "Tintin" tribute: 2024 away

Not every kit tells a story. This one, however, tells one that Belgians have grown up with. For Euro 2024, Adidas and the RBFA unveiled an away strip that drew its inspiration from one of Belgium's most beloved cultural icons: Hergé's Tintin. The result was as unexpected as it was inspired.

The jersey itself is a pale blue, finished with a white polo collar, a near-identical recreation of the outfit worn by the fictional boy reporter throughout the comic strip series. Brown shorts and white socks completed the look, leaving little doubt about the reference.

What elevates this beyond a simple novelty, though, is the craft behind it. The shirt incorporates Adidas's Aeroready technology, using lightweight recycled polyester built for moisture management on the pitch. Form and function, then, working in genuine harmony. At a time when kit design too often feels formulaic, Belgium's Euro 2024 away strip served as a reminder that football shirts can carry real cultural weight.

2. The golden bronze: 2018 home

Some shirts simply belong to a moment. Belgium's 2018 home kit is one of them. Adidas reached back into the archive for this one, reviving the diamond pattern that had first appeared on the 1984 strip, only this time repositioning it front and centre on the chest. The red, too, was noticeably deeper and richer, while the diamonds themselves were woven more subtly into the fabric rather than sitting boldly on the surface. The overall effect was refined without being restrained.

Underneath the aesthetic, the player-issue version packed genuine technical substance. Adidas's Climachill technology, built around aluminium cooling spheres and an open mesh construction, was specifically designed to cope with the punishing humidity of the Russian summer.

And yet it is the football that made this shirt immortal. Hazard, De Bruyne and Lukaku, the so-called Golden Generation at its peak, wore it to defeat Brazil before clinching third place at the World Cup.

1. The "Argyle" legend: 1984 home

There are football shirts, and then there are football shirts. Belgium's 1984 strip belongs firmly in the first category. For many collectors and supporters alike, it remains the definitive Red Devils jersey, the one that every subsequent design has, consciously or not, been measured against.

What set it apart was a single, decisive design choice: a wide white horizontal band across the chest, filled with red and yellow argyle diamonds. It was a sharp departure from the plain, solid templates that dominated international football at the time, and it worked brilliantly. The national colours were all present, but arranged in a way that felt genuinely fresh.

Belgium exited Euro 1984 at the group stage, which only adds a certain irony to the shirt's legacy. The football faded; the kit did not. Forty years on, it still looks like something a designer would be proud to put their name to, proof, if any were needed, that a great shirt needs no great result to endure.

Top 5 best Belgium football kits in history

5. The tricolor stripe: 1970 home

4. The giant killer: 1982 home

3. The "Tintin" tribute: 2024 away

2. The golden bronze: 2018 home

1. The "Argyle" legend: 1984 home

Nowgoalmobi.net has listed the Top 5 best Belgium football kits in history

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