Canada World Cup soccer jersey 2022: Why Les Rouges will wear old kits in Qatar due to unorthodox Nike deal

Canada fans, readying for their country's first World Cup since 1986, were hoping their team would be sporting a great new look for the big tournament when it kicks off in Qatar.

They have been left disappointed.

Unfortunately, Nike squashed that hope with an announcement that has left many Les Rouges fans unhappy with their national team and the kit maker.

Canada will continue to wear the same kits they've been wearing for the past year, without pulling on a new look — as most other countries do — especially for soccer's biggest competition.

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Nike dropped all their World Cup kits at once on September 15, and in their official release, there was a disappointing paragraph for Canada fans that left them reeling.

The 2022 Canada kit will be the same the team has worn throughout the past year, as Canada Soccer is on a different kit development cycle. The kits are highlighted by Canada's traditional red and white color scheme and are accentuated by the Canadian Soccer crest, featuring the maple leaf, the nation's most widely recognized symbol.

- Nike statement on Canada's World Cup kit.

The Canada kits are clean enough, but they don't exactly inspire excitement for the team's first World Cup appearance in 36 years. For a start, they are a single color with just numbers on the front, and a Canada Soccer logo on the top.

It was unclear from the Nike statement exactly why Canada wouldn't be getting a new kit for the World Cup, other than the mention of Canada Soccer being on "a different kit development cycle."

Canada Soccer is no stranger to taking flak about deals signed in the past few years. The national federation took heat from the players for their collective bargaining agreement, which led to a player strike in the fall of 2021.

And the players have already spoken out on the topic of the jerseys.

"I'm not a fan of it, to be honest," Canada defender Sam Adekugbe told The Athletic. "I just feel like every team should get a new kit for the World Cup because it's a symbolic event. I don't hate it, but I would have liked to have gotten a new kit, just because it's something to cherish."

Still, if Canada can go all the way and make a serious run at the knockout stages to back up their superb qualifying campaign, maybe what they are wearing won't matter so much after all.