When it comes to the sale of club shirts, you’ll see the usual suspects at the top of the list – take a look at the image below.
It’s no surprise to anyone that Manchester United and Real Madrid top the list, with Barcelona at #3 and the next few spots taken by Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Bayern Munich. The thing these clubs have in common? World class players, an army of loyal followers, and success on the pitch.
When it comes to the best selling kits for national teams, past World Cup champions dominate the top of the sales charts. The highest selling kit for the 2010 World Cup was two-time world champ Argentina. With Argentinian legend Diego Maradona at the helm for the tournament, and with the playmaking and goal scoring abilities of Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez, there was no shortage of support for the sky blue and white.
The #2 seller for national team jerseys is France. While Les Bleus did not get the job done on the field, going 0-1-2 and not advancing beyond group play, the French team still has been a hot seller. Their sleek blue kits with red and white stripes have become symbolic of the squad.
Coming in third for jersey sales among national teams is the Germany kit. Germany, with their aggressive, attacking style of play dazzled the crowds in South Africa. Although a bit shaky getting out of group play, losing to Serbia 0-1, they advanced to the knockout stage behind victories over Australia and Ghana. Once in the knockout stage, the Germans humiliated world powers England and Argentina, 4-1 and 4-0 respectively, before losing to eventual tournament winner Spain in the semi-finals. The black, yellow and red coloring on the German kit remains one of the most recognized shirts in football.
While they were only the #4 selling kit around tournament time, I imagine has sold a lot of shirts in the last year since their World Cup title last summer. Most commonly referred to as La Furia Roja (The Red Fury), the Spanish team is unmistakable in their red shirts and blue shorts. Led by a young nucleus of attackers with Fernando Torres, Andrés Iniesta and David Villa, and an experienced midfield and defense with Xavi, Gerard Piqué and Carles Puyol, Spain looks to be a team to be reckoned with for some time to come.
Rounding out the top five for national team jerseys is Italy. The Azzurri, four-time world champions (most recently in 2006) are known for their azure blue kits with an emblem of the Italian flag. Puma came out with a nice new design for their shirt for last summer’s tournament and it has flown off the shelves.