If you had asked Los Angeles Clippers fans how they felt about the 2025 season shortly after Christmas, you would have gotten a much different answer than if you asked them after Sunday’s 115-110 season-ending win over the Golden State Warriors.
Just a few months ago, the Clippers looked to be one of the worst teams in the NBA.
With a 9-21 record the day after Christmas, L.A. reeled off six straight wins int the New Year with another six-game win streak just a few days later to pull to within just a few games of .500.
Head coach Tyronn Lue is being praised for the epic turnaround he led in the second half of the season, which culminated in the Clippers sneaking into the postseason as they await the Warriors on Wednesday in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
The NBA even took note of the team’s accomplishment, pointing to the historic nature of what the Clippers accomplished.
“HISTORIC TURNAROUND FOR THE CLIPPERS!” the NBA X account posted. “When the Clippers were 6-21 on December 20, Ty Lue, ahead of a game against the Lakers, told the media, ‘Our main focus is to try to be 35-20 the rest of the way.’
“The rest of the way, Los Angeles went 36-19, becoming the first team in NBA history to finish above .500 (42-40) after being 15 games below .500 at any point in a season 🤯.”
The Clipper’s late-season rally kept their streak of 15 consecutive seasons with a .500 or better record alive. It also kept Lue’s streak of never missing the postseason as Clippers head coach alive as well.
Los Angeles fell to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs last year.
The Clippers haven’t made it out of the first round of the playoffs since the 2020-21 season when they ran through the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz to reach the Western Conference Finals, where they lost n six games to the Phoenix Suns.
While it goes without saying that lifting the FIFA World Cup trophy aloft remains the ultimate prize in soccer, there is a far more important contest taking place among the qualifying nations as we continue to hurtle toward the tournament opener on June 11.
Naturally, we are referring to the battle to reign supreme in the style stakes at this summer’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States, which is already raging across the continents before a ball has even been kicked.
Now that the playoffs are settled and all 48 of the World Cup qualifiers are formally confirmed, it’s time to thoroughly examine the home and away kits they intend to parade on football’s grandest stage.
It’s fair to say that the away kits are ruling the roost this time as designers let their creativity flow without the need to adhere to strict, traditional home colors and templates. We’ve got jerseys inspired by folk art, iconic buildings, local culture, flags, textiles, animals and even surrealist painters.
Heavy hitters Nike, Adidas and Puma boast the vast majority of kits on show, but there are a few choice entries from other, bijou sports brands who are about to have the fruits of their labors scrutinized by a watching global audience of millions.
With a couple of months still left to go until that opening game in Mexico City, several participating nations are yet to finalize their World Cup wares: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Panama, Tunisia and Uzbekistan are all still to unveil their tournament home and away kits, while Curaçao are yet to cook up a home kit for their first-ever World Cup appearance.
So we are still waiting for the full lineup of 96 home and away jerseys for all 48 competing nations. However, most of the kits have now been officially released and, with that, it’s time to rank them all!
Alas, even the fabled Adidas trefoil cannot do much to elevate what is essentially a plain white training shirt with bog-standard maroon trim. The Arabic name for Qatar (قطر) is printed on the back of the neck, but that — quite literally — is it.
The Swiss have impressed in recent years by releasing interesting conceptual kits inspired by Alpine railway stations and even the country’s high-tech digital passports. However, they will be arriving at the 2026 World Cup with an alternate jersey that is as green as it is nausea-inducing — i.e., very.
Scrappy stuff from the co-hosts, whose off-putting splattered shirt looks like it’s been worn while re-grouting the bathroom. Just straight-up awful.
Not to be confused with the All Blacks, their famous rugby union team, New Zealand’s monochrome home kit has a soft Māori fern motif in the material to help cement that important cultural link to the islands.
The shirt is plain, but we do like the inspirational motto stamped under the collar: Soñar, Trascender y Hacer Historia (“Dream, Transcend and Make History”). Hopefully it spurs the Tri on to equaling or even beating their best World Cup performance, which came in 2006 when they made it through to the round of 16.
76. Qatar home (Adidas)
A perfunctory maroon design that is saved from being an entirely generic template kit by the zigzag strip running down the center of the shirt, inspired by the Qatari flag.
The triangular print graphic that wraps around both Cape Verde’s new home and away shirt is inspired by the interconnecting flight paths that run between all of the African nation’s 10 islands. However, beyond that neat little detail, it’s all a bit generic.
It’s white, with a clunky red bar across the chest and a large Turkish flag stamped directly in the center of it all. We’re not saying that zero imagination went into the design process, but it certainly wasn’t much more than that.
