With five African federations and 11 nations in total, PUMA used a street-level event in New York to unveil its World Cup kit collection — positioning itself as the dominant African kit brand at football’s biggest summer.
PUMA unveiled national team kits for 11 nations at a street-level event in New York City on March 19, signalling the German sports brand’s ambition to consolidate its position in international football ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 (FIFA WC26), which gets underway in June across the US, Canada and Mexico.
Africa is PUMA’s competitive differentiator
The breadth of PUMA’s African portfolio is the standout commercial story in the collection. Five of the 11 nations — Ghana, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco and Egypt — represent the continent, a wider African presence than any other kit manufacturer heading into the tournament. Across four continents, PUMA’s 11 partner federations — which also include Portugal, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Austria, Paraguay and New Zealand — account for close to a quarter of the nations competing in FIFA WC26. Portugal, widely regarded as one of Europe’s strongest sides this cycle, anchors the European group.
PUMA put community players in the kits before anyone else
Rather than a conventional stadium reveal or a cinematic brand film, PUMA built the launch around a 4v4 tournament at Domino Square in Brooklyn, played by community footballers representing each of the 11 nations wearing the new kits before their public release. The event, organised in partnership with NYC Footy, was structured around a series of branded trucks, each representing one federation through its visual identity, food, music and cultural references.
Football figures including Ricardo Quaresma (Portugal), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana) and El Hadji Diouf (Senegal) appeared as national representatives. A live music programme featured a performance by Ghanaian artist Black Sherif, with a DJ lineup drawing from several of the partner nations. Social media personality Fanum and the Amsterdam-based creative collective Daily Paper (represented by founders Jefferson and Abde) joined as guests.
Replica kits close the loop on post-consumer textile waste
All jerseys in the collection incorporate PUMA’s ULTRAWEAVE performance fabric and dryCELL sweat-wicking technology. Replica versions are produced through the brand’s RE:FIBRE programme, which recycles post-consumer textile waste into new polyester fibre. Full product and materials details are scheduled for release on March 24, when the collection goes on sale.
