Nike instructs federations to steam World Cup jerseys to fix shoulder seam issue

After acknowledging an issue with bulging shoulders in the shirts’ March debut, the company offered a solution that comes down to different treatment

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When Nike’s World Cup kits debuted in March, many fans identified a bizarre detail: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/apr/08/nike-world-cup-jerseys-shoulder-problem">an unsightly bulge along the shoulder seam.

The bulge was subtle on some players while on others, such as France’s Kylian Mbappé, it was borderline comical.

It felt entirely unrealistic that the design of the shirts would be fundamentally changed with only three months left before the start of the World Cup, and on Wednesday, a source familiar with Nike’s plan confirmed that they hadn’t altered the shirts in any way.

What Nike had done, the source told the Guardian, is offer instructions to member federations in terms of how to care for the jerseys: wash them before wearing them, and steam the shoulder seams.