73. Switzerland home (Puma)
Switzerland have failed to capture our imagination with a home kit release since roughly the dawn of time, and the latest edition is not about to change that. It’s a vast improvement on the away kit, but it is guilty of an equally grievous sartorial sin: being desperately, desperately boring.
72. Cape Verde home (Capelli Sport)
Much like the white away shirt, Cape Verde’s home shirt is covered in an all-over print inspired by the flight routes between the airports on all of the country’s 10 islands. While we’re not exactly wowed, the home variant ranks slightly higher by virtue of being a marginally more interesting colour.
Minimalistic bordered on bland, the Saudi away shirt is retro-adjacent with basic dark green and gold trim. There is a hatched pattern in the fabric that is supposed to resemble traditional Arabic weaving, but it does little to excite.
Haiti’s home and away shirts have the same layout, with the latter rendered in white and pale gray. The design is steeped in national pride with images of cinder cone mountains and palm trees, but perhaps the most unusual detail is the illustration of a group of Haitian freedom fighters who are flying their flag of independence.
We can see what Puma was aiming for here, but we sadly must conclude that they missed the mark entirely, with an ostentatious graphic design supposedly inspired by the beautiful Bohemian cut glass for which the Czechs are historically famous. Sadly, the shirt reflects precisely none of that delicate artisanship.
Slightly less on-the-nose than the home shirt, Egypt’s white away jersey actually doesn’t have much in the way of standout detail other than the thick black crew collar and a faint, grayed-out pattern made up of cross-section diagrams of a pyramid. The parade of seven stars over the EFA crest denotes how many times the Pharaohs have been crowned champions of Africa.
67. Türkiye home (Nike)
Nike’s primary design quandary when cooking up Türkiye’s kits is merely where to place the iconic swoosh logo each time. The Crescent-Stars have once again been plied with two dreary templates — one white, one red. A graphic reminiscent of peacock feathers has been added for a bit of extra zest, but not much.
66. Canada home (Nike)
Probably the weakest of the home nation kit sets, Canada’s home shirt is a modicum more stylish that their splotchy away variant with the silhouette of the maple leaf used to create a compelling quartered design.
65. Haiti home (Saeta)
While hardly the snazziest kits on display at the World Cup, we do have to applaud Haiti for attempting to cram as many patriotic images of their homeland onto their kit as is humanly possible. The volcanos, palm trees and images of Haitian independence definitely look better against the oceanic blue background of the home shirt.
It might be plain, but we really like the particular shade of orange-tinted gold used here. This jersey would look equally fitting if worn by the country’s national men’s rugby union team, the Wallabies.
The primary Senegal shirt is inspired by the famous old “Car Rapide” buses that are covered in hand-painted designs and used to whiz people around the streets of Dakar. However, a lot of that vibrancy was lost with the decision to fade down the graphics on the jersey, leaving it looking rather washed-out.
Though the manufacturer’s blurb suggests Austria’s new home kit design is “deeply rooted” in the country’s adventurous spirit, we’d posit that there is actually nothing remotely intrepid about it at all. It’s a serviceable red and black template, and nothing more.
Released ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, Congo’s away kit sees the light blue and white palette of the home jersey flipped with the zebra skin print replaced by a graded diamond pattern that rises from the lower hem before fading out.
Paraguay are celebrating reaching their first World Cup in 16 years with what is unfortunately a fairly mediocre shirt. The red stripes are constructed using a neat stippled effect, but the design just looks like a half-baked doodle.
With a design inspired by Kwaku Ananse, a figure from West African folklore often depicted as a spider, the new Ghana home shirt has a multicolored web scribbled all over it that emanates out from the central Black Star crest. It’s one of the wilder designs on show at the tournament and might divide opinion, but we suspect many will appreciate the madness.
When it comes to international football kit design, some things you can just go ahead and hang your hat on. Croatia’s unfaltering palette is as close to enshrined as it’s possible to get: red and white home, moody blue away. And so shall it be forever and ever.
An aggressively bright orange shirt is speckled all over with a cacophony of animal print patterns. There are also flecks of green under the arms and dots of white in the various logos to complete the triptych of national colors. Hardly subtle, but we like the energy.
56. Ecuador away (Marathon)
Ecuador are punching well above their weight with a lean, svelte polo-style shirt in navy that is accented with gold detailing and a textured knit in the material lifted from the lines and angles of their EFF federation shield.
55. Egypt home (Puma)
While the overall design isn’t particularly earth-shattering, we do like the deep, regal shade of red used for Egypt’s World Cup home shirt. The frontage is gussied up with a star-shaped graphic that combines the Great Pyramids with the ankh, an ancient symbol of life and immortality.
