Remembering the Iconic Mexico 1998 World Cup Home Kit

Few football shirts carry the weight of an entire civilisation across the chest. The Mexico 1998 World Cup home kit did exactly that — splashing the Aztec Sun Stone in glorious green across the front and turning a national team strip into one of the most coveted designs football has ever produced. Nearly three decades on, it remains the shirt every collector wants and the benchmark every Mexico kit since has been measured against.

With the 2026 World Cup on home soil bringing the Aztec story full circle, there has never been a better moment to remember why the 1998 shirt still matters.

Why the Mexico 1998 home kit became a legend

Designed by Mexican manufacturer ABA Sport, the 1998 home shirt featured a sublimated, oversized image of the Piedra del Sol — the Aztec Sun Stone — printed across the torso over a vivid green base. It was bold, unapologetic and rooted in pre-Hispanic heritage at a time when most national kits stuck to plain blocks of colour. The shirt fused culture, history and identity in a way that felt genuinely new.

The man behind it, designer Ignacio Villarreal, first introduced the Sun Stone motif on the 1996 shirt that carried Mexico through qualifying and into France ’98. It is now widely regarded as one of the greatest football shirt designs of all time — praised both inside Mexico and far beyond it.

The ABA Sport story

ABA Sport was founded by engineer Jorge Lankenau, who bought Liga MX side Monterrey in 1990 and decided to manufacture kits in-house once the club’s Adidas deal expired. After the 1994 World Cup, ABA Sport won the contract to dress the national team, taking over from English giant Umbro. It was a rare moment of a homegrown brand outfitting a World Cup side — and ABA used the freedom to produce something only a Mexican company would have dared to make.

That local ownership is a big part of why the shirt resonates. It was not a global sportswear giant interpreting Mexican culture from the outside; it was Mexico telling its own story on its own shirt.

Jorge Campos and France ’98

No conversation about 1990s Mexico is complete without Jorge Campos, the goalkeeper famous for the wild, self-designed neon kits he wore earlier in the decade. Interestingly, during the 1998 tournament Campos largely wore the outfield player’s tops rather than his own flamboyant designs — a small nod to how strong the ABA Sport range had become.

On the pitch, Mexico topped a group containing the Netherlands and reached the last 16 before a dramatic 2-1 defeat to Germany. The football was memorable; the shirt became immortal.

Where the 1998 shirt sits among Mexico’s classics

The Sun Stone design did not appear from nowhere, and it was not the end of the story either. Mexico’s kit history is unusually rich, and the 1998 shirt is the centrepiece of a run of distinctive designs.

If the 1998 shirt is the headline act, the Mexico 1994 World Cup home retro jersey is the warm-up that set the stage, and the retro Mexico 2002 home jersey is the design that had to follow a near-impossible act. For the truly nostalgic, the Mexico 1970 home retro jersey takes you right back to where El Tri’s World Cup story began.

Can you still get the 1998 design?

Original ABA Sport shirts now command serious money on the resale market, but the look lives on through faithful retro reissues. At 433FC you can still wrap yourself in the era: the Mexico 1998 away retro jersey pairs perfectly with the home, while the Mexico 1998 home kids retro kit and shorts lets the next generation discover the Sun Stone for themselves.

With Mexico co-hosting the 2026 World Cup, expect the Aztec heritage to be everywhere again — which makes now the ideal time to revisit the shirt that started the obsession.

Frequently asked questions

Who made the Mexico 1998 World Cup kit?

The 1998 home and away shirts were made by ABA Sport, a Mexican manufacturer founded by engineer Jorge Lankenau. ABA Sport took over the national-team contract from Umbro after the 1994 World Cup.

What is the graphic on the Mexico 1998 home shirt?

It is the Piedra del Sol, or Aztec Sun Stone — a pre-Hispanic calendar carving — printed large across the chest and back over a green base, designed by Ignacio Villarreal.

Why is the Mexico 1998 shirt so collectable?

Its bold, culturally rooted design has made it a cult favourite, regularly ranked among the greatest football shirts ever. Original ABA Sport versions are scarce and sought after, which is why faithful retro reissues remain so popular.

Did Jorge Campos wear his own kit design in 1998?

No. Although Campos was famous for his self-designed neon goalkeeper kits earlier in the 1990s, during France ’98 he largely wore the outfield player’s tops.