World Cup Moments: France’s Green and White Stripes From 1978

April 6th, 2010 | by: Daryl |

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I’ve read two different explanations for why France wore green and white shirts in their group game vs Hungary at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

Explanation #1 is that Argentinean television was to blame:

Argentina was a country still viewing television broadcasts in black and white back then, so all matches had to feature one team wearing a dark-coloured strip, the other a light-coloured strip. As France’s blue shirts and Hungary’s red ones were deemed to be of too similar a shade for monochrome TV, France were asked to wear a change strip. They didn’t have one.

Explanation #2 is that this was a mistake caused by both teams bringing only one set of jerseys to the game, which were both the same colour:

The two teams were horrified when it was discovered they had arrived armed only with their road uniforms, which were both white.

I’m inclined to go with explanation #2, if only because you can see in the above photo that Hungary clearly had their white away kits handy. So if France had brought their blue home kits, there wouldn’t have been a problem.

Either way, the the game was apparently in danger of being abandoned unless a solution was found, and so someone had the idea that France could borrow the green and white striped jerseys of local team Club Atlético Kimberley.

So France played against Hungary in the 1978 World Cup wearing the slightly queazy combination of green and white striped jerseys with their traditional blue shorts and red socks. Which is at least one too many colours for a successful uniform.Also, because the French jerseys were 50% white, and the Hungary jerseys were 100% white, it’s still pretty hard to tell the teams apart if you ask me.

France won the game 3-1 in their one-off jerseys, but had already lost 2-1 to both Italy and Argentina and so failed to progress. Maybe they should have worn the green and white for all three games?

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Paul S

EVERYONE needs to understand this: the reality is that South Africa is an extrememly dangerous place and shold never have won the bid to host the WC. If you have a death wish, head over there for the WC by all means. If you have a family or other responsibilities, I urge you to reconsider. I write as a concerned South African who is very well acquainted with the violence and the out of control crime situation.
Jeremy Brahm

FIFA Futbol Mundial had this story on the tv last month and what happened was that the French were supposed to be the home team and were to wear their blue uniforms. They left the blue uniforms in Buenos Aires and didn’t realize it until they were warming up for the match. Some of the Kimberley players and staff were attending the match and they ran back to the club. They broke the lock on the locker room to get the numberless jerseys that had to be ironed on at the stadium. The match was delayed for about an hour, but most people couldn’t tell the French were wearing something different because they wore their regular track suits. Only when they took off the track suits, did it become clear they are not in blue, Kimberley’s colors.
http://www.all-auto.ro masini

What a great game. I remember it and i am glad. Thanks for it.
pencho15

I would be cool if France used a green and white stripped shirt as a second uniform sometime to remember this curious event.
SATour

The 2010 FIFA World Cup™ is just days away and we’re so excited that the world is coming to South Africa. Come and Join the World Party, vote for your country and you could win a trip to South Africa! http://mzan.si/YwiF – France is in the lead at the moment, if you want your country to win, enter now!
http://www.hotcanalla.blogspot.com Puma Rodriguez

I m Argentinean, mate, and I do remember the incident. Dont go any further, the second option wins! France used a local club’s kit for some reason, allegedly losing their luggage or similar reason. The black and white tv story is big bulls***: that WC was broadcast colour in Arg, and prior to that, we had had hundred of games in b&w tv with similarly looking shirts, and no complaint from anyone. Cheers!