You tend to know what you’re getting when it comes to Sweden’s home kit, and after branching out with a rather lovely pale yellow shirt for 2024, we’re back on a familiar footing again this time around.
Rudimentary stuff from Scotland here, whose home kit is dark blue and white with a Saltire cross pattern formed in the fabric. Not the most inspiring shirt the Tartan Army will ever wear, but we suspect it’ll do the job.
They might have missed out last time around, but Colombia are back at the World Cup with a fairly straightforward yellow home kit in tow. Closer inspection reveals a butterfly motif in the material that serves as a tribute to Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez, who frequently used the insects in his work to symbolize hope and rejuvenation.
The Atlas Lions’ away kit is white with a light sand-colored pattern that forms a central bib down the front of the jersey. The ornate line drawing is inspired by the intricate designs used to decorate traditional Moroccan tiles, rugs and textiles.
50. Czechia home (Puma)
Conceived as a tribute to the Puma shirts worn by the 1996 Czech side that finished as runners-up at the European Championship, this modern equivalent features similar embroidered taping that has been relocated from the sleeves to the collar and cuffs. We’re not sold on the button-up collar, but otherwise, we like what we see.
Portugal’s 2026 home kit channels the energy of the ocean in the hope that the team wearing it will “make waves” on football’s biggest stage this summer. We can forgive the tenuous pun because the shirt itself is actually rather nice.
48. Senegal away (Puma)
Senegal’s new away kit is nowhere near as cluttered as the home jersey, with the national tricolor of green, yellow and red on full display. There is also a vertical panel that runs down the center of the shirt that contains a pattern inspired by tribal textiles. Note the second star which has been added above the crest to represent victory in the AFCON final in January, despite the decision by CAF to strip the country of its title and award it to Morocco.
As bright and bold as you might expect, South Africa’s canary-yellow home shirt draws inspiration from the similar design worn by Bafana Bafana at their 2010 home World Cup — the thought being that it might help bring the entire nation together once again.
46. Paraguay away (Puma)
A mélange of blacks and blues make up a shadowy camo pattern. The monochrome white logos are a nice contemporary touch but as with Paraguay’s new home kit, but it lacks much in the way of visual staying power.
45. Australia away (Nike)
A lush watercolor gradient sees green-blue base notes give way to a bright orange-pink burst around the collar and shoulders. The design is supposedly inspired by the intense colors of sunrise over the outback, and we can certainly see what they were going for.
44. Congo DR home (Umbro)
DR Congo’s sky blue home jersey has a central band of zebra skin. It’s lovely, although it sits slightly incongruously given that their team nickname is the Leopards.
43. Austria away (Puma)
Here’s a kit that has steadily grown on us since its release. Austria’s unorthodox away kit has a minty green marble effect laced with hyper-saturated pink and purple veins and then as is that wasn’t enough, they’ve gone and overlaid a geometric golden arch pattern with the whole thing intended to conjure images of the ornate tables in traditional Viennese coffeehouses. There’s a lot going on, but it’s all starting to jell for us.
Red, black and yellow with a flame theme for what feels like the fifth successive home kit, the Red Devils will at least look suitably infernal at the 2026 World Cup. It’s decent, but we’ve seen it all before.
The final away shirt to be produced for Germany by Adidas before Nike take the reins from 2027 is a bit of a letdown. Rather than celebrating their 70-year relationship with Die Mannschaft, Adidas have trotted out a design that has the distinct whiff of “off the peg” about it. It’s fine, but we expected more.
40. Saudi Arabia home (Adidas)
A dark, forest-green base provides a verdant bed for a pattern with purple accents that is influenced by traditional Arabic geometric decoration. After years of boring template kits, it’s nice to see the Saudis attempting something a bit different once again.
39. New Zealand away (Puma)
A lovely little kit inspired by Hau, which is the Māori word for “wind.” As such, the jersey is covered with swirling clouds intended to symbolize the four winds that have brought the team together. Very stylish.
Japan’s home shirt is instantly recognizable in deep blue, red and white. There’s always a clever twist and this time it arrives in the form of a concentric ribbed pattern that occupies the entire center of the torso and resembles the haze that forms on the horizon between the sky and sea.
The basic template is formed from a chalky white base with green-and-red trim but the faded sandy gold stripes that appear on the upper chest are apparently inspired by Algeria’s arid deserts and rocky mountains. The choice of crest is a little confusing with the use of a simplified “Algeria” roundel rather than the usual (and far superior) Algerian Football Federation emblem.
