Best football shirts of 1990 World Cup | Italia 90

No tournament looms larger in the vintage shirt world than Italia 90. It's the World Cup that gave English football its emotional reset - Gazza's tears, "Nessun Dorma", a run to the semi-finals - and it's the one that gave kit design its most-copied silhouette of all time, courtesy of West Germany's geometric adidas template.

Three decades on, Italia 90 shirts remain some of the most requested pieces we handle at Football Shirt Collective, and our order history backs that up: we've shipped Italia 90 stock to collectors in the UK, US, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and beyond. Below is our breakdown of the shirts that defined the tournament, alongside what our own sales data tells us about which ones collectors actually want.

Browse our collection of authentic shirts from 1990 World cup here.

What are the best shirts from Italia 90 shirts?

West Germany Home 1988-90 (adidas)

"My favourite is a hard one. Maybe I'd have to go for the West Germany shirt from Italia '90: the colours, the trefoil adidas logo, those juking drie strifen across the chest. The layered colour and the capped sleeves finished it off, a kit cool enough to clothe Klinsmann, Völler and the lads."

Sam Diss

The shirt of the tournament, and arguably the most influential football shirt design ever made. That zig-zag geometric pattern across the chest, worn by a West Germany side that went on to lift the trophy with Matthäus pulling the strings, has been referenced and ripped off by streetwear and fashion brands for decades since. Sam Diss nails it - the layered detail is what separates this from every shirt it's been compared to since. It's also our single best-selling Italia 90 shirt by a distance - we've shifted more of these than any other shirt from the tournament.

1990 Italy diadora shirt

The host nation's shirt, worn by a side built around Totò Schillaci's six-goal Golden Boot run from the bench. Diadora's clean blue design with the small badge and sponsor-free chest (for most of the tournament) has aged beautifully, and Schillaci and Baggio name sets are still two of the shirts collectors ask us about most from this era.

1990 England home shirt

"My first shirt was the England Italia 90 shirt, which had embroidered under the England badge the words 'Italia 90', so it couldn't really go any better than that. But then we did a school pantomime and someone else played Gazza, I lent him that shirt and never got it back. There was a lot of debate over whether I'd been given it back – I hadn't – but that was the end of it. A heartbreaking story." - Josh Widdicombe

Gascoigne's shirt. This is the kit most associated with Italia 90 in the UK - Lineker, Gascoigne, Shilton between the posts, a penalty shootout heartbreak against West Germany in the semi-final, and a nation that fell back in love with football off the back of it. Josh Widdicombe's story could belong to thousands of people - this shirt has a hold on a certain generation that no other England kit has managed to match. It's also our best-selling England piece from this era, with Gascoigne #19 name sets leading demand by some margin.

1990 Cameroon (adidas)

Roger Milla's corner-flag celebrations made Cameroon the breakout story of the tournament, the first African side to reach a World Cup quarter-final. The green shirt with gigantic crest is an one off.  Probably the greatest crest in World Cup football.

Brazil 1990 (Topper)

Brazil's brief flirtation with Topper as kit manufacturer (before returning to a domestic supplier) makes this one of the more unusual shirts in Seleção history - same iconic yellow, different badge detailing to the Nike and Umbro versions either side of it. A genuinely rare piece to find in good condition.

Republic of Ireland (adidas)

Jack Charlton's Ireland reached the quarter-finals in their first ever World Cup appearance, beating Romania on penalties along the way. The green adidas shirt from that run has real sentimental weight for an entire generation of Irish fans, and we regularly ship pieces from this era to collectors in Ireland and further afield.

Netherlands 1990

The reigning European champions arrived with Van Basten, Gullit and Rijkaard all in the same XI - a genuinely frightening front line that underperformed on the pitch but left behind one of adidas's classic orange templates from the period.

Scotland 1990 (Umbro)

Scotland's Italia 90 shirt doesn't get talked about as much as England's, but the Umbro template is a sharp, understated design that's becoming increasingly sought-after as collectors look beyond the obvious choices.  The crest detailing is really smart.

Argentina 1990 

Maradona's last World Cup final. Argentina limped through the tournament as defending champions and lost the final to West Germany, but the iconic sky blue and white stripes worn by Maradona in that run remain one of the most requested national team shirts we stock, Italia 90 vintage or otherwise.

Most Popular Italia 90 Shirts We've Sold