On Romanian Football: National Team kit 2021 — 2023
Brand: Joma
Release: March 2021
Versions: Home, Away, Third, Goalkeepers
Era: World Cup 2022 qualifiers, Euro-U21 2021
Price: 60€ (player edition) / 40€ (fan)
Design: by Joma with brief from FRF
Made in: China
Materials: 100% recycled polyester
Where to buy it: https://magazin.frf.ro/
Last updated: April 2023
The new home Romanian kit for World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers comes in the traditional yellow with five debossed Romanian motifs on the chest from top to bottom. The away shirt is blue, third option is white.
According to a press release from Romania Football Federation the debossed items are supposed to signify the country identity. Each of those items are representative of each community region of Romania. They were launched in 2018 with the backstory of 100 years since the Unification of Romania. These 5 motifs (animal shapes) are the same ones used in the crest.
The home kit was completed with white shorts which came as a surprise. To this date the whole kit came always in full yellow. The shorts have a tricolor band on the sides. This sparkled some jokes on the internet as some trolls saying the full kits are really representing the true identity of Romania as they look like “mămăligă și brânză” (polenta with cheese) which is a common food in the Romanian cuisine and associated with the rural/folk areas.
That should give you an idea already that the shirt release did not go so well among the fans on release day. Let me break it down for you below and then you can decide if this shirt will go into Hall of Fame or Hall of Shame of Romanian kits.
My review on the last edition shirts: On Romanian Football: National Team kit 2018–2020
Highlights:
1. Bye bye red!
For the first time in history red color has been dropped as away color. I mentioned about a mythical superstition in my previous article that they bring bad luck. Mostly the red kits are associated to the Romanian fans with the World Cup quarterfinal game lost in 1994 at penalties. Will this change the course of Romanian kits history? Maybe. We never know if red will ever come back.
2. Eiffel 65 — Blue (Da Ba Dee).mp3
Blue is the new away color for Romania. Mentioned in my previous article from 2018 and also brought arguments on my idea why I think blue might be a good choice and thus it seems somebody listened and delivered. Last time when Romania played in full blue was in the early 90s.
An in-depth article about the blue shirts: On Romanian Football: National Team Away kit 2021–2023
3. GiB: Goalkeepers in Black
Goalkeepers have one new color since last year. Black was kept, it was last year too. Light green (Neon) was kept, it was last year too. The new color is Coral.
An in-depth article about the goalkeeper shirts: On Romanian Football: National Team Goalkeeper kits 2021–2023
4. Choices
If I am not mistaken this is also the first time when Romania gets a third row of kits. Third one comes in full white. In my opinion white and Romania are a good fit. That is due to the Romanian folk costumes that are 80% based on white color. So there is somehow some kind of national identity in them. Last time when Romania played in white was in adidas era at Euro 2008.
5. Fake is the new trend
Fakes. It is for the first time when I witnessed fake Romanian shirts being manufactured and sold. I do suspect that the design file of the shirt was somehow leaked and got into the wrong hands. One month after the official release of the shirt, sites like ebay and other online marketplace got populated with the newest Romanian shirts and even with player names on the back. The timing was terrible because the original shirt did not had the time to get to the fans and it was not an instant success so there was a lot of confusion which one was original and which one was fake. Lots of fakes were bought because of the low price.
6. Eastern european design
The design of the shirt was once again made by Bucharest-based branding agency Brandient. While Joma contributed with their latest garment technology.
7. Mămăligă și brânză
The fans complained on all the National Team social media channels about the shirt for one week. Some of the fans saying the yellow color choice reminds them of the uniforms/bags from the food delivery company Glovo.
Other were way meaner and said that they wont even dare to donate this shirt for Red Cross efforts.
Then when they saw it in action with all the patches on it and the nameset applied the average fan mindset changed to “I guess they are all right”. Then at the first official game in the blue version the fans were “They actually look decent”. Two official games were played (so far) in white but there was no strong opinion on them yet.
Details on Romania National Team home shirt
Embroidered:
- nothing
Heat press:
- Match details between Joma logo and Romania crest
- Official Product Joma trademark on the bottom left of the shirt
- Tagline on the collar
- Player number and name on the back
- “J” trademark on the shoulders
- Crest material same as on the last edition shirts
This is also the most lightweight shirt made for Romania by Joma.
Which should bring an competitive edge to the players.
Details on fake Romania National Team home shirt
Fakes:
- Team crest and Joma logo are rubber PVC
- Side of the shirt is mesh
- Tagline of the two words “Luptamimpreuna” on the inside collar is written together
- Lack of double garment layer inside of the collar where Joma size is
- Name and number font are wider and wrong applied
- Shirt material is different and does not use Joma technology
- Misuse of Romanian characters ă/â
- The Romanian flag at the top back of the shirt is not properly centred
Warning: Fakes shirts can come with proper patches on them!