36. Portugal away (Puma)
Awash with nautical whimsy, Portugal’s new away kit is white with an azure blue wave crashing over the top. The rolling surf is then split into two hemispheres with a plunging V-shape hemisphere that sits slightly awkwardly across the belly. It’s a tad messy but at least they attempted something a bit different.
35. Croatia home (Nike)
It might be basically unchanged for 30-plus years and become hopelessly predictable as a result, but it simply wouldn’t be a proper World Cup without that iconic Croatian checkerboard on show. The central clearing is this year’s minor design alteration — which is a vast improvement on 2024’s comically oversized blocks.
34. Sweden away (Adidas)
Once again, Sweden have rolled out a blue and yellow away kit to pair with their yellow and blue home kit, but the 2026 model does at least have a little more depth to it. The glacial blue base is overlaid with a 1970s-style Scandi ripple pattern in vertical stripes along the length of the torso.
Inspired by the tiger and its skill as an ambush hunter, the red-and-black Korean home shirt has a marled fur print suffused into the material that will hopefully induce the same ruthless attacking prowess from their national football team.
32. Colombia away (Adidas)
Seemingly always equipped with a stylish away kit, Colombia’s alternate jersey this time around is ultramarine blue and zingy lemon yellow. The wavy columns of lozenges do have a lovely aquatic “shimmer” to them.
A fairly obvious attempt to re-create the aesthetic of the 1990s Umbro retro kits so beloved by England fans. It does feel as though the design process entailed scanning every England shirt from 1984 to 1994 into a computer in order to create the precise mathematical halfway between all of them. In fairness, it does look so much better with the contrasting red names and numbers applied.
Imbued with garra charrua (the Uruguayan fighting spirit), this ultra-prim home kit is modelled on several of the classic Celeste shirts worn down through the ages. The immaculate white polo collar feels classy, as do the refined touches of navy trim.
A return to the oversized flag graphic that adorned Norway’s kits in 1998, the last time they appeared at a World Cup. The entwined graphic visible within the cross itself is inspired by the wood carving found on the 12th-century Urnes stave church, which dates from the Viking era.
Having gone with a two-tone red-and-yellow design for 2024, Spain have chucked dark blue back into the equation for 2026. The block sleeves help to break up what is a fairly unpretentious design though the delicate pinstripes on the torso offer some much-needed visual texture.
Given the home shirt is plastered in red-and-white stripes, it’s perhaps inevitable that the corresponding away shirt is spangled with stars in order to complete the full set. There are subtle hints of the USMNT’s iconic, patriotic 1994 World Cup attire, but it’s altogether more subdued this time around — and all the more stylish for it.
26. Scotland away (Adidas)
Clearly inspired by the national team’s candy-colored “Rosebery” uniforms of the early 1900s, Scotland’s energetic away kit also harkens back to some of the more dazzling kits worn through the 1980s and ’90s. However, rather than being overtly garish, the coral tone is refreshing and the navy pinstripes look sharp.
25. Ivory Coast away (Puma)
As is almost always the case, the Elephants’ away shirt is predominantly white though the 2026 design is far more elaborate than usual. Indeed, the torso is festooned with dappled patterns inspired by national flora and fauna, including elephants (naturally), baobab flowers and palm trees. It has the look of a 1970s vinyl tablecloth — and we rather like it.
Solid stuff from the Dutch, who really have opted for a “Maximum Oranje” theme to accompany their 2026 World Cup campaign. The design is clean and minimalist, with the focus put squarely on the national colors in lieu of any other extraneous detail beyond the iridescent black KNVB crest
As you might expect, Lionel Messi and his band of merry reigning world champions will be defending their title while wearing their familiar Albiceleste stripes. While the established design doesn’t offer an awful lot of creative leeway, there is a gradient present within the vertical bars that apparently references the three slightly different shades of blue worn by Argentina when they won their three World Cups in 1978, 1986 and 2022.
Designed in collaboration with the Jordan brand, Brazil’s new away kit is perhaps somewhat curiously inspired by the vivid coloration of the highly toxic poison dart frogs of the Amazon rainforest. The mottled graphic is black-and-navy with the contrasting trim overlaid in canary yellow and neon aqua. We also rather enjoy the oversized CBF federation crest and its wonky centralized placement.
21. England away (Nike)
The combination of rich red, navy and white, coupled with centralized logos and a jacquard pattern woven into the fabric (made up of lions and stars) amounts to a decent, solid effort from England. The only minor bone of contention is the unusual trapezoid neckline that seems to sit awkwardly on the collarbone and definitely works better with some Nike designs than others. All in all, it’s marginally more aesthetically pleasing than the home version and looks better in long-sleeve format too.
