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https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7120715/2026/03/16/usmnt-players-world-cup-jersey-design-kits-adams-pulisic-nike/?source=user_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.TlA.eaft.JkUxgaZHn_Uu&smid=ta-ios-share


Some influential players resisted. They held up the “car wash”-style shoot for 10, 20, 30 minutes, according to multiple witnesses. U.S. Soccer staffers traded concerned calls and panicked texts. Team staff were called in to help mediate.

Years later, some details are disputed. Adams says “there was a bunch of guys” who vocalized their displeasure. Others say it was only a small group of players, and that their reaction was overblown. It was exacerbated by the fact that the jerseys they modeled were replicas made for fans, rather than the high-tech, top-drawer kits they’d wear on World Cup fields in November.

But there were two inescapable, agreed-upon truths.

One: Players weren’t thrilled with those 2022 kits. (“We just as angry as y’all !!!” winger Tim Weah wrote to fans on Instagram as the white and blue designs were revealed months later.)

And two: Their mini-rebellion spurred change.