P 17 W 8 D 7 L 2 F 36:A 15
68% successful

ENGLAND

v

SWEDEN

2·6·2002

Navy blue shorts, with navy blue drawstring. Thick red vertical stripe running down the right thigh, including waistband. Two embroidered white concentric diamonds on left thigh, with a registered trademark in white, placed underneath the gap between the left point of each diamond. White number, in the same font as on the shirt, above the Umbro logo on left thigh.  Embroidered emblem on right thigh, overlaying the red stripe, with 'ENGLAND' in capitalised white lettering inside a navy blue panel above the emblem.

White socks, with 'ENGLAND' in capitalised navy blue lettering inside a broad white hoop, edged with two thin red hoops, inside a navy blue turnover. Two large navy blue concentric diamonds on calf. Navy blue toes.

• The surname and match details did not appear on the shirt for the first seven games in which it was worn.
• For the three games played in the 2002 World Cup final tournament, England had the 2002 FIFA WORLD CUP KOREA JAPAN logo printed onto the right sleeve.
• The names of England's opponents, as they appeared in the match details, were BRAZIL, DENMARK, GREECE, HOLLAND, MACEDONIA, PARAGUAY, PORTUGAL, SOUTH KOREA and SWEDEN. England were named second in the away fixtures (against the Netherlands and Korea Republic), plus the World Cup fixture against Denmark. In the other seven fixtures in which the match details were displayed, England's name appeared first.
• When match details were displayed for the first time, against Greece, a leading zero was used in the date (06·10·2001). For all other games played on dates where the day or month was in single figures, no leading zeroes were used in the details displayed on this shirt.
• In the last fixture in which the shirt was worn, the following alternative format was used for the match details (full stops between the numbers of the date):

ENGLAND

v

MACEDONIA

16.10.2002

• In the home games against Albania, Greece and Paraguay, and away to the Korea Republic, England wore all white. An alternative pair of white shorts was worn, with navy blue drawstring and the following design details:
  • Thick red vertical stripe running down the right thigh, including waistband. Two embroidered navy blue concentric diamonds on left thigh, with a registered trademark in navy blue, placed underneath the gap between the left point of each diamond. Navy blue number, in the same font as on the shirt, above the Umbro logo on left thigh. Embroidered emblem on right thigh, overlaying the red stripe, with 'ENGLAND' in capitalised white lettering inside a navy blue panel above the emblem.

16 - Paul Scholes

14 - David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, Emile Heskey (2 sub), Michael Owen (1 sub)

• 41 players appeared in this uniform.

• 16 players made their international debut in this shirt, including Ashley Cole, who won his 80th cap during the 2010 World Cup finals tournament.

• 13 players won their last cap in this shirt. For Teddy Sheringham, it was his 51st, at the age of 36. Steve McManaman won his 37th and Darren Anderton, his 30th.

• There were three debutants in Sven-Göran Eriksson's first selection, also the first appearance for this kit. Two of them (Michael Ball and Gavin McCann) appeared as half-time substitutes and never pulled on the shirt again, whilst Chris Powell also won his fifth and last cap in this kit.

9 - Michael Owen

5 - David Beckham (1 Pen.)

3 - Emile Heskey, Paul Scholes

• 16 different players, in 17 games, scored for England in this shirt, including the Paraguayan defender, Celso Ayala, who scored an own goal.

• A third of Owen's goals came in the historic 5-1 victory against Germany, in München.

• 8 players scored their first international goal in this shirt, although 5 of them never scored again for their country.

• Steven Gerrard's first gave England a vital lead on the stroke of half-time in München and he scored his 19th in 2010.

• It could be argued that Rio Ferdinand's goal, against Denmark, should have been credited to the Danish goalkeeper, Sørensen, as an own goal, for he diverted Ferdinand's header across goal, into the net in his attempt to save. It took the defender another five years to score again for England.

• 7 players scored their last international goal in this shirt, including Sheringham's 11th, a headed equaliser against Greece, with his first touch of the ball as a substitute.

• Nick Barmby scored England's first goal in this kit, his fourth and last for his country. It was also Eriksson's first match in charge. Curiously, Barmby had also netted the first goal of Glenn Hoddle's reign, back in 1996.

• Andrew Cole scored only once in his 15 appearances, despite 187 Premier League goals.

14 - David Beckham

3 - Michael Owen

• Beckham was to remain Eriksson's first choice as skipper, right up until 2006.

• When Beckham broke his toe before the 2002 World Cup, Owen became England's youngest captain since Bobby Moore, aged just 22.

This kit heralded the dawn of a new era for the national team. A bold move saw the appointment of a foreign coach for the first time and the team took to the field in a rather striking new kit, which included a prominent red stripe down the left side as an obvious reference to the cross of St. George.

Umbro proudly claimed that the new shirt was 26% lighter than its predecessor, with mesh panels and a special multi-filament moisture wicking fabric. Even the shorts were not exempt from innovation, being coated with Teflon and, therefore, shower resistant.

Replica shirts were initially identical to those worn by the players. A holographic authenticity label on the right hip was your verification of that fact. Alas, just eight months later, the shirt worn by Michael Owen and his colleagues changed to accommodate the inclusion of the match details in the middle of the chest, once again rendering it different to the ones that you could buy.

The opponent's name and year were present on the England shirt for most of the 1950s, but from the day David Beckham's free-kick salvaged a point against Greece at Old Trafford, to take England to Japan for the 2002 World Cup, its modern equivalent would be different for every single game. This game was also significant for the fact that surnames appeared on the back of the shirts outside of a tournament for the first time i.e. for a one-off fixture.

One further change saw the introduction of an alternative pair of white shorts. These also included the red stripe and were used to complete a matching all-white variation, rather than having to use the white shorts from the red change kit.

On the field, pride was restored following the disappointments of the previous tenure. Eriksson's side recovered the faltering World Cup campaign and shattered the Germans with an unbelievable 5-1 victory in München, ensuring that this kit would live forever in the minds of those who witnessed one of England's greatest ever triumphs.

England suddenly found themselves in pole position in their World Cup qualifying group, but great drama still awaited, with Beckham proving the last-minute hero against Greece to secure England's passage. The tournament itself had its moments, but England were left wanting when it came to the crunch against the eventual winners, Brazil, in the quarter-finals. As 2002 drew to a close, this kit was consigned to the memory and pages such as this.