Japan are the best team in Group C by far: they are the defending champions, winning the World Cup as hosts in 2011, and currently sitting 4th in the world, putting them fifteen spots above the next-best team in the group. The Japanese women will be wearing virtually the same kits as the men did last year in the World Cup, but with one tweak, courtesy of adidas: the secondary kit will have pink numbers, names, and shorts piping on the volt yellow kit, compared to blue for the men. The primary blue kit will be the same as what the men wore last year.
The favorites to advance out of the group behind Japan would have to be Switzerland, who sit 19th in the world heading into this tournament. La Nati will be appearing in the World Cup for the first time, and will face stiff competition, yet are still one of the favorites to advance out of the group. Their Puma kits are unique in that the national crest is on the right side of the jerseys and the flag placed over the heart, on both the primary red and secondary white kits.
The worst team in the group is Cameroon, sitting at 53rd in the world and one of the lowest-ranked teams to get into the World Cup. Cameroon will be appearing in their first-ever world cup, just like Switzerland, but have nowhere near the pedigree of the Swiss. Cameroon will be wearing simpler Puma primary jerseys than the men's team wore at their World Cup, a green jersey without sublimations. However, the secondary yellow kit will be, by all indications, the same as what was worn by the men.
The final team in Group C is Ecuador, who will mark the third team in the group to be appearing in their first World Cup in national history. La Tricolor will be wearing the exact same kits as the men this year, just cut differently, for both the primary and secondary yellow and blue kits from Marathon, a supplier based in Ecuador.
The top team in Group C, the final group of the Copa America, is Colombia. Brazil should have hosted this tournament, but swapped with Chile, and then had their reputation nearly destroyed by the final two matches of the World Cup. Colombia comes in fresh and with a ballooning reputation for style and speed. Ranked 4th in the world, Colombia come in as the second favorite to win the tournament, behind only Argentina. Los Cafeteros have only won one Copa America, back in 2001, but could add another trophy this time around. Colombia will wear the traditional yellow primary shirt and a blue secondary jersey from adidas, although the blue is dark enough to look black from some angles.
With five World Cup-winning stars above their crest, Brazil would seem like a natural choice as the top team in Group C. However, the disappointments at the World Cup and a new manager have Brazil sitting 5th in the world and not even the favorites to automatically move on from their group. However, they still claim the title of best-dressed team, as the primary yellow kit from Nike is a timeless classic and the secondary blue jersey isn't bad by itself. Even the never-before-worn olive green third kit can be appreciated, although for a country like Brazil it does look more like a training shirt than something to be worn at the Copa America.
Peru hardly have to travel south to get to this tournament, but that might be the only edge they have in this group. Sitting 63rd in the world, the odds are stacked against both Peru and groupmates Venezuela to advance to the knockout stages. This year's Umbro kits for Peru stay nearly the same as 2014, with the primary white kit and secondary red strip keeping the traditional look for another year.
The final team in Group C, and in this uniform rundown, Venezuela are the lowest-ranked team in the group, at 69th in the world. Sadly, they are another team to fall victim to the volt/neon yellow craze sweeping sports, as the Venezuelans will be wearing a classic primary kit in maroon, but an eyeball-burning all-volt secondary strip. For the eyes of viewers, it might be a good thing that the chances of Venezuela advancing in the tournament are very low.
Because of the limited amount of time remaining until the Women's World Cup starts, it appears that I won't complete all six groups before the tournament kicks off June 6; however, I should have all of the rundowns done before games in each successive group start; for Group D, that would be June 8. The Copa America only has three groups however, so I have finished that and will be moving on to the uniforms of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which begins July 7, once the uniforms of the Women's World Cup are done. For now, though, I will be trying to get through all of the women's uniforms for the final three groups as quickly as possible.
Peace.
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