It’s nearly impossible in today’s social media world to keep a secret, and Portugal is the latest victim of pre-release leakage as their new 2022 World Cup shirt has found its way into the grubby hands of the internet.

The new top is a bold design for sure, and something new for the Portuguese. It has the classic A Seleção red and green, but the green is moved up from the shorts and onto a diagonal section covering the bottom half of the shirt, and echoed on the right sleeve.

The Nike swoosh and, presumably, numbers and player names will be rendered in gold. The whole thing is done in Nike’s latest raglan sleeve cut with a wide crew neck collar (but with no collar detailing or colors):

Portugal World Cup Kit for 2022 reviewed

I dig this direction. It’s not a plain shirt, but it’s also not a cliche soccer design like hoops or a sash. If paired with the traditional green shorts, it will create a neat effect where if running to from right to left players will look like they have the usual Portugal outfit with a mostly red top, but if running the other way mostly green will show. And if they follow thru with gold lettering and numbers it will really pop. The simple collar (or lack thereof) is a good choice as well because it doesn’t take away from the bold green section at the bottom of the shirt.

Grade: A- (tentative)

Kudos to the design team for taking a shot with something different, especially for a big national team featuring arguably the most famous current player in the sport. We’ll have to wait to see the World Cup official release and the full strip with shorts and socks, but I think we’ve got a winner on our hands here. You’ll be seeing a ton of these with CR7 stamped on the back at your local malls and soccer fields come the Fall for sure. Or better yet, you can order it online.