Mexico has added a new third alternate kit ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, giving El Tri a fresh option less than a month before its hosting duties begin. The adidas mexico jersey was unveiled as a collaboration with Mexican clothing brand Someone Somewhere and is tied to the national team’s history as a World Cup host.
The shirt is predominantly black, with a subtle Aztec-influenced zig-zag pattern built from stylized M and X lettering. The design was created by rural artists and artisans supported by the Someone Somewhere label, while the trim carries the green, red and white of the Mexican flag. Those colors also appear on the federation crest, the Adidas trefoil and the stripes on the sleeves. For Mexico, it is a reminder that the 2026 tournament marks the third time the country has hosted a men’s World Cup, after 1970 and 1986.
Mexico already had home and away shirts released by Adidas and El Tri before the third kit was added, but the new release gives the team a fuller wardrobe for a tournament that begins in less than a month. FIFA changed its rules in 2022 to allow each national team to submit more than two kits for tournaments, opening the door for third alternates like this one. Only a smattering of teams have created them for 2026, and Mexico’s version is one of the clearest attempts to turn a jersey into a piece of national memory rather than just another uniform.
That approach fits a wider pattern across the tournament, where a handful of teams have pushed beyond the standard home-and-away set. Canada’s third shirt is white with a giant maple leaf graphic on the front and rear, DR Congo’s red and yellow third kit has a swirled oil on water graphic across the shoulders and sleeves, Ecuador’s third jersey is a white shirt with a blocky blue V-neck collar, tricolore panels beneath the arms and a ruffled texture, Haiti’s third shirt is a solid red variant, and Norway’s whiteout version has been designated as a third kit. Mexico’s entry stands out because it is tied so directly to the country’s place in World Cup history.
The new jersey does not change the pressure on the host nation, but it does show how much weight this World Cup already carries in Mexico. The shirt reaches back to 1970 and 1986 while looking forward to a tournament that will put the country back on center stage in less than a month.
