Football shirts no longer just belong in stadiums or in athletes’ bags at the World Cup. The pieces gained space in the wardrobes of those who don’t always follow sports, driven by blokecore — a trend that incorporates sports shirts into streetwear.
Interest in the term has been growing around the world since 2022, according to Google Trends. After reaching a peak in July 2025, searches rose again during the 2026 World Cup. Related terms, such as “blokecore fashion” and “blokecore style”, also saw an increase in searches.
The movement was born out of the aesthetics of British fans in the 1990s and 2000s, marked by club shirts, sports jackets, baggy jeans and retro sneakers. Today, vintage football shirts are the best-known element of blokecore, but the trend is broader, says Andreia Meneguete, coordinator of the Postgraduate Course in Business and Digital Marketing for Fashion and Beauty at ESPM-SP.
On social media, the hashtag blokecore brings together more than 62 thousand videos on TikTok and more than 186 thousand publications on Instagram. Among the most popular combinations are cargo or wide leg pants, with a looser fit, shorts and denim skirts, as well as casual sneakers and boots.
“This look was never created to be a fashion trend. It was a spontaneous way of dressing that, years later, was appropriated by the fashion industry. It was a way for culture to be inserted into the individual’s daily life, who saw sport as a way of interacting with the world”, says Meneguete.
Fashion and football
The World Cup also boosts blokecore. In June, Cactus Jack, a brand owned by American rapper Travis Scott, and Nike launched a collection inspired by the T90 line, a success in the 2000s — available for purchase online.
The line brings together jerseys, sweatshirts, jackets, t-shirts and caps with references to ten national teams, including Brazil, Argentina, France, England and Portugal. Products range from US$52 (R$269) to US$168 (R$870). Prices do not include import or shipping fees.
Interest in the trend also led other major brands to incorporate the style into their own windows. In the United States, for example, Adidas created a section on its website dedicated to blokecore, bringing together retro sneakers, such as the Samba, Gazelle and Campus 00s models.
The market for original and vintage shirts is also following the movement. For Pedro de Moraes, owner of the Camisa Doze thrift store, dedicated to pieces from national, European and South American teams, demand has increased among consumers interested in the aesthetics of uniforms, and not necessarily in football.
“Today I focus on selling t-shirts that have an aesthetic value. They are pieces that speak to streetwear, rather than very rare shirts aimed at collectors”, he states.
According to him, the most sought-after models are precisely those that refer to football from the 1990s and early 2000s.
“The shirts from that time have a boxier fit and thicker fabric and this attracts a lot of attention. There is also a very strong nostalgia factor, with idols like Ronaldo and Del Piero and the 1994 and 1998 World Cups. I find it very interesting that football shirts are here to stay.”
Despite the World Cup boosting interest in sports fashion, the impact on thrift store sales was different than expected. As he works with monthly stocks, Moraes says he was unable to invest in purchasing Brazilian team shirts before the competition.
“Those who had these pieces were already selling at a very high price. It was a difficult market to access. In the end, contrary to what many people imagine, the World Cup ended up reducing the store’s sales a little”, says Moraes.
Music and entertainment
The influence of football also went beyond sports brands and reached the world of music and entertainment. It is in this context that clubs began to turn to artists to launch special collections, while singers transformed traditional football shirts into pieces of merchandising and visual identity.
One of the most recent examples is Barcelona’s campaign with singer Olivia Rodrigo, as part of an action by Spotify, which sponsors the team. The artist’s initials starred in limited editions of the uniform.
In the promotional images, players such as Robert Lewandowski, Marcus Rashford and Lamine Yamal appear wearing shirts without the traditional game uniform: the shorts give way to baggy pants, jeans and other casual pieces, reinforcing the proposal to bring football closer to urban fashion.
The trend also appears in partnerships between artists and sports brands, without links to clubs or national teams. The band Oasis launched a collection with Adidas last year, in November.
Among the highlights are two knitted jerseys, in green and white, with oversized modeling, polo collar and the band’s logo printed in the center of the piece, in reference to the traditional sponsors of sports uniforms.
Now on tour, star Harry Styles, ex-One Direction, is also betting on sports shirts in products sold during the “Together, Together” shows, with editions at the Morumbis stadium, in São Paulo, on the 17th, 18th, 21st and 24th of next month. Sold exclusively at shows, the jersey features elements typical of sports uniforms.
In Brazil, the movement also gained its own adaptation last year. The singer Jão launched, in partnership with Adidas, the Meninos e Meninas FC shirt, inspired by the song that is one of his biggest hits. The piece combines wide vertical stripes in blue and pink and a white crew neck.
For Meneguete, the success of sports shirts in fashion reflects a change in the meaning of these pieces. If before they were used to show support for a club or team, today they also function as an element of identity and style.
