On to the current Iceland look, which conveniently is very consistent over all three offered jerseys. So, it also makes sense to have our first full shirt set overview for the 2018 World Cup.
Despite their recent successes, Iceland are still considered outsiders in their group. However, I do like their chances against Argentina, Croatia and Nigeria. The gauchos are the big name but probably in their most vulnerable state. Croatia is well known from qualification, but a tough opponent and while the talent level of Nigeria should be higher, as with any African team there is always the question whether the individual players will gel together. Given that Iceland will probably exceed all three on the work ethic side, I find a second place finish is not out of reach. But that is in the future and the recent tests in the US were on the other side not as promising. But, we got a look at the new Iceland kit which allows me to finally write this post:
This time around Errea treats us with an entirely new template based on the fire & ice reputation of Iceland. So, the torso is just in a deep royal blue and quite plain, but all the action is relegated to the collar and the sleeves. Well the sleeves are raglan sleeves being white on the shoulders and the using a dot pattern mostly red on the underarms and blue on the back. It is an interesting look for sure although some white on the sleeves might not have hurt. The collar is similarly white, but quite annoyingly on the front it turns blue out of nowhere with a red line setting it apart from the torso. Given the organic transition between colors on the sleeves, the sudden switch between colors looks out of place and frankly, I hate it. If the collar was all white or had some sort of gradient to it, I would be alright with it, but this looks like patchwork and ruins the shirt. And while the sleeves do look odd, I at least like the idea behind it and find it a nice accent. Fortunately, Iceland is also staying with their simple font on these, so no foul here. If only we could do something about the crest …
Overall, of all the Iceland home jerseys we have looked on this blog so far, this is the one I like least. And it sounds ridiculous, but it is mainly down to the horrible collar. I am also not a big fan of the fire and ice sleeves, but can accept them as an interesting concept. But it looks overall average and thanks to collar even a bit cheap. Why didn’t they keep the previous home jersey?
My rating: 5/10 stars.
Now, quite conveniently, the away and third jersey have the same design and we can judge whether the sleeves fit better with another color:
Well, while I like the blue best as a color here, I find that both alternate jerseys look better. The collar is indefensible on either one but the front looks better on both. I like how on the white the sleeves emerge from the white and the collar is not as visible making the front kind of OK to look at. Still, if you want it to be blue and red on the front use a similar fade as on the sleeves. But the look overall is again a little better than the home jersey.
My rating: 6/10 stars.
The red third jersey is a very bold choice that actually works quite well with the red on the sleeves and the “snowed-on” shoulders. As one of the three national colors, red is also a defensible choice, but a bit unusual to look at. The collar looks similarly weird as on the blue jersey, but now the red lower line blends better with the jersey and it doesn’t quite look as awful. Still, the collar still pops out as an eyesore here. Rating this one is quite tough as it is somewhere between the blue and the white. But then, I do not give out half points here. Briefly I was considering lowering the grade for the home jersey because of that, but that would also not be fair. But if I had to choose, I feel more comfortable with the lower rating here.
My rating: 5/10 stars.
How would you rate these shirts?
My Soccer Universe 
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