The top team in Group A is the host, Canada. The Canadien women, currently ranked 8th in the world, are making just their fifth appearance at a world cup, this time not having to qualify by virtue of being the host nation. Canada unveiled new primary and secondary kits for 2015, although they don't stray much from previous Canada kits. The primary red kit and secondary white kit both do not stray much from previous jerseys, although the sublimation applied to the white jersey by Umbro is certainly unique in the footballing world.
The second-best team in Group A is the 12th ranked Leeuwinnen, or Lionesses, of the Netherlands, who have qualified for their first ever world cup. The Holland women are sticking with the same primary kit they wore in qualifying for the World Cup, the all-orange ensemble, but have changed their secondary kit to a white jersey that virtually mirrors the primary. This white kit from Nike replaces the blue design worn by the team in qualifying for the World Cup.
The final two teams in Group A are currently ranked 16th and 17th in the world, China PR and New Zealand, respectively. China PR, or the Forceful Roses as they are known in their home country, are in their first year as a Nike team after more than 30 years with adidas. For their first year with a new supplier, China PR will be wearing two heavily templated designs, all red for the primary kit and an all-white secondary. Both jerseys are based off of generic Nike templates, unlike last year's adidas design, which featured a custom-designed look featuring dragon scales on the front of the kit.
The Football Ferns of New Zealand are appearing in their fourth World Cup, but enter as the underdogs of Group A. This position as underdog is reinforced in that New Zealand has never won a World Cup match in nine tries and has only scored five goals in their WWC history. The Football Ferns will be wearing the plainest kits of the group, all white for their primary kit and all black for the secondary from Nike.
Kicking off the 44th Copa America will be the hosts, Chile, who hold the title of being the best team in Group A at 16th in the world. Although things could change between now and the first match for Chile, it appears that they will be wearing the same kits worn at the FIFA World Cup in 2014, the skintight red primaries and white secondary kits from Puma.
One of two guest teams to the tournament, along with Jamaica, Mexico are one of the favorites to advance out of group play, although their adidas jerseys do them no favors. For the first time in national team history, Mexico, who enter 22nd in the world, are not wearing a green kit. To add to the misery, there is no real green on either the primary black or secondary white kits, instead featuring a neon shade of green that might best be described as lime green, not the national color.
Topping the list of "major teams with tiny uniform suppliers" is Ecuador, who sits 34th in the world, but still gets jerseys from Marathon, a company based in Ecuador. The national team kits haven't changed much in the last 15 years, with the same basic design sticking around on the primary yellow and secondary blue jerseys. Just like Chile, it appears that Ecuador will be sticking with the uniforms they wore at last summer's World Cup through 2015 as well.
The final team in Group A of this Copa America is currently the worst team in CONMEBOL, Bolivia, who currently sit 92nd in the world. The Bolivian team made a major jump before this tournament, which many in the country see as a starting point towards international viability, and Bolivia reinforced that idea by getting new uniforms for the first time in three years They join Ecuador as the only two national teams sponsored by Marathon, but will stick with the basic primary green and secondary white jerseys.
Now that school is winding down, the soccer season jumps into full swing, so I should be coming out with more posts on a regular basis, most likely once or twice a week, covering the uniforms of all of the teams in the Women's World Cup, Copa America, and the Gold Cup. If my next post isn't up tomorrow, it will be by next Sunday. Hopefully.
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