20. South Korea away (Nike)
Korea’s upbeat away kit is one of several floral designs evident at the 2026 World Cup and comes in a suitably appropriate purple lavender hue. The all-over blossom graphic lends a light and airy feel, while the glow-in-the-dark logos must surely go down as a World Cup first.
19. Netherlands away (Nike)
Basically a straight color swap of the home shirt, with a central band of orange added across the midriff in which a modernized, holographic KNVB crest is housed. Even more so than the home jersey, the Dutch away kit looks like it’s been airlifted in from the early 2000s, and we imagine your opinion of it will be directly shaped by how you feel about that era of kit design in general. For what it’s worth, we’re firmly in favor.
18. South Africa away (Adidas)
Bafana Bafana have an underrated hit on their hands here with a lush gold and forest green away kit. Along with the beautiful vertical stripes (made up of triangular hand-drawn tile patterns), the trefoil adds a smidge of luster amid an array of national federation logos including the Protea flower emblem, which has become an important symbol of national identity in modern South Africa.
17. Germany home (Adidas)
Germany have once again returned to the well and revived the yellow, black and red Bundesflagge diamonds of the late 1980s/early 1990s. This is the final home kit that long-time suppliers Adidas will be designing for Die Mannschaft before Nike take over next year and while it scratches the nostalgic itch, we were hoping to see a bombastic send-off rather than a pale cover version of a classic hit.
16. Norway away (Nike)
Norway have taken the strange choice of releasing a full “blackout” stealth kit for the World Cup that will almost certainly fall foul of FIFA’s stringent design/broadcast regulations. Regardless, it looks fantastic and the Viking theme present on the home shirt continues here with the application of Runic patterns on the sleeves and socks.
15. Mexico away (Adidas)
While it’s not a patch on the nostalgia-heavy Aztec design of the home kit, Mexico’s World Cup away kit is likely to prove equally popular on the terraces. The white shirt is clean and cool with minimal flag-themed trim and a zig-zag pattern referencing the Azoteas (external staircases that offer rooftop access) found on traditional Mexican buildings.
14. Algeria away (Adidas)
Looking like it was plucked directly out of the early 1980s — which was when Algeria first qualified for the World Cup, coincidentally — the 2026 away kit has a dapper, restrained retro feel without being too ostentatious. The two-tone green striped design looks effortlessly smart.
13. Ghana away (Puma)
Way more mellow than their frantic home shirt, Ghana’s alternate shirt comes in a pleasant shade of gold-yellow that is decorated with the kind of geometric pattern usually found on Kente cloth products, traditionally worn by royalty. The national colours are further represented in the flashes of red and green trim.
Les Bleus hardly ever put a foot wrong when it comes to dressing their national teams, and the 2026 home shirt can comfortably rub shoulders with their previous World Cup finery. The dark blue base tone is actually made up of various complimentary hues that have been hashed together in a diagonal pattern. We also love the pristine white fold over collar and the bronze textured logos that provide simple contrast and oodles of extra panache.
11. Morocco home (Puma)
While relatively understated at first glance, Morocco’s 2026 home shirt just gets nicer and nicer the more you stare at it. The material itself has a subtle texture to it, and the centralized crest looks fantastic. The real star of the show, however, is the Fes-style embroidered taping that adorns both the cuffs and the unusually shaped button collar.
10. Spain away (Adidas)
There’s a tangible opulence to Spain’s 2026 World Cup away kit which sees a rich creamy base overlaid with simple maroon and burnished gold decor. An ornate coiled vine pattern can be found woven into the fabric which is lifted from the gold-leaf illuminations used to embellish many ancient Spanish literary manuscripts. Put simply, there’s nothing not to like about it.
9. Belgium away (Adidas)
Belgium’s away shirt is inspired by their national federation crest and the Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte in the form of a pastel pink and blue abstract graphic that conceptually incorporates both by melding the “B” of the crest with the silver sphere shapes from Magritte’s 1928 work “La Voix des Airs.” Magnifique.
8. Brazil home (Nike)
Inspired, if only very loosely, by their great 1970 World Cup-winning side of Pele, Jairzinho and Rivellino, the latest Brazil home shirt is canary yellow with simple, chunky blocks of dark green trim at the collar and cuffs. The unusual notched neckline that Nike has applied to several of its kits looks good here and the geometric diamond pattern in the fabric is an abstracted take on the national flag. Looks even better when paired with the Selecao’s classic blue shorts/white socks combo too.
