ATLANTA (AP) — Christian Pulisic couldn't figure out teammates from opposing Belgians in a friendly with kit confusion.
“That can’t happen. It was a bit strange,” the U.S. star said after Saturday's 5-2 loss to Belgium.
The U.S. wore its new Nike jerseys with red and white horizontal stripes that resemble a waving flag, an apparent homage to American jerseys at the 1994 World Cup with vertical red-and-white stripes.
Belgium had on its new Adidas road jerseys with a background of a light color called Frozen Blue mixed with pink and black trim, a tribute to surrealist artist René Magritte.
“It definitely was a little bit difficult whenever you do like a quick glance to tell which was which. It was almost like a 50-50 thing,” American midfielder Weston McKennie said. “So you definitely have to maybe take a little more time on the ball before you made a decision or play one touch to a player.”
Both teams exchanged uniform plans well ahead of the match, according to the U.S. Soccer Federation, and the outfits were cleared before the game by the match officials.
Belgium’s home jersey in a solid red while the U.S.’s other is dark blue with a subtle star pattern and red trim, which it plans to wear for Tuesday’s friendly against Portugal.
While the flawed fashions became apparent during the first half, neither team had different sets of jerseys on site they could switch to at the break.
Decisions could depend on shorts — the U.S. wore blue and Belgium white. The Americans had white socks and the Belgians blue.
Players hadn't been concerned about the game's sartorial aspects.
“I didn’t know until we took off the pre-match, whatever, shirts and then saw it and I was like — everyone was a bit shocked,” Pulisic said. “A lot of times you get the ball, you look up, you can’t really lock in on something. You only can base it off the color of the shirt. That’s how it works. And when it’s very similar, it's difficult.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Belgium's Amadou Onana (24) heads the ball during the first half of an international friendly soccer match against the United States, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
United States' Patrick Agyemang (25) heads the ball toat goal against Belgium during the second half of an international friendly soccer match, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Belgium's Jeremy Doku moves against the United States' Timothy Weah (21) during an international friendly soccer match, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