If you have more images with a fake shirt please let me know so I can add them to guide and help other identify a fake from an authentic.
Incidentally, if you’re ever looking to buy a Romanian original shirt from the new era, a good rule of thumb is to look at the details above for verification. At the moment there are many fakes on the web. Material and the team crest are two major things that have to be doubled checked before you buy.
The official shirt can be bought from Romanian Football Federation.
Romania National Team shirt 2021–2023 lookbook
Personal thoughts
We need to talk about yellow
Whenever you see yellow it tries to tell you something. Yellow means attention. Look at me. I’ve got to tell you something. It is important. I do not get that from the yellow shade chosen this year. Or maybe is because of the material Joma used. Although Boca and Sweden seems to nail down their yellow all the time.
And debossed items
What is Debossing? Debossing is often thought of as another type of embossing. Rather than the design popping out against the material, it’s created with an indented look. It is a high-end look and an alternative to traditional decorating techniques. Embossing and debossing are strikingly impressive design techniques.
First time it appeared on Dinamo Bucharest shirts 2017–2018 and another appearance was later that year as the “aquila” motif on Romanian 2017–2021 shirts was debossed/embossed too. This year all the 5 Romanian motifs on the chest are debossed. That is an excess. And more than that I don't think the elements really popup on the yellow and white, which are light colors.
These 5 debossed items on the shirt were supposed to add the country identity to the Romanian shirts but I feel they are not saying “We Are Romania”
White is good
I personally liked the white shorts and yellow shirts. Great combo.
The white shorts will be dropped due to criticism and yellow ones will be introduced in 2021/22* to match the yellow shirts. Although I think the whole third white kit is missing a stronger identity because the debossed items are not prominent on the chest. Maybe a bit of yellow or blue on them might help.
*Yellow shorts debuted in the friendly Italy U21 4:2 Romania U21, 16.11.2021. The Italians did not want to switch their basic white shorts so Romania, being a guest, switched to yellow.
France got it right with the tricolor on the side.
Or maybe kit should go full tricolor as in this fantasy kit concept I came up with:
Not a lifestyle product
All in all, I like the full customized shirt as an wearable item. The nameset, the fonts, the patches add a whole new level to the shirt. But as simple as it is the template shirt is barely motivating me to use it because it does not have that wow-factor. It does not have the design element that screams “I AM ROMANIA”. The debossed items are to subtle on the template to communicate my support. How can I tell a foreigner that the ancient aurochs’s head (the bull head) is part of my identity?
I do see Romanians gifting the national team shirt to their international friends. I do also see Romanian wearing the national team shirt when they go on holiday. But I do not see them wearing this one.
Overall the shirt is good to use for Sunday football as it is light and breathable. Also good to run in it for regular jogging. That it was meant to be. But nothing more.
If you are thinking to buy one my suggestion is to go for the blue one. As for the yellow one try to combine it with black clothing such as black jeans or black sneakers. Looks good with denim jeans too because of the blue joma logo.
Does not tell a story
Shirt tries to cover the story of how Romanian regions unite under the same banner and fight together. This has been a motif rooted in the Romanian history for ages of how bravely the Romanians united in harsh times and fought against oppressors in medieval times such as The Ottomans or something less meager such as The Revolt of Horea, Cloșca and Crișan. The new generation of players, the millenials to say so, are not motivated or moved by these things anymore. Nationalism is not dead, but it has to be told from a different perspective or it needs a modern twist.
In my opinion, football shirts, have to tell a story and mission of the team, which should go beyond sporting results. And in Romania case I think it should be more creative and the story to be really committed to the territory. To show through our shirts that Romania are pioneers of change in Eastern Europe. A good change. That past is the past, and we look towards the future.
I truly believe that in order not to fail again with football shirts we should convey the “social” aspect of Romanian society rather than history.
Here is how Denmark did tell a “social” story on their 2021 shirts:
Fun fact: I mentioned how Red was dropped as the away color. But the first games at 1930 World Cup in Uruguay, Romania national team played all three games in red shirts and blue/navy shorts with black socks. Red color stayed as the main shirt color until early 50s when the switch was made to yellow.
Personal top for Joma Romania shirt releases:
1. Joma 2017–2021 home yellow shirt long sleeve (used only in 4 games)
2. Joma 2021 — away blue shirt
3. Joma 2017–2021 goalkeeper shirts (all of them)
4. Joma 2017–2021 away red shirt
5. Joma 2017–2021 home yellow shirt
6. Joma 2021 — third white shirt
7. Joma 2021 — home yellow shirt
8. Joma 2021 — GK black shirt
9. Joma 2015–2017 home and away
10. Joma 2015–2017 goalkeeper shirts
I regularly post stories about Romania match worn shirts on Instagram.
If you want to get in touch with me you can find me there: https://www.instagram.com/onromanianfootball/
