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At the home European Championships and the upcoming World Cup, the German footballers will still be wearing Adidas jerseys, and then an era will end

Photo: Daniel Karmann / dpa

From 2027, the national soccer team will wear jerseys from Nike instead of Adidas. The German Football Association (DFB) announced this drastic and completely surprising decision on Thursday. “The future partnership will enable the DFB to continue to carry out key tasks in the coming decade with a view to the comprehensive development of football in Germany,” said President Bernd Neuendorf. The partnership is scheduled to begin in January 2027 and last until 2034. Nike is supposed to equip all national teams during this period.

Adidas has been a partner of the DFB for over 70 years, the current partnership expires at the end of 2026. Adidas was the supplier for all four World Cup titles and all three European Championship titles for men as well as for the two World Cup titles and the eight European Championship trophies for women. "The award to the future supplier partner Nike is the result of a transparent and non-discriminatory tender," said Holger Blask, chairman of the board of DFB GmbH & Co. KG, according to the association's announcement. "Nike made by far the best economic offer and also impressed with its content-related vision, which also includes a clear commitment to the promotion of amateur and popular sports as well as the sustainable development of women's football in Germany," continued Blask.

The DFB teams will still be wearing Adidas jerseys for the 2024 home European Championships, the 2025 Women's European Championships in Switzerland and the 2026 Men's World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada. “Until December 2026, we will do everything we can to achieve shared success with our long-standing and current partner Adidas, to whom German football has owed a lot for more than seven decades,” Neuendorf made clear.

At the European Championships this summer, the DFB team will even be staying at the Adidas home ground in Herzogenaurach. The pink away jersey for the tournament from June 14th to July 14th recently caused discussions and got off to a strong start in sales.

kjo/dpa