• Ed Dove, Special to ESPNNov 21, 2024, 07:02 AM
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      Ed Dove is a writer and scout who has a deep and enduring passion for African sport, politics and literature. Instagram: @EddyDove22, Facebook: @EddyDoveAfrica
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Africa’s national team kits are often considered among the most iconic in the history of football, with unforgettable efforts such as Zaire 1974, Nigeria 2018 and Cameroon‘s sleeveless Puma design of 2002 celebrated to this day.

The sartorial panache of African club sides is rarely considered with the same fervour, yet the kits worn by the continent’s domestic teams ought also to be considered timeless souvenirs and fashion statements.

Here are some of our favourites.

The golden generation kit | Al Ahly, 2006

Al Ahly’s side that won consecutive CAF Champions League titles in 2005 and 2006 was blessed with some excellent kits amid the club’s productive partnership with Puma.

The German manufacturer kept things simple, marrying the bold Vodafone sponsor’s logo with a series of vibrant red designs to create a timeless series of kits that were perfect attire for this magnificent all-conquering side.

It didn’t get much better than the 2006 Champions League final, in which Mohamed Aboutrika delivered Africa’s Club of the Century its greatest moment.

The attacking midfielder, at the peak of his powers, struck a sensational 92nd-minute winner in the second leg against CS Sfaxien — slamming home a right-footed volley from outside the area after the ball dropped into his path to secure the title when the Red Devils were just seconds from losing on away goals.

Aboutrika’s celebration, tearing off towards the bench in celebration, wearing his iconic No. 22 jersey — his number emblazoned, centrally, on the front of that striking sponsor-less kit — was the defining image of the Pharaohs legend, and of the greatest club cycle the continent has seen.

The kit that Al Ahly wore at the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup was arguably even better, with the Vodafone sponsor added, the Puma logo placed centrally and, in Aboutrika’s case, the No. 22 shifted over to the right chest.

The three stars above the Ahly crest were rarely worn more proudly, while the pumas adorning the kit’s shoulders were stylish additions as the Cairene giants won bronze in Japan.

The stars-in-stripes kit | TP Mazembe, 2010

Another CAF Champions League-winning kit, Mazembe’s 2010 attire looked like a throwback to a simpler, purer age… albeit unintentionally.

Les Corbeaux (“The Crows”) wore their classic black-and-white striped design for the second leg of the final against Esperance, having refreshed their sponsor in the aftermath of their 5-0 demolition of the Tunisian giants in the first leg.

They strutted their stuff in the same jersey when beating Internacional to become the first African side to reach the Club World Cup final — the high watermark for a team that had won consecutive African titles.

Samuel Eto’o’s Internazionale proved a step too far in the final in Abu Dhabi, but the fixture still represented a landmark for Africa’s revived giants — and they looked the part in the United Arab Emirates.

The sponsor was local enterprise the Katanga Mining Company — written as ‘MCK’ on the shirt front — domestic specialists in copper extraction that had ambitions to become Africa’s dominant mining business.

The company’s ambitions weren’t truly realised, but it was fitting that Given Singuluma — a star for Zambia‘s national team, the Copper Bullets — excelled for the Lubumbashi giants while wearing this kit, with this sponsor.

For some, Tresor Mputu, at the peak of his powers, bewildering African defences with his footwork, was never better than when he wore this monochrome Adidas design.

Mazembe have worn some stylish kits in more recent years, not least when incorporating a crocodile-skin motif as a nod to the reptile on the club’s logo, but none left as big a legacy as this classic.

The radical departure kit | Kaizer Chiefs, 2019-20

This kit wasn’t universally beloved in South Africa, with some Chiefs fans unable to really accept a design they considered too much of a departure from the club’s traditional look.

However, this ambitious design received acclaim overseas, with a vibrant and mesmeric pattern that was indisputably a revolutionary take on the iconic Amakhosi design and colour scheme.

Nike’s innovative patterning was paired with a Vodacom logo, and, while it wasn’t a natural marriage with the Chiefs’ gold and black, it complemented the white away kit, with the home kit’s stripes repeated on the sleeves, to perfection.

This was the kind of release that continues to justify Chiefs referring to themselves as the Glamour Boys, and it hypnotised opponents to the extent that it almost resulted in a league title.

Ernst Middendorp’s team scored 19 goals in their first 11 matches, won six games in a row for the first time in half a decade, and led the table until the final game weekend before finishing two points behind serial champions Mamelodi Sundowns.

Playing in these outfits helped Chiefs rediscover the flair and conviction that made them South Africa’s most beloved footballing institution; what would fans have given for this kind of sustained title charge — while dressed so snazzily — in recent seasons!?

Future contenders | Simba SC and Yanga, 2024

Could Tanzania be the next heartland of iconic African kit designs?

It certainly feels that way, given the recent releases from domestic giants Simba SC and Yanga, who appear at times to be bidding to outdo each other in the fashion stakes as well as on the football field.

Take Simba’s latest sky-blue CAF Confederation Cup design, released in Dar es Salaam this week to “energize [the club’s] players as they take on the best teams across Africa,” according to one of Lunyasi‘s officials.

The kit unveiled for this season by fierce rivals Yanga might be even better, providing further evidence of the greater investment and creative liberty underpinning the apparel of some of Africa’s biggest clubs.

With an intricate shoulder design, elegant colour schemes, and majestic features, Yanga’s recent collections are setting new standards for African club kits.

Turning to local manufacturers — in Yanga’s case, Tanzania’s Ghalib Said Mohamed Limited — is helping African teams to follow the inspiration of national sides and break free of the staid kit templates that have increasingly dominated soccer’s catwalk.