Nigeria’s ultra-popular World Cup 2018 shirt sold out within minutes of going on sale on Friday, with football fans queuing round the block to get their hands on the Super Eagles strip.
The kit has caused shockwaves in the footballing world, with its traditional emerald shirt colour filtered with white, all arranged in a collage of mini chevrons.
Shirt maker Nike received a staggering 3 million orders for the shirts before they even hit the shops, generating an incredible $255 million in profits for the company. That figure is more than football giants Manchester United sold for the entire year of 2016.
Nigeria's World Cup 2018 kit sold out today. Nike received 3 million orders before it went on sale. That's more shirts than Man United in the whole of 2016 #WorldCup2018 #MUFC
— Danny Armstrong (@DannyWArmstrong) June 1, 2018
When the shirt was finally released, fans were snapped in London center queuing quite literally around the corner to grab their own jersey, with just two weeks until the World Cup begins in Moscow.
The queue at Nike Town right now is a madness for the new Nigeria kit. 😂 pic.twitter.com/1u9nKwniyF
— Samar Khan (@Samar7) June 1, 2018
The design from sports giants Nike has got under the skin of football pop culture, and fashion Mundial magazine called the kit: ”An exciting step forward for team apparel. It's sportswear. It's made with that audience in mind, properly understanding what it is that people who love kits outside of just team association like about them. The colours, the shapes, the pattern.”
WE SUPPORT NIGERIA NOW. pic.twitter.com/4JevVQoZpP
— MUNDIAL (@MundialMag) June 1, 2018
The chic shirt has managed to transcend football and cross over into the world of fashion, making the pages of gentleman’s lifestyle magazine Esquire, which described it as: “A staggered zig zag design is as cool on the pitch as it is off it.... It's very good, is what we're basically saying.
🇳🇬 - Nigeria are going to win the kits at Russia 2018, thanks to @nikefootball. pic.twitter.com/R0HyN6rQ1S
— MUNDIAL (@MundialMag) February 7, 2018
Fans can catch a glimpse of the kit at Russia 2018 when Nigeria play their first game against Croatia at Kaliningrad Stadium on June 16. The suited and booted side were drawn in Group D alongside the Balkan nation, Iceland and old World Cup foes Argentina.
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Hosts Russia take on Saudi Arabia at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on June 14. The tournament runs through to the final game on July 15 at the same venue.