Why South Korea is wearing purple jerseys in World Cup

Why South Korea is wearing purple jerseys in World Cup originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The South Korean flag doesn’t include the color purple.

But on Thursday night in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Korean jerseys are that color as they take on Mexico.

Technically, according to the broadcast, they’re “magenta.”

Anyone watching, though, would call them purple, or maybe lavender.

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Why is South Korea wearing purple jerseys?

This is South Korea’s official away kit.

While it may seem that it’d be an alternate, it’s not. They simply chose that in 2026, for the World Cup, they’d wear this non-white look as their visitor jersey.

Their red kit is their home look, and they wear this “floral violet” away uniform instead of a white look.

The Nike meaning behind these floral, violet uniforms is that they’re supposed to draw from the “explosive momentum of a blooming flower.”

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They’re certainly a pretty look. They’ve likely sold a lot of them to fans.

They are far from a classic look, but they look sharp on Thursday night with Mexico in their black kits. The purple color provides an awesome contrast.

Fans will likely mostly determine how they feel about it based on the final result they get in the new look.

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