La Jornada: Casaca del Tri, great goal in World Cup sales

It is no coincidence that Merlin the duck has gone viral for wearing the Mexico shirt, nor that during the two weeks of the World Cup, any day and corner it is common to see someone wearing it: the green Mexico shirt. Tri It is the best-selling in the world, according to Adidas, its manufacturer.

This soccer jersey, like the national team, has a perfect pace and has scored a goal in each of its games: in physical establishments the most sought-after sizes disappear in a matter of hours and the shelves fill up again at almost the same rate as the hydration breaks last in this tournament.

For those who prefer to buy it online, getting it is almost as complicated as scoring a goal against Javier Aguirre’s team during the group stage: there are no overnight shipments in the most in-demand sizes (medium, long and extra large), and if you’re lucky, it arrives in five days or more.

A perfect alignment

The phenomenon goes beyond the team’s good football moment. That the green jersey is the best-selling in the world responds to several factors: Mexico is the fifth country with the highest spending on soccer jerseys; Adidas appealed to nostalgia by recovering elements of the iconic France 1998 kit; Millions of Mexicans live outside the country and maintain a strong bond with the tricolor, and wearing it has become a form of identity for fans, explained the market consulting firm Kantar.

dream team

The German company Adidas has been in charge of dressing the tricolor since 2007 and this year’s clothing has caused something to talk about:

“Until the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the home shirt of the Mexican soccer team led the brand’s global sales in its category, even above the official shirts of Germany or Spain.

“By then, around 55 percent of the jerseys in the home team edition and the third kit – the black one – were in the hands of the consumer, followed by the away jersey – the white one –, which registered 35 percent in terms of sales,” the company explained to The Day.

The Mexican representation is part of the group of most important teams for the company on a commercial level, despite not having won a World Cup – at least until now.

In stores and online

In physical establishments, the green t-shirt with white and red details is in the main displays. Its cost, in short sleeves, is 1,999 pesos in the amateur version and 2,999 pesos in the player version. The price goes up 200 pesos, in both cases, if you prefer long sleeves.

Although there seem to be enough in the displays, the most sought-after sizes are few and a worker at the Adidas store on Avenida Presidente Masaryk, in Mexico City, explains: “yes there are sizes, but they run out quickly, they arrive every two or three days, but the large or extra-large sizes go by the wayside.”

Online, the situation is similar, since, on sites like Amazon or Mercado Libre, or chains like Coppel, Liverpool or Innovasport, they do not have immediate delivery of the green jersey.

According to data from Mercado Libre, to date it is the best-selling item on its platforms and in May the shirt had 411 thousand searches, with a peak on the 31st, when Aguirre announced the list of those invited to the tournament.

Everything has an explanation

Christian L’eglisle, brand director at Kantar Mexico, details in an interview that there are a series of factors behind the team’s home shirt being the favorite of consumers in the world:

“Historically, Mexico is the most profitable Federation for Adidas, and although it is one of the countries that has not managed to reach the final stages in the tournament, it is one of those that consumes the most t-shirts, it is the fifth country with the greatest economic impact on t-shirts globally.

“There are three factors: the first is closely related to identity. Mexico has one of the fans most emotionally connected to its team, it is not just football, it is an extension of this national identity and this makes the shirt a symbol of ‘this skin’ beyond the product

“In addition, there is the dispersion factor, the Mexican consumer is not only in Mexico, we have a huge base of countrymen in the United States, even in other countries, which makes the volume of demand amplify and turns Mexico into a global brand.

“And the third, important if we talk about the brand, is just like the construction of the brand, what Adidas has done with the shirt is to build consistency. They have given it this green design with the Aztec calendar and they bring it back from that 98 World Cup, which was the iconic shirt that marked an era.”

They put on the shirt

The following are the opinions of bone red pamboleros who have bought the Mexico home World Cup shirt:

“I like it a lot, it is my favorite from Adidas, they stylized the Aztec culture, like that of 1998, but updated and it looks very good,” declares José Luis López, whose second jacket made by Adidas is the one used in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

“I like the team’s shirt because it creates identity and nostalgia. It is like the shield that was used in ’98, it represents well the culture of what we are and represents us well to the world. It is a great way for people to get to know our culture through sport and for us, as Mexicans, to feel proud through the sport that we like the most and moves the masses,” says Roberto Came Esteban, who considers that his second favorite shirt from the German brand is the green one used in 2011.

“It has a beautiful design, incredible details and a very vibrant design, that is something that is appreciated because the past shirts did not have that, I could say that our Mexico shirt is a beautiful shirt,” says Armando Torres and his second favorite Adidas shirt is the visiting shirt from the last World Cup.