German football federation switches from Adidas to Nike from 1 January 2027

The deal and its timing

The German Football Association (DFB) will be supplied by Nike from 1 January 2027, under a contract that runs until 31 December 2034. Reports put its value at around 100 million euros a year for the federation, and German media say Adidas was not prepared to pay that sum. The switch ends a partnership that dates back to 1954 and has lasted more than 70 years. The deal was first made public on 22 March 2024, and it set off an emotional debate in which fans voiced their displeasure.

Final weeks in Adidas kit

Germany meets the Netherlands in a Nations League match at Berlin's Olympiastadion on Monday, 16 November, with kick-off at 20:45 on ARD, and it is the last time the team wears the three stripes. A training session at Adidas's site in Herzogenaurach was planned for Sunday, 15 November, the squad's last time training there for now. Before flying to Belgrade, the players handed out food from food trucks at a farewell party for Adidas staff. Niclas Füllkrug, who wants to take his shirt home, described the moment this way:

“An era is coming to an end. It is the last time with the three stripes.”

Jürgen Klopp is expected to wear his black cap on the sideline for the last time on Monday. The cap, which bears the slogan One of 83 million, was first planned as a run of 500 for friends, family and partners, but demand has put it in shops since 10 November.

The farewell shirt and a leaked Nike design

Adidas chose black for its farewell shirt, with golden diamond lines, the trefoil logo and the DFB eagle that sat on the chest between 1978 and 1996, and no red at all. The pink away shirt for the home Euro 2024 became the best-selling in DFB history, and the dark blue shirt for the 2026 World Cup sold even better, according to Adidas CEO Björn Gulden. Photos of an alleged first Nike home shirt, white with a black collar and black-red-gold only inside the neckline, appeared after a leak portal published them earlier in November. Neither the DFB nor Nike has confirmed them, and social media mockery dominated the reaction, with some fans comparing the design to an advertising shirt.

Identity and four world titles

The men's team won the World Cup in 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014 wearing Adidas. For many supporters, the three stripes were as much part of the federation as the ball is part of the game, and that piece of German identity is now set to disappear from the shirt. The transition has been prepared in detail behind the scenes, and the Netherlands, Germany's opponent in Berlin, already wear Nike, so Monday's match previews the change. Adidas will end its supply on the same date the Nike contract begins, marking the close of a relationship that the federation's shirts have shaped for generations.