7. Argentina away (Adidas)
It would appear that Argentina’s relatively garish away kit has divided opinion among fans, but we happen to appreciate the unique design. The black shirt is covered all over in a tumble of foliage and fronds picked out in lighter blue shades that are inspired by the Fileteado Porteño folk art style that can be found adorning everything from buildings to buses to bicycles on the streets of Buenos Aires.
6. Mexico home (Adidas)
Obviously produced in homage to one of the greatest World Cup kits ever created, co-hosts Mexico have based their 2026 primary kit on the incredibly elaborate Aztec design worn by El Tri at the 1998 finals in France. It must be said that the contemporary reworking (which features an imprint of the Piedra del Sol, one of the most famous surviving Aztec sculptures) doesn’t quite have the same extraordinary level of pizzazz as the original but the effect is still very much felt.
5. United States home (Nike)
A throwback to the glory years of 1994, when the USMNT last hosted a World Cup. The red-and-white stripes are back though this time they have been applied horizontally across the shirt. Much like the ’94 precursor, the bands have also been given a clever wave effect to replicate the gentle ripple of Old Glory as it flutters in the breeze.
Another surefire smash among kit collectors, Curacao’s lemon yellow away shirt is positively awash in sunshine vibes. Inspired by the Caribbean island’s capital city of Willemstad and the colorful buildings that line the waterways in the Punda and Otrobanda districts, the dashes of pastel pink, turquoise and orange (matched with a tricolor trefoil) radiate in harmony to create a dreamy feel. We can’t wait to see what the home kit looks like.
3. France away (Nike)
You simply have to hand it to France; they know how to dress for a World Cup. Coupling nicely with their jazzy home shirt, the away variant comes in a minty shade of verdigris that is inspired by the copper cladding of the Statue of Liberty, gifted by France to the United States and dedicated in 1886 as a symbol of the cordial relationship between the two nations. The gorgeous metallic copper logos and dainty tricolore banding on the sleeve cuffs serve as the perfect finishing touches.
2. Japan away (Adidas)
Taking styling pointers from retro baseball jerseys, Japan have certainly hit it out of the park with their achingly lovely World Cup away kit. The soft, off-white shirt is lined 12 rainbow pinstripes — 11 to represent the team on the pitch and the 12th red central stripe signifying the wider Japanese football family. It’s proved to be an instant sellout, and it’s not hard to see why.
1. Uruguay away (Adidas)
There’s not a lot to separate the kits at the top of the order, but Uruguay’s wonderfully esoteric away kit just nudges it for us. The shirt is presented as a tribute to their history-making World Cup team of 1930, who won the inaugural tournament to become football’s very first world champions. The inky indigo shirt has a shimmering mantle around the neck in blue and electric orange which resembles ancient indigenous armor and is intended as a visual metaphor for the 2026 team’s desire to guard their ancestral throne. Very fantastical. Very, very cool.
Dave McGinnis, a former Arizona Cardinals head coach and Tennessee Titans assistant coach, died on Monday. He was 74.
The Titans announced the death of McGinnis, who died after being hospitalized for an illness in early March. The Titans’ news release said that he passed away at Ascension St. Thomas Midtown Hospital with his family by his side.
“My heart aches with the loss of Coach Mac, who was so much more than a coach and broadcaster – he was family,” Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement.
Head coach Dave McGinnis of the Arizona Cardinals watches from the sideline during a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Nov. 9, 2003. The Steelers defeated the Cardinals, 28-15.(George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell also released a statement on McGinnis.
“As Dave often said, he was a ‘ball coach’ through and through, and no one ever filled that role with more passion, enthusiasm and charisma,” Bidwell said. “Coach Mac truly loved the game and everything – and everyone – associated with it, especially his players. He was one of a kind and will be greatly missed.”
McGinnis found himself in an interim head coaching role during the 2000 season with the Cardinals, the team for which he served as defensive coordinator in 1996. He was retained in the head coaching post from 2001-03.
In 57 career games, McGinnis went 17-40 with the Cardinals, ultimately being fired after a 4-12 season in 2003.
After he was fired, McGinnis landed with the Titans as a linebackers coach under head coach Jeff Fisher. He would become a mainstay in Nashville, holding that role and eventually being promoted to assistant head coach until 2011.
Coach Dave McGinnis of the Arizona Cardinals walks the sideline against the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, on Nov. 16, 2003. The Browns won the game, 40-6.(Tom Pidgeon/Getty Images)
“Coach Mac gave so much of himself to this organization over the years, and his passion, loyalty and love for the Titans never wavered,” Strunk added. “He cared deeply about the people around him, and that kindness and authenticity left a lasting impact on everyone who knew him. He held a very special place in our family, and his presence in our lives and within this franchise will never be forgotten. We will miss him dearly, and we will always be grateful for the legacy he leaves behind.”
McGinnis’s coaching career began in 1973 when he was an assistant with TCU. He also held posts with Indiana State, Missouri and Kansas State until the 1986 season when he broke into the NFL with the Chicago Bears.
McGinnis served as linebackers coach for Chicago from 1986-95 before getting a promotion with the Cardinals. He also held roles with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams before leaving coach after the 2016 campaign.
McGinnis returned to Nashville to join Titans Radio in 2017, where he served as a color announcer for games.
Arizona Cardinals head coach Dave McGinnis stands on the sideline during a game against the Oakland Raiders at Network Associates Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Dec. 2, 2001.(Jed Jacobsohn/Allsport)
“I love Dave McGinnis, and I don’t know that I’ve met anybody who was created for football, and a football life, more than Coach Mac,” said Burke Nihill, president and CEO of the Titans. “He just loved the game. Obviously, he played it for a long time and coached it for longer, and with everything he has done for us over the years as color commentator and a Titans personality. He lived such a special football life. He was such a special guy.
Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell announced on Monday that he plans to resign his seat in Congress in the wake of sexual assault allegations that sparked calls for him to quit or be subject to an expulsion vote. His announcement comes just one day after he suspended his campaign for California governor.
In a statement on X, Swalwell posted that he is “deeply sorry” to his family, staff and constituents but that “he will fight the serious, false allegation made against me.”
“I am aware of efforts to bring an immediate expulsion vote against me and other members. Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong,” Swalwell said. “But it’s also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress.”
California gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Eric Swalwell appears at a town hall meeting in Sacramento, Calif., April 7, 2026.
Rich Pedroncelli/AP
Swalwell’s announcement comes on the same day that the House Ethics Committee said it was launching an investigation into the allegations against him.
Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida said Saturday that she planned to force a vote this week to expel Swalwell if he did not resign. In a statement on X following Swalwell’s announcement that he will resign, Luna said, “He made the correct decision, but there still needs to be a full-fledged criminal investigation.”
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that an ex-staffer had sexual encounters with Swalwell when he was her boss, and alleged that he sexually assaulted her twice when she was too intoxicated to consent. In addition, CNN has reported on three additional women who detailed allegations of inappropriate conduct by Swalwell.
ABC News has not independently verified the accounts as reported by The San Francisco Chronicle and CNN.
Swalwell did not say specifically when he plans to step down. Once Swalwell does resign, House Democrats will be down to 213 members. Republicans are expected to swear in their 218th member on Tuesday evening — Clay Fuller, who won a special election in Georgia last week — and independent Rep. Kevin Kiley still conferences with Republicans, which would give Speaker Mike Johnson 219 votes.
It will be up to California Gov. Gavin Newsom if or when Swalwell’s seat will be filled before the end of his term, according to California statutes.
Vacancies in the U.S. House of Representatives are usually filled by special (off-cycle) elections, which can occur even during a year where those same House seats are up for regular election.
However, a spokesperson for the office of the California Secretary of State pointed ABC News to the state’s election code, which says that if “a vacancy occurs in a congressional office after the close of the nomination period in the final year of the term of office, the Governor may decline to issue an election proclamation at his discretion.”
Qualifying for the ballot in California closed in early March, and Swalwell’s current term in Congress ends after this year, meaning that Newsom has the choice of whether to call a special election or not.
Newsom’s office, reached for comment by ABC News, said it is reviewing the matter and will make an official announcement once the seat is formally vacant.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., faced off with a speaker identified as “Marien” during a Jubilee debate on Sunday, where the two debated immigration policy, public safety, and accountability for elites tied to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Marien framed her concerns around personal safety and government priorities, arguing Democratic policies pose a great threat to everyday Americans.
“My frustration is as a regular everyday American citizen, I feel that I am more likely to be harmed by Democratic policies such as open borders,” Marien said.
The exchange reflected a broader debate over immigration enforcement, crime, and policy priorities, with Khanna advocating reform alongside border security as critics pointed to gaps in California’s approach.
A view of downtown Kirksville, Missouri, where authorities say an illegal immigrant is accused of raping and kidnapping a woman on Easter Sunday.(City of Kirksville/Department of Homeland Security)
“In your state, something like 4,600 or so illegal migrants that had criminal records were re-released from jail,” Marien said. “So when we’re talking about harming Americans, when we’re talking about children potentially being harmed, when we’re looking into child trafficking, we have to acknowledge that illegal migration is the biggest funnel for child trafficking.”
Khanna responded by reiterating his position on border security while shifting focus toward enforcement priorities.
“I’m for secure borders,” Khanna said. “We have been for a secure border.”
The debate also touched on differing perceptions of enforcement in California, with Marien rejecting Khanna’s characterization of Democratic positions.
“No one in California can say that they’re for a secure border,” Marien said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Mexican illegal immigrant Jose Gustavo Angulo Bernal (right) outside a residence in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, close to the southern border.(iStock; DHS)
At another point, Khanna said he was opposed to ICE “putting terror in communities.”
“I feel comfortable with ICE… I’m not terrorized by them,” Marien said.
The conversation expanded beyond immigration to include accountability standards in cases tied to Epstein, as both participants debated how allegations should be handled.
Marien stressed the importance of due process and a high evidentiary standard before punishment.
“I am very much pro any abuser being in jail, but I’m also pro the complete burden of proof,” Marien said.
CJ joined Fox News Digital’s team in 2026, which highlights the vital role journalism plays in shaping politics and culture. He has years of experience analyzing and reporting on the news media.
CJ graduated from Long Beach State University in 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Journalism.
Paramount Skydance reached a deal to acquire Warner Bros Discovery in late February after Netflix dropped its months-long bid for the company, which houses brands including Looney Tunes, Harry Potter, Friends, the HBO hits Succession, Sex and the City and Game of Thrones, as well as CNN.
College basketball legendary broadcaster Dick Vitale announced he is battling cancer yet again.
The 86-year-old announced Monday that a biopsy confirmed he has melanoma in his lung and liver cavity, and he is immediately beginning immunotherapy to combat it.
This is the fifth time Vitale has been diagnosed with cancer, and melanoma is one he has had before.
ESPN analyst Dick Vitale before the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Alabama Crimson Tide at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center on Mar 1, 2025.(Randy Sartin/Imagn Images)
“I’ve beaten melanoma,” Vitale said in a statement released by ESPN. “I’ve beaten lymphoma. I’ve beaten vocal-cord cancer. I’ve beaten lymph-node cancer. I’m 4 for 4 and I’m fully confident I’m going to make it 5 for 5.”
Vitale made a separate social media post on Monday, where he said he had gone through days of testing, which included scans, MRIs, bloodwork and the biopsy to confirm what doctors believed was cancer yet again.
“I obviously did not get the report today that I was hoping for when my oncologist called,” Vitale said. “Now at least I know what I face.”
“Dickie V” is one of the most established broadcasters in American sports, providing countless memorable calls through his natural enthusiasm for the game and moments on the hardwood.
Vitale’s impact on college basketball dates to ESPN’s launch in 1979, and he’s close to five decades in the sport with a contract with the “Worldwide Leader” going through the 2027-28 season.
Dick Vitale on the sidelines during the men’s Champions Classic college basketball game between the Kentucky Wildcats and Michigan State Spartans on November 15, 2022, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN.(Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire)
However, health issues arose in 2021 when he was diagnosed with melanoma for the first time. Lymphoma followed, and then he needed chemotherapy and radiation treatments for his vocal cord cancer.
In 2024, he required surgery to remove cancerous lymph nodes from his neck, and Vitale’s iconic voice could not be heard as he was unable to speak for a time after the vocal cord surgery.
But like the other four diagnoses, Vitale remains optimistic and in good spirits, saying he feels “fantastic” and ready to take on yet another battle.
“At 86 years young, I’ve lived a hell of a life, and I’m more motivated than ever to raise money for kids battling cancer,” Vitale said.
The New Jersey native spent time coaching at Garfield High School before taking over his alma mater, East Rutherford High School, where he led teams to two New Jersey state titles.
Dick Vitale attends the 2022 ESPYs at Dolby Theatre on July 20, 2022 in Hollywood, California.(Leon Bennett/Getty Images)
Vitale went on to coach as an assistant at Rutgers before heading to the University of Detroit as their head coach. He remained in the Michigan city to coach its Pistons from 1978-79.
Once he was done coaching the Pistons, Vitale joined ESPN, calling its first-ever college basketball game in 1979, a game where DePaul beat Wisconsin.
“Even if they have attached a new needle, the back part, which we call the syringe body, has the virus in it, so it will transfer even with a new needle,” said Dr Altaf Ahmed, a consultant microbiologist and one of Pakistan’s leading infectious disease experts, after watching our undercover footage.
