We will soon know who wins this World Cup's Golden Boot and Golden Ball awards. But today Goal Posts will grant another award, for the best World Cup uniforms of all time. Yes, others will have their own favorites. But you have to admit: Peru's red sash is a thing of beauty. Really, just look at it. Simple, elegant, timeless. Regal. Polished. Sashed.
After toying with several iterations of the uniform in the early 1930s (all regrettably sans sash), the Peruvian Football Federation showed up at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games donning a design scheme that would yield some of the finest pieces of soccer-inspired fashion to ever grace the pitch.1
And, like a fine wine, it only got better with age: check out the following photo of the Peruvian team team at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. The sash, in a particularly wide and proud itertion, is here paired with a collored v-neck. The resulting tops are the Peru uniform at its most bad-assed.
Here's a more recent photograph. Same sash, more shine. But still pretty damn fine. Alas, the Peru unis have become one of soccer's best-kept secrets, as the country hasn't made the World Cup since 1982.
As this was an article about World Cup uniforms, Southampton FC’s sweet (and sashed) red and white kit from the 1880s was ineligible for the prize. But in a uniform Open, it would clearly be a formidable contender.