‘Twas the night before kit nerd Christmas, and … we just really want to shake the box and know what we’re opening in the morning.
If you’re new to this, since 2014, I’ve taken a stab at guessing the new FC Dallas kits. There have been some guesses wide of the mark, and at least one that prompted a ‘who leaked it to them’ email chain at the Toyota Stadium offices.
There has been a lot of promise for 2026. From around the time the jersey design was finalized a year ago, we got some chatter that it’s going to be a good one, and most importantly, we heard the most sought-after phrase for an FC Dallas jersey – red and blue hoops. Our hopes were raised even higher in July when I sat down with FC Dallas Vice President of Merchandising, Tim Henning, to discuss the Archive Kit for this story. Tim not only teased that the 2026 jersey will complete a story told across several home kits, but mentioned that he felt it’s even better than the stunning Burn throwback.
First, let’s really quickly gloss over a couple of details. The late start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup pushed adidas to drop Major League Soccer back a year in its kit templates. For example, the 2025 Inferno Kit was a 2024 template already in use in other leagues. This year, MLS will be among the first leagues to get their hands on the new 2026 styles. The German brand has also given MLS a nice upgrade on its authentic jerseys by offering the new ClimaCool+ technology, which is only given to the likes of Arsenal and Real Madrid, and will be on display at this summer’s World Cup.
Goalkeepers in MLS have gone back and forth on how ‘out there’ the Tiro Competition goalkeeper template has been. We had the Saved by the Bell title credits on the 2024 shirts, and in 2026 adidas has taken aim at the shorts and socks with a geometric pattern. I’ve only seen the pink set I’ve linked below and one in orange, but adidas is selling the teamwear version of the keeper kit in yellow, green, blue, gray, and black.
The Process
MLS Media Day is usually the start of the process as players attend interviews and press conferences in full kit, save for a tracksuit top covering the jersey. MLS changed the format this year, so all we got to see was a tiny glimpse of blue shorts with red stripes on Petar Musa in one social media clip.
That’s really been the only teaser. No social media graphics giving hints, no accidental blurry agent photos, no images where you can kind of see an element. It’s been a pretty dry winter in that sense.
So off to the drawing board, armed with the information of blue and red hoops, some level of white trim, blue shorts with red stripes, and the notion of telling a story across several FC Dallas kits.
Well, the story FC Dallas has told a lot over the past few years has been rooted in its past. 2026 is the 10th anniversary of the double-winning season, which happened to be the middle of the club’s visual identity transitioning from red and white hoops with royal blue to the red and navy blue we see today.
What if the white trim came from that very same 2016 jersey?
The white pinhoop and the red, white, and blue collar and cuffs were a standout feature. The jersey also had subtle red on red hoops that evolved from the 2014 jersey we’ll see further down. I had three people describe a pattern in the hoops, but like the telephone game, every description was different. I was left with a picture of that 2014 jersey in mind, which was also difficult to describe without having it in front of you.
Sometimes adidas has one element they use everywhere. In 2020, FC Dallas got its first kind-of blue hooped shirt with the enormous stripes over the shoulder. The blue was like a brush stroke, which was adidas’ signature thing that year. The 2026 World Cup and leaked jerseys so far have really been varied in that sense, so I think all we can do is look back at those previous jerseys for inspiration, namely this one from 2014.
After the current home kit launched, with its entire blue side, blue shorts, and socks, there was a fear of FC Dallas turning into a ‘blue team’. The impression I’ve been given is that the 2026 kit balances out the red far more than we saw in the past two seasons.
We know the shorts are blue, but the team has had red socks with blue shorts previously. Presumably, the back of the jersey will be red as it has been for the past 15 years, so all that remains is the sleeves to add further red.
Okay, you’ve scrolled through enough, so here it is!
Blue and red hoops, a nice and easy start. I took the white pinhoop and the collar and cuffs off the 2016 jersey, and added a little separation like the last red and white hooped jersey from 2012. Inside the red hoops we have a barcode-looking pattern similar to that 2014 jersey.
Looking at the kit as a whole…
The 2026 kits have the cuffs continuing on the shorts. There are several styles in use, but the tricolor band makes the most sense given the history of the 2016 kit.
One thing I’ve seen on the socks this year is a monotone motif above the adidas logo. LA Galaxy has the four-pointed star, DC United has the eagle, and Charlotte FC has its CLTFC secondary logo. FC Dallas has been using the bull head a lot, to the point where it was on the anthem jacket in 2025. In the past, customization of the socks has just been the letters FCD. LAFC and Seattle Sounders have both gone with basic initials, so I wouldn’t be shocked either way, but I’d love to see them go all in on the longhorn as a unique image in soccer.
This year adidas hasn’t put stripes on the socks. It seems a 50-50 split of all one color, or a colored fold-over, so I’ve just erred towards the side of more red.
We would love to know, would this be worth the hype? What could you realistically see being different on the finished product when it’s unveiled at Cocktails and Cleats on February 12?
Very nice. Adding Red and White alternate shorts along with blue and white socks to give around 10 color combos would be spectacular. We still have the away kit